Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla Staff Officer Bob Schillo (from left), Flotilla Commodore Allen Harding and Gun Barrel City Fire Chief Joseph Lindaman show the vessel safety check sticker earned by the fire department’s new rescue boat Oct. 3.

GUN BARREL CITY–The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary at Cedar Creek Lake gave a big thumbs-up to the new Gun Barrel City Fire Department rescue boat following an Oct. 3 inspection at the department’s main station.
Flotilla Staff Officer Bob Schillo said the new rescue boat, which was added to the fire department’s toolkit in September, passed its vessel safety check with “beyond flying colors” after he and Flotilla Commodore Allen Harding ensured the vessel and its equipment complied with federal, state and local safety requirements.
“The fire department requested that the Coast Guard Auxiliary come in and do a vessel inspection on it and make sure all the safety equipment was there that really was needed,” Harding said. The only difference in the inspection from one made for the public is that the government-owned rescue boat doesn’t require a Texas vessel registration number, Harding added.
Harding said the boat is “top of the class” and added the department is “lucky to have it.” Harding noted the boat is specially designed for fire rescue and has room to add an attachment to pump water and fight fires. Harding also remarked that the boat’s trailer helps the vessel access Cedar Creek Lake when water levels are low, with the ability to back the boat beyond the slip.
Gun Barrel Fire Department Chief Joseph Lindaman said one reason for making sure the boat is “Coast Guard ready” is to encourage the public to get their own free vessel safety inspections. Harding said the Auxiliary can perform as many as “hundreds” of water vessel inspections during a single year and that anyone is welcome to contact them for the free look-over. “We’ll gladly come out right to them and inspect their vessel,” Harding stated.