By Dale Anderson
The Buffalo News, N.Y.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Once again Saturday, Buffalo’s iconic fireboat, the Edward M. Cotter, was called upon to venture where land-based firefighters dared not to go.
City spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge reported that a large brush fire brought a crew from Engine 20 to Gallagher Beach off Fuhrmann Boulevard about 10:30 a.m., but because it was at the bottom of a cliff, they could not gain access to it.
According to DeGeorge, fire officials said no one was able to climb down to the blaze and it was too dangerous to try to run a line over the cliff.
Within about 20 minutes, the Cotter was summoned and sailed out along the Lake Erie shore to reach the fire. The boat was on the scene until about 1:10 p.m. and, according to the captain, about half a million gallons of water were used to extinguish the blaze.
From 2018
Historic NY fireboat to get $500,000 in repairs
The Edward M. Cotter — believed to be the oldest active fireboat in the world — has been putting out fires and breaking up ice for 118 years
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