Fox Island Brush Fire Latest Call For West Pierce Fire & Rescue's "Endeavor"

When a brush fire broke out on Fox Island on Monday, one of the vessels used to fight it came a few miles from across Puget Sound.

West Pierce Fire & Rescue's boat "Endeavor" provided firefighters with a better angle from the water side to attack the fire. Authorities say they were able to contain the brush fire quicker than if crews were fighting only from the ground.

It wasn't the first time "Endeavor" has been used to assist elsewhere in Pierce County. Since the Lakewood and University Place department commissioned the grant-funded boat in May, it has gone on several responses throughout Pierce County. 

Among those incidents: An incident under the Narrows Bridge, a recreational boater with an engine fire, an overturned kayak and a significant fuel leak in which the Endeavor’s crew assisted the Coast Guard to deploy a boom for spill containment.

There was also an incident in Gig Harbor where a woman was injured on the beach, and the best access to the patient was via the fire boat, the department says. The woman was treated for her injuries, packaged and loaded onto the boat. She was then taken by the Endeavor to an awaiting shore based medic unit and transported to the hospital.

West Pierce says the boat was essential in each of those incidents.