Statement of Significance (as of designation - June 30, 1989):
FIREFIGHTER is one of ten surviving fireboats in the U.S. 50 years of age or older and is the second oldest, but best known, fireboat associated with the Port of New York, the most significant port in the U.S. since the 1820s. FIREFIGHTER has never been modernized and represents the culmination of American fireboat design, as her long service without modification indicates.