Foss Crews Help Extinguish Blaze

Two Foss crews assisted firefighters from the Valero and Benicia Fire Departments to put out a fire on the Benicia Industry Dock on September 5.

The Foss crew, trained in shore-side incident response, reacted quickly and joined the professional firefighters at the scene.

“I am very proud of the individual and team effort demonstrated by our vessels and staff,” said Scott Merritt, regional director, San Francisco Bay. “In my view, the response demonstrated the best the marine industry has to offer.”

At 5 p.m., a fire broke out at the dock. By 11:30 p.m. it was still burning and threatening to collapse the Coke Loader and the old Huntway Dock operated by Valero. The Andrew Foss was standing by the dock when the crew noticed the flames and reacted by notifying the fire department and spraying water on the fire. The Foss enhanced tractor is capable of pumping 1,000 gallons of water per minute and delivering water streams a distance of 400 ft. The Keegan Foss joined the fight at 8 p.m. providing similar firefighting capability as the tractor tug plus 4,000 gallons of foam capacity.

Foss Captains Sherman, Daniels, Ridens and their crews were commended for their performance, responding to the fire and assisting the fire department in controlling and eventually extinguishing the blaze. “All Foss crews receive professional firefighter training,” said Tom Coburn, senior vice president at Foss headquarters in Seattle. “The vessels’ firefighting equipment and marine personnel training are designed to mesh well with those of professional municipal firefighters so that major vessel or waterfront fires can be fought effectively with the aid of Foss tugs and crews,” he added.