 On October 7 , 1960 Edward M. Cotter came to the aid of firefighting authorities in Port Colborne , Ontario , Canada . Two days previously , on October 5 , 1960 , a set of grain elevators caught fire at the eight @-@ story Maple Leaf Milling Company . The Port Colborne Fire Department did not have its own fireboat and they were unable to bring the fire under control . The Buffalo Fire Department was asked to send Edward M. Cotter to lend assistance . Escorted by a United States Coast Guard cutter , because she had never needed navigational equipment of her own , Edward M. Cotter proceeded across the international border . The voyage to Port Colborne took two hours with an additional four hours needed to bring the fire under control . This mission is said to have been the first instance that a United States fire boat had crossed an international border to help authorities in another country . 
