The Houston Fire Department, Council Member Mike Sullivan of District E, the Fire Fighters Foundation of Houston and the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund introduced the newest addition to HFD’s rescue equipment, a rapid response boat, at a press conference at Deussen Park.
The boat was demonstrated with live training rather than presented as a static display, which set a pattern for how the Foundation hands over water rescue equipment.
Boats bought this way proved decisive years later. Foundation-funded rescue boats were in place when Hurricane Harvey flooded the city, and more were purchased afterwards so that every quadrant of Houston is covered during floods.
Drawn from the Foundation’s own account of this story.