Myrtle Beach Fire Department’s first high-water vehicle ready for hurricane season
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Myrtle Beach Fire Department recently secured its first high water vehicle, also known as a light medium tactical vehicle.
When hurricane season begins on June 1, the department plans to use the water vehicle for many different flooding situations if needed.
The department says it’ll be used for transporting resources and rescuing people.
“It’s another tool in the toolbox that we can use for these types of situations, again better to be overprepared then underprepared so it’s nice to have this as an addition to the fleet,” Capt. Jonathan Evans with Myrtle Beach Fire Department said.
With help from South Carolina Forestry, the department was able to get the water vehicle last summer through federal firefighter programs. The programs work with departments to repurpose former military equipment.
“Happy to have that resource so that we didn’t have to buy something brand new especially for something we don’t plan on using all the time, all day,” Evans said.
The vehicle has undergone maintenance and painting in the past few months. Now, it’s ready to respond to rescue and evacuation situations during flooding events.
Evans said these vehicles are common among departments in coastal areas. Some like North Myrtle Beach and Garden City-Murrells Inlet who see much more flooding than Myrtle Beach.
“Last year we had a storm where we had a hotel that had some pretty good flooding where we had a few people, fortunate we were able to save with the ladder truck but maybe this is a resource we could’ve used in that case,” Evans said.
The inside of the vehicle seats two and has benches in the back. It can also carry resources or tow another vehicle.
Some last details to be done are installing lights, radios, and holding specialized training for first responders on how to use the vehicle.
“It’s not the type of vehicle just like our engines, it’s a little different type of driving so knowing what to do, how to operate the vehicle just like any of our other ones you have to get signed up on the engine, the rescue, the ladder truck, so this is no different,” Evans said.
The department said once South Carolina Forestry does a final inspection on the vehicle, it will be fully transferred over to Myrtle Beach Fire Department.
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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here.
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