In 2012, Washington, D.C.'s Inspector General published a report that the John Glenn's maintenance had been dangerously neglected.[6] The report noted that, in addition to not implementing a program of general inspection, the city had neglected to plan or budget for a replacement for the fifty-year-old vessel. The report listed hundreds of other municipalities who had been able to replace or upgrade their fireboats through FEMA Port Security Grants, but that Washington DC had not applied for a grant. The report estimated that it would cost $7 million to replace the John H. Glenn Jr. with an equivalent, modern vessel. In October 2014 the Washington City Paper noted that, rather than respond to the report city government had merely left the vessel at her moorings.[7] Similarly, budget problems had forced the fire department to take half its fleet of firetrucks out of service, because it could not afford to keep them in running order.
Incidents
In 1982, the John H. Glenn Jr. and the city's other vessels tried to rescue people when an Air Florida airliner collided with the 14th Street Bridge.[7] Ice impeded their efforts. Seventy people died in the incident. Subsequently, the John Glenn was retrofitted with an icebreaking bow.
On January 31, 2009, the excursion vesselSpirit of Washington smashed into the dock shared by the fire department and police department's boats, damaging the John H. Glenn Jr.[4]
References
^ ab"City Commissions Fireboat Glenn". The New York Times. 1962-09-14. p. 30. Retrieved 2017-03-24. The newest and smallest of the city's ten fireboats was commissioned yesterday afternoon and put into service last night. Its berth will be at 154th Place and the East River in Whitestone, Queens.
