Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Nestled in a mooring in the shadows of Key Bank Center in downtown Buffalo, the historic fireboat Cotter stands ready to thrust its way from its station and crash through the ice awaiting in the frigid Buffalo River.
It's that time of year again, when public officials and property owners await the dreaded phrase 'ice jam flooding' in the forecast. If ice jams the river and its tributaries, water backs-up onto adjacent properties and roadways, leaving the potential for devastating and costly damages to result.
"Every year is different," said Cotter Captain John Sixt as he stood bundled up and ready to navigate the powerful Cotter into the river. "Right now it's not that significant, but it's going to depend on the weather."
Sixt says it's taken the Cotter up to eight hours in previous seasons to make the short trip from the Cotter's dock to the Buffalo Skyway. The Cotter made that trip in about a half hour earlier this week.
While Sixt says it's hoped that a gradual thawing of the ice will occur to control the water flow, it's important to break the massive ice chunks up to allow water to flow into the river from the adjacent streams that run into it and prevent flooding. "They all meet up in the Buffalo River then head out to the mouth."
Weather plays a key factor in the development of the ice and the water flow. And while the Cotter was built to be a dual purpose vessel and break ice as well as fight fires, Captain Sixt knows its limitations.
"The boat will handle up to two feet of ice, we've encountered from four to 10 inches the other day."
Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo says the fireboat Cotter has been working for 121 years and recently underwent a $500,000 upgrade to its propellers and drive shafts.
"It is still the oldest working fireboat, not just in the country, but in the world."