Fireboats of Toronto

At least six Fireboats in Toronto have helped protect the city's waterfront and maritime commerce.[1]

name	image	in service	notes
Nellie Bly		1906–1909	Steam tug provided fire protection on Toronto Islands.[1]
T.J. Clark		1909–1923	A private vessel.[2] Converted to a passenger vessel.[2] Named for Tom "T.J." Clark, co-operator of wooden screw ferry in Toronto that began service in 1890, it was a part-time fire boat only.
Charles A. Reed		1923–1963?	The city's first full-time official fireboat.[2] and remained in service until 1963.
Rouille later HMCS Rouille		1929–1943	A steam tug used to provide part-time fire service in Toronto Harbour.[1] Icebreaking tug used to provide part-time fire service by Toronto Harbour Commission from 1929 to 1930s; Built in 1929 by Collingwood Shipyards, it was moved to Halifax in the 1940s for World War II service as HMCS Rouille and sank off Cape Smoky, Nova Scotia in 1954.[3]
William Lyon Mackenzie		1963–present	Custom built fireboat/tug/ice-breaker and named for Toronto's first mayor William Lyon Mackenzie. Remains in active service.
Sora		2005–2015	Formerly a Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) Small Multi Task Utility Craft built in 1982 and retired from CCG in 2005. Acquired as to act as backup to William Lyon Mackenzie but was not used during winter as does not have icebreaking capabilities. Retired October 31, 2015.
William Thornton		October 2015–present	In June 2015 Toronto Fire Services announced that Sora was to be replaced by another former CCG vessel, Cape Hurd, which would be renamed after William Thornton, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter who died while fighting a fire in 1848.[4][5] Like Sora, William Thornton does not have icebreaking features.

References

1. K. Corey Keeble (2013-04-16). "Toronto Fire Station 334 – EMS Station 36" (PDF). Toronto Fire Services. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2016-08-25. The Reed was of wooden construction, long, low, lean and elegant in appearance. Carrying a crew of five persons, the Charles A. Reed was fitted with two motors, one for propulsion and one for pumping.
2. "Ship of the Month No. 35 T. J. Clark". Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Archived from the original on 2013-03-02. "T. J." was fitted with fire fighting equipment and she served, in addition to her regular duties, as harbour and island fireboat until 1923 when the Toronto Fire Department took delivery of its own vessel, the wooden pumper CITY OF TORONTO T. F. D., soon renamed CHARLES A. REED.
4. David Rider (2015-06-24). "Toronto fireboat to be named after fallen firefighter". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-06-25. It will replace the Sora, another former Coast Guard vessel obtained by Toronto in 2006.
5. Toni Vigna (2015-06-09). "Toronto Fire Services – Fireboat Naming" (PDF). City of Toronto government. Retrieved 2015-06-25. In November 2014, Toronto Fire Services (TFS) acquired a decommissioned vessel, "Cape Hurd" from the Canadian Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has retained the name. The vessel will replace the current back-up vessel, "Sora", obtained from the Coast Guard in 2006