October 17, 1989
In the aftermath of a major earthquake that hit northern California, the fireboat Phoenix – under the command of pilot Arvid Havneras — proved to be pivotal in combatting a fire that endangered San Francisco’s Marina District neighborhood. The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, rumbled through the region at 5:04 p.m. on October 17. This earthquake resulted in 22 structure fires within San Francisco and also caused over 500 other local incidents involving everything from blocked streets to gas explosions.
The most hazardous incident took place at the intersection of Divisadero and Jefferson Streets in the Marina District. A three-story building at this location was in flames and the fire soon threatened to rapidly spread to nearby structures. Firefighters who drove to the scene found it tough to battle the ever-growing fire; one building in the vicinity fell onto the hydrant being used, and the hoses connected to alternate water sources a few blocks away were likewise rendered useless after other structures collapsed on those hoses. In addition, fire crews in that part of San Francisco were experiencing significant water pressure problems with both the city’s Auxiliary Water Supply System and municipal water system.
With the fire now in danger of engulfing a large section of the Marina District, the San Francisco Fire Department’s Phoenix was summoned to the area at 6:16 pm. to provide urgently needed assistance. “As water pressure dropped Tuesday night, the fireboat Phoenix went into action, siphoning the salty waters of the San Francisco Bay into a network of hoses,” recounted the San Bernardino County Sun a few days later. “They were rushed by firefighters and volunteers to the stricken Marina district just a few blocks away.” This newspaper further reported, “The block-long Marina inferno, the most devastating of the post-quake fires, was contained within three hours.”
The 89-foot (27-meter)-long Phoenix, which made her debut in 1955, is owned by the state of California and continues to be operated by the San Francisco Fire Department. This vessel has been widely praised for her vital lifesaving role following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. “The Phoenix unquestionably saved the Marina from a greater catastrophe,” noted Dianne Feinstein at the time. (Feinstein was mayor of San Francisco between 1978 and 1988 and would serve as a U.S. senator from the Golden State from 1992 until her death in 2023.)
After Havneras passed away in 2006, longtime Phoenix marine engineer Dennis Kennedy highlighted the pilot’s crucial leadership and expertise as commander of the fireboat on that calamitous day. “He did a beautiful job of coming in there where no boat its size had ever been before,” Kennedy recalled.
Photo Credit: John Lawlor (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)
For more information on the fireboat Phoenix, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(fireboat)
Additional information on this vessel’s pilot and commander Arvid Havneras is available at https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/arvid-havneras-fireboat-skipper-89-quake-hero-2482127.php
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