fireboat.org - Historic Fireboat John J. Harvey - Life Saver, National Treasure

24 August 2007

Saving the John J. Harvey

The John J. Harvey...if you've ever been on it, you know it's a grand old fireboat.

The retired vessel was forced back into action on September 11th.

But now, the Harvey is in trouble. It needs a complete overhaul, and hundreds of thousands of dollars to make that happen.

Eyewitness News anchor Ken Rosato has more.

"It started to leak when we left Kingston," Harvey pilot Bob Lenney said.

The John J. Harvey sits in a Bridgeport shipyard. It's been there since December, as the 75-year-old fireboat needed a fix after it started to fill with water. It's painstaking work.

"We had problems getting the parts," Lenney said. "You can't go to the local hardware store and pick them up, everything had to be special made." Lenney piloted the Harvey for the FDNY for 20 years. In 1995, the boat was retired and headed for the scrap heat. But it was bought by a group determined to keep the boat, the only one of its kind still in existence, in the water.

"We know we're all in it for the same reason, which is because we're hopelessly, helplessly in love with this old fireboat," assistant engineer Jessica Dulong said.

And so the Harvey was reborn as a historical vessel, giving free rides to thousands.

"I'm very excited, because I'm finally going to realize how big the ocean is," one rider said.

"They come out on the water and they're absolutely amazed," Dulong said. "This whole world opens up for them."

It is a continuation of a long and storied history, and the subject of its own children's book. In 2001, the Harvey was called back into service on September 11th. But now, the Harvey needs help. Down the road, it will need a complete overhaul. The state will contribute $750,000, but only if the Harvey is able to raise matching funds.

"The fact that we've been out of the water during our prime season has been a blow," Dulong said. "We're definitely still struggling,"

But the ship is a survivor, and having saved the Harvey once, those who love it are determined to save it again.

"It's survived through a lot of stuff," Lenney said. "It still will."

The Harvey should be back in the water in a few weeks.

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