This classically inspired wood-frame structure was built in 1927 to house the Port’s Fireboat No. 1. The fireboat dated from 1919 and was intended to serve various locations throughout the Port. The construction of this facility marked a decision to focus the fireboat on Fish Harbor to protect the growing cannery industry.

Designed in a simplified Classical Revival style, the building features a columned portico and tower that distinguish it from the surrounding industrial architecture. Used to supplement land-based fire fighting operations at the Port, it was one of only two fireboat houses built on Terminal Island during the mid-1920s. (Fire Station No. 112 was demolished in 1986, despite its designation as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #154.)

Nicknamed “oracle of the harbor” from its many decades of service to the local community, Fireboat House 1 provided a range of aid in addition to fire fighting, from first aid to legal advice and even a clearinghouse for fish. It served as a fireboat house until the early 1990s, when it was transferred to its current occupant, the Port of Los Angeles Police Dive Team.