Hayden Lake Adds ‘Hydrant’ With Fireboat It’Ll Hasten Response To Eastern Shore, Pumping Water As Far As 300 Feet

Firefighters with the Hayden Lake Fire Protection District have a new way to respond to emergencies on Hayden Lake.

A 37-foot fireboat has come to the rescue.

The Anson Gable - named for the district’s fire marshal and first full-time firefighter - will give responders speedy water access to fires and medical emergencies.

District officials, family, friends and residents packed a dock at Honeysuckle Beach Saturday afternoon to see the boat christened.

The boat makes up for the lack of hydrants or other high-pressure water sources on the lake’s eastern shore.

“This is going to be the fire hydrant for the back side of the lake,” said fire district commissioner Wayne Johnson, before pulling the cork on a bottle of champagne for the ceremony.

Afterward, kids got rides on the bright red vessel. Families crowding the beach watched as firefighters on board cranked up the fire pump.

A plume of water shot hundreds of feet off the bow.

The $210,000 Anson Gable is the only “true” fireboat on the lake because it has a fire pump, officials say, while others rely on jet-driven pumps that aren’t as reliable.

Built in Arkansas, the new boat is fast and can pump 1,500 gallons of water a minute as far as 300 feet, firefighters say. It makes the trip from Honeysuckle to Mokins Bay in five or six minutes.

It takes fire engines a half-hour to negotiate the winding road around the lake to homes on the far end.

But engines will still respond to fires along with the boat, said Chief Jeff Welch.

“We’re not just going to respond with the fireboat and leave it at that,” Welch said. “This is just another tool in the toolbox.”

For now, the boat will dock at a private dock near the public docks at Honeysuckle Beach. Hayden fire officials hope to share a joint facility with Kootenai County in the future.

The district’s old boat went to the Rathdrum fire department.

Gable, now in his 23rd year at Hayden, was grateful for the district’s decision to use his name.

“I knew something was up but I didn’t know they were going to name the boat after me,” he said. “I’m real happy. Happy and pleased.”

It was an easy decision, said fire inspector Dean Marcus.

“We wanted to pick somebody who was pretty special to the department and the community,” Marcus said.