Fire-float Pyronaut - Fire-floats in Bristol

Fire-floats in Bristol

When ships loaded with valuable cargoes are berthed together in crowded docks surrounded by warehouses, a fire can be disastrous. Although land-based fire-engines are able to reach much of the fire ground, waterborne fire-engines, or fire-floats, can fight the fire from the water (outside the UK fire-floats are commonly known as fireboats).

The first recorded fire-float was built in 1765 for the Sun Fire Insurance Company in London. This was a manual pump in a small boat, rowed by its crew to the scene of the fire. A similar craft was built in Bristol by James Hilhouse for the Imperial Fire Insurance Office in the 1780s. All fire fighting in Bristol was carried out either by private insurance companies or the Docks Company until the formation of the Bristol Fire Brigade as a branch of the police in 1876.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, self-propelled steam-fire-floats were beginning to be introduced. The first to appear in Bristol was the Fire Queen, built by Shand Mason & Co., London, in 1884 for service in Bristol City Docks. The 53-foot (16 m) long craft was equipped with a three-cylinder steam-pump supplying two large hose reels; one of these was replaced with a monitor, or water-cannon, in 1900. Fire Queen served until 1922.

In 1905, the Fire Brigade took delivery of the Salamander, built by G.K. Stothert & Co., Hotwells, Bristol, and equipped with Merryweather pumps and two monitors. Salamander served at Avonmouth Docks for many years. She demonstrated the major drawback of steam-powered fire-floats one day in 1917: a fire was discovered at 7:30 a.m. in a transit shed at Avonmouth Dock, and Salamander was called out. By 8:30 am shore appliances had almost extinguished the fire. Meanwhile, Salamander had finally raised sufficient steam to lend a hand, and arrived at 8:36 a.m.

As well as the two specialised craft, a number of craft owned by the Port Authority were fitted with fire-fighting equipment. These included the tug/tender Brunel, and the multi-purpose workboat Bulldog. The Port also owned and operated the fire-float Denny, built in 1916 for service at Portishead Dock. Denny served until 1953.

In 1921, Fire Queen was replaced as the City Docks' fire-float by Phoenix, built in London and petrol-engined. Ten years later, the Fire Brigade reconsidered their requirements in the Port of Bristol. The cost of installing diesel engines in Salamander was investigated, but proved too expensive to be worthwhile, and instead the Brigade ordered two new fire-floats, one for Avonmouth and one for the City Docks. Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Albion Dockyard, Bristol, successfully tendered for both. In 1934 the Bristol Phoenix II (later renamed Pyronaut) was launched, followed in 1936 by Endres Gane.

Bristol Phoenix II was taken into commission in June 1934, working from the Prince Street Bridge river police station. Her crew consisted of three firemen, including an engineer stationed below in the noisy engine room. He responded to orders transmitted from the wheel by the ship's telegraph, and controlled the speed and direction of each engine and watched over the pumps at the fire.

Surviving records show that in her first two years at work Bristol Phoenix II attended major fires at Robbins Ltd., Imperial Saw Mills, Cumberland Road (now part of the Baltic Wharf housing estate) Charles Hill & Sons Ltd.'s shipyard and William Butler's tar distillation works at Crew's Hole, Bristol. These sites were at opposite ends of the City Docks, almost five miles apart, and to allow the fire-float to reach the fire quickly, it was important that she should be able to pass under Prince Street swing bridge (the lowest in the Docks) without the bridge opening. This limitation meant that the fire-float’s air-draught (the hull and superstructure above the waterline) was very low, and the helmsman had to lie flat on the deck when navigating some of the bridges.

In 1938, it was discovered that a second vessel named Phoenix appeared on the Bristol Ship Register, and, because this is not permitted, the fire-float was renamed Pyronaut (a name thought up by the teenage son of the Chairman of the Watch Committee). Shortly after this, in November 1938, one of the most serious peacetime fires in the City Docks broke out, at Samuel Thompson & Sons' malthouse (later known as the MacArthur warehouse) in Gas Ferry Road. The fire raged through the building, causing £46,000 of damage before it was extinguished by Pyronaut and several shore appliances.