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- "Fireships to the left and the right."
- ―Obi-Wan Kenobi
The emergency firespeeder was a specialized airspeeder designed to put out fires.
Characteristics[]
The emergency firespeeder, also known simply as a fireship, was a designated fire suppression speeder and thus was designed to transport large amounts of water and other fire-retardant agents to douse flaming structures and vessels.
Firespeeders douse the flames on Invisible Hand while still in the air.
It featured an ablative cockpit canopy which allowed brief exposure to intense temperatures. They also had emergency running lights, and an extremely loud annunciator and siren. These vessels featured cowled jet engines in addition to their repulsorlift generators, allowing the vehicles to travel quickly.
A firespeeder could accommodate a brigade of fire fighters. It was also equipped with a medical bay to treat injured patients until they could get to a medcenter, as well as a tractor beam projector to clear debris or rescue wounded civilians from dangerous areas.
The firespeeder's tanks were filled with water, foam and other fire retardant agents. There were four sprayers, one on each wing, and they could be controlled from the front cockpit. The firespeeder's co-pilot cockpit was located on the rear of the vehicle and may have been used during an emergency.
History[]
Fire Team Three during the Battle of Coruscant.
Firespeeders were deployed by the Republic during the Battle of Coruscant as burning wrecks of vessels from the space battle above began to plunge into the atmosphere since the planetary shields had been weakened by concentrated Separatist efforts. Fire teams were placed on twenty-four-hour emergency alert during this period.
Tractor beam-equipped tow ships caught some of the larger wrecks though some pieces still managed to crash on the planetwide metropolis despite the efforts of the pilots. Emergency firespeeders of Fire Team Three also scoured the skies over Coruscant's large industrial district for any airborne dangers. One of their last missions was to douse the flaming wreckage of Invisible Hand, as, piloted by Anakin Skywalker, it made an emergency landing in the industrial district following the death of Count Dooku.
Days later, when the Jedi Temple was set ablaze during the so-called "Jedi Rebellion," fireships remained grounded, perhaps on orders from Palpatine himself.
Behind the scenes[]
In LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, the emergency firespeeder appears as a bonus ship that the player can automatically construct and fly by collecting canisters scattered throughout the second level of Episode III. In this game, it is simply called the Emergency Ship.
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (First appearance)
- † Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith junior novelization
- Millennium Falcon
- Millennium Falcon audiobook
Non-canon appearances[]
Sources[]
- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary
"The Vehicles of Episode III" — Star Wars Insider 83- Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (as firespeeder)
- Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 32
emergency firespeeder in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)- The Official Star Wars Fact File Part 3 (2013)
