Fireboats in Norfolk, Virginia

[1] She was a former US Navy vessel, USS Gen. Harvey H. Brown, re-christened Vulcan.

In 2008, when Vulcan II was acquired, Norfolk's only vessel was a 22-foot (6.7 m) inflatable craft.

[2][3] She cost about half a million dollars, three quarters of which were provided through a FEMA Port Security Grant.

Like other fireboats funded by FEMA, in addition to fighting fires, and search and rescue, she is sealed so she can provide a front-line response to chemical spills or attacks by chemical weapons, and to biological or radiological threats.

She has advanced sensors, including infrared sensors that aid in locating a fire's hot-spots, and to picking out the heads of distressed boaters or swimmers, in the dark or under conditions of blinding fog or smoke.