D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly told reporters that while there were icy conditions during the rescue and recovery operations at the site of Wednesday night’s crash involving a jet and a military helicopter, the absence of D.C.’s icebreaker, the “John Glenn,” was not a factor.
“(The John Glenn) is not the primary asset for this type of operation, and so while it’s in the shop, it didn’t affect anything,” Donnelly said at a press conference on Friday.
The John H. Glenn Jr. fireboat, originally built in 1963 and named in honor of senator and astronaut John Glenn, has been unavailable as it’s under repair and has been docked in Baltimore since 2022.
While Donnelly said the absence of the icebreaker wasn’t an issue for the massive response from first responders, Dave Hoagland, the president of the D.C. Firefighters Association IAFF Local 36, told WTOP that the boat “would have been perfect as a dive platform for our divers, and it’s just a much larger boat” than many in the fleet.
Donnelly said that in recovery efforts after Wednesday night’s crash, there was some ice on the river, but crews still were able to access the site.
D.C. Council member Charles Allen has also been concerned about the status of the icebreaker.
“We’ve had three water-based major events just in the last couple of weeks, and we need to make sure that this is coming back on line for the District,” Allen told WTOP.
Allen called on D.C. City Administrator John Donahue urging a replacement for the icebreaker.
“We’ve got to stop dancing around this. We need a new boat,” Allen said. “The Glenn has been in service to the District since 1977.”
Hoagland said the cost of repairs on the John Glenn raises questions about the wisdom of continued repairs versus getting a new icebreaker.
“They need to do some work on the windshield of the Glenn. That thing is so old, that they are actually having to custom-construct a whole new windshield,” Hoagland said.
While Allen and Hoagland both continue to have concerns about not having the John Glenn in service currently, they both praised the work of first responders this week.
Allen said the first responders were heroic and they did an amazing job.
“It was well run and everybody worked really hard. Our guys were diving for five continuous hours that first night in really hazardous conditions,” Hoagland said of the operation.
Donnelly said the icebreaker should be back in service in the District by the summer.
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