The City of Fort Lauderdale, also known as the “Venice of America” is home one of the busiest and fasted growing Marine industries in the world. Fort Lauderdale has earned the nickname Venice of America due to the 7 miles of coastline (Atlantic Ocean) on its eastern border and 165 miles of navigable waterways inland. Ft. Lauderdale is home to over 40 marinas and the largest boat show in the world, not to mention the third busiest cruise port, Port Everglades, which sits on the City’s southern border. Ft. Lauderdale is also a popular destination for “mega-yachts” and has more than 1,400 vessels over 80 feet in length visit each year on their way to the Caribbean.

Fort Lauderdale’s Marine Team is staffed 24/7 with a minimum of 5 personnel. Station 49 is located on the Intracoastal Waterway with easy access to the Atlantic Ocean and New River. Members of this team receive specialized training in marine firefighting, boat familiarization and operations, open water search and rescue, surface water rescue and dive rescue and operates the only Fire Boat in Broward County. The Marine Team also works closely with the Coast Guard, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Police Department nautical units and Ocean Rescue.

The Fort Lauderdale Marine Team has been serving the community since the 1960’s. This team has always searched for opportunities to improve their knowledge, skills and equipment in order to enhance our ability to serve the community.

In 2015, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue received a $1 million dollar Port Security Grant for the purchase of a new fireboat. Construction of this vessel began in the summer of 2016 and was completed in August of 2017. Fireboat 49 is a 43’aluminum vessel with an enclosed and pressurized pilot house and cabin. The fireboat is jet propelled by twin diesel Cummins 550 HP engines, capable of reaching speeds up to 40 knots and flowing over 4,000 gallons of water per minute from (4) master stream nozzles.

When in operation Fireboat 49 will be staffed with a minimum of (4) Fire-Rescue Marine Team Members

• Additional capabilities of this vessel include:
• Full advanced life support (ALS) with patient compartment
• Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) detection
• Advanced navigation & communications
• Forward looking infra-red night vision (FLIR)
• Underwater side scan sonar
• Radar