CFAV Firebird is a Fire-class fireboat in the Royal Canadian Navy designed by Robert Allan Ltd.. Firebird is based in CFB Halifax, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her sister ship CFAV Firebrand is based in CFB Esquimalt.
Her three water cannons can fire water, or fire suppressant foam from her two 250 gallon tanks.
Operational history
On 22 March 2001 a large container vessel, Kitano, one day out of New York City, requested help fighting an onboard fire after she had gone to sea. Because of the extreme weather, Firebird was unable to leave the protected waters of Halifax Harbour to go to Kitano's aid; larger Navy vessels were dispatched instead.
Firebird suppressed a serious fire in HMCS Toronto's engine room in 2005. In 2008, the firefighting ship aided the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency department in extinguishing a fire aboard a former Canadian Coast Guard ship.
In January 2014 it was announced that Firebird 's time available for firefighting operations would be cut back due to budget reductions and that all operations on weekends would be suspended. It was announced that on 4 December 2014, Firebird was taken out of service and declared surplus.