1920s fireboat sails into retirement

April 12, 2003: The city’s longest-serving fireboat retired when a new fleet of boats was dedicated at the Port of Los Angeles. City Fire Boat No. 2, the Ralph J. Scott, had served the Fire Department for 77 years. The boat was built in San Pedro and launched in 1925. It was named the Ralph J. Scott in 1965 in honor of the chief who commissioned it. Weighing more than 150 tons, it was a floating pump station that could produce more than 10,000 gallons per minute. It was on the scene in many emergencies over the years, including the spectacular 1947 explosion of the tanker Markay, which killed at least a dozen people. It fought fires and performed rescues involving tuna boats, cargo carriers and passenger ships, as well as helicopter and plane crashes. At the time of the boat’s retirement, Bill Dahlquist, a retired Fire Department pilot who served on the Scott from 1976 to 1992, said: “It’s a fantastic piece of machinery. Its history, its service and dependability [are] beyond belief. The only problem is, it’s aching with age.” The boat is now on display at Fire Station 112 in San Pedro.