Guardian is the recently retired San Francisco Fire Department Fireboat No. 2. vessel, powered by twin Detroit Diesel 1271 engines, with three Detroit Diesel 1271 engines that power up to five pumps, and two Detroit Diesel 371 engines that act as generators. Guardian has five single stage centrifugal pumps, each rated at 4400 gallons/minute (22,000 gallons/minute total), delivering water to monito
rs (water cannons) forward, aft starboard and port, from the tower, and two under pier/wharf nozzles. Guardian was a gift to the people of San Francisco from two anonymous and very generous donors from the Marina district who gave $300,000 towards the purchase of the vessel shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989. It was their way of saying “thank you” for a job well done by the Phoenix, which pumped water from the St. Francis Yacht Harbor into the S.F.F.D.’s Portable Water System to the conflagration at Beach and Divisadero Streets. Without the water supplied by the Phoenix, many more Marina residents would have lost their homes. Guardian, a fine boat with exceptional firefighting capacity, and had previously served as a fireboat for the city of Vancouver, B.C. She had been declared surplus and was in the hands of a salvage dealer waiting to be dismantled and sold for scrap. Through the interest and perseverance of Fire Commissioner Sharon Bretz, the way was quickly cleared for her purchase. At the time of her arrival in San Francisco, Guardian was known only as “Fireboat #2”, her Vancouver name. At the request of the donors, her new name was chosen by the grade school children of San Francisco. Cecilia’s school submitted the winning name. Unknown to the judges, Christopher’s father was a SF firefighter. She's been in reserve status at SFFD Station 35, located at Pier 22 1/2 under the Bay Bridge on Embarcadero until she was purchased at auction by private owners on November 22, 2022. Guardian will remain active on San Francisco Bay with public charters and events starting in 2023.
