Indian River County Fire Rescue is aiming to improve safety and response times with the addition of its new watercraft. slated for an September or October completion date.
The 31-foot WAC Life Proof Boats RHIB will come fully equipped with top-of-the-line safety tools to help combat fires.
"It's got a 500 gallon per minute fire pump, night vision, radar capability. We have a remote control turret that can remotely operate water from a nozzle from the cockpit," said David Kieran, deputy fire chief with the Indian River County Fire Rescue.
In addition to being well-equipped for fighting fires, the craft will have additional rescue capabilities.
"We also have enough storage on our boat that we can move into a dive operationif we have to," Kieran said. "We're equipped to do surface water rescue and dry rescue if need be."
The new craft will greatly improve response times, Kieran said.
"The response times with this vessel will be much faster. The night vision will make us more efficient and locating vessels in addition to the radar," he said. "It's able to handle rougher weather."
The vessel was selected after a vetting process conducted by the Fire Rescue, as their current boat the rescue owns is at the end of its service life.