Posted on June 20, 2019
The Port of Corpus Christi is looking at ways to get firefighters to the scene of an emergency faster.
The South Texas Waterways Advisory Committee presented a report to port commissioners on Tuesday outlining a recommendation to improve marine firefighting response times. The study was part of a U.S. Coast Guard request to identify the need for enhanced firefighting capabilities at the port, as well as to catalog existing firefighting resources.
“I think staff’s position has and will likely continue to be that the safety and security of this gateway is one of our primary mandates as a port authority,” Port CEO Sean Strawbridge said.
Xavier F. Valverde Sr., a member of the STWAC, said the study looked at ways to improve how the port responds to emergency situations within the ship channel, whether it be a barge collision, fire or explosion. Currently, he said, the port is capable of responding anywhere within its area of responsibility — about 36 square miles — in four to eight hours.
But the goal is to drastically reduce that time, down to one hour, Valverde said. Such a move would require more personnel to man a new vessel on a 24/7 basis, he said. It would require the use of not only the port’s existing Robert Driscoll marine firefighting vessel and its fire barge, but also two new fire boats — one along the La Quinta Channel and the other in Port Aransas.
The Robert Driscoll would be situated in the Inner Harbor, he said. Each vessel would be manned 24/7, which could be an expensive measure.
Source: caller.com
