With hurricane season just around the corner, Treasure Coast first responders teamed up to announce they'll be using some new tools that could save lives when the weather gets rough.
While Hurricane Matthew was not a direct hit for us, the winds reached a point where rescue crews in St. Lucie County had to shelter in place. During that time, a 58 year-old woman died from a heart attack.
“There were incidences due to weather conditions that we had to stop operations, that’s common during a hurricane," said St. Lucie Fire District Chief Buddy Emerson Wednesday.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Lucie Fire District announced a partnership to use the two Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected military surplus vehicles that the Sheriff's Office has.
“So any time someone is in crisis especially during these weather events, we can respond," said Sheriff Ken Mascara.
When deployed, a minimum of two deputies and two medics will be on board.
“Does not take need away for people to prepare. It does not take away the need for people to heed our instructions to evacuate," added Sheriff Mascara.
The MRAP can drive through flooded streets and with armored doors, there’s no need to worry about wind tossed projectiles.
The Fire District is installing new wind speed indicators at fire stations around the county for better data collection.
“Rather than have a stagnant number, 50 miles an hour, we’ll leave the discretion as to when you can deploy and how you can deploy to our local incident commanders," said Chief Emerson.
The Sheriff says the vehicles will be deployed at either end of the county if the weather merits it.