Cleveland Fire Boat Anthony J. Celebrezze is up for sale

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Here’s your chance to buy a piece of Cleveland history as the Anthony J. Celebrezze Cleveland Fire Boat is up for sale. The fire boat has been around for decades. It was on the scene when the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969.

It was named after the city of Cleveland’s 49th mayor, who later was part of President John F. Kennedy’s cabinet and appointed to the federal bench by President Lyndon Johnson. The boat was decommissioned on June 28, 2023, and removed from service.

Built in 1961, the boat is currently in the water in Newburgh Heights. The buyer will be responsible for getting it out of the water and moving it, according to an ad on GovDeals.

This boat has four Detriot diesel engines and measures 61 feet long and 16 feet wide, the ad says. As of Saturday there were 10 bids on the boat, but no had met the reserve price of $5,000.

Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek, told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer on Saturday a new fire boat already has been put into service.

The new boat is named after Garrett Morgan. Morgan was an inventor, responsible for the gas mask and the traffic light. The Garrett Morgan School of Leadership & Innovation, located on Detroit Avenue in the city’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, is named for him, as is one of the city’s water treatment plants.

The Anthony J. Celebrezze Cleveland Fire Boat has served the city well, but became outdated, Polensek said. The Garrett Morgan fire boat, with newer technology, has “the capacity to respond quicker and to pump more water,” he said.

Cleveland.com