Sivad Johnson (fireboat)

Sivad Johnson firing her water cannons during a ceremony to remember her namesake.

The Sivad Johnson is a fireboat operated in Detroit, Michigan. She is named after recently deceased firefighter Sivad Johnson, in 2021. Johnson was at a waterpark, with his children, when he heard three other children had fallen in the water, and might be drowning. Johnson drowned after he jumped in to try to save the missing children.

The Sivad Johnson is a modest sized vessel, but built to the modern standards for fireboats that had matching FEMA port security grants. So she has a cab that is airtight, to protect firefighters not just from toxic smoke, but from nuclear fallout, nerve gas, germ warfare, or from spilled toxic chemical waste. She is equipped with modern censors, like infrared sensors, so crew can see at night, in dense smoke, or fog. Infrared sensors have proven very useful for fireboats in other jurisdictions to find lost boaters, or other people who have fallen in water.

The Sivad Johnson supplements the Detroit Fire Department's older and larger fireboat, the Curtis Randolph. She can travel at 50 knots. She can maneuver in very shallow water. She has low ledges that swimmers can mount, in the event of rescuing people who have fallen in the river.

The Sivad Johnson has an autopilot that will hold her still, against the push of her watercannon. That watercannon is aimed by remote control, within the sealed cab. However, that water cannon can only project a modest 1000 gallons per minute, a tenth as much as the Curtis Randolph.