Estero Fire Rescue gets new emergency vehicle

ESTERO, Fla.,- It’s your money and Estero Fire Rescue says it’s saving you thousands of dollars by switching to SUV’s. The vehicles are designed to save you cash and keep you safe.

Responding to an emergency just got a whole lot different for Estero Fire Rescue! The fire department added this Chevy suburban outfitted with all of the medical equipment you would see on an ambulance.

“When it was time to replace our large box rescue, we looked at the option and it’s quite a savings,” said Chief Scott Vanderbrook.

Rescue 42 is saving you thousands on things like gas and maintenance. Cost for maintenance on this vehicle is comparable to your everyday car.

“Our current vehicle would have cost about $172,000 to replace; this vehicle was $55,000,” said Chief Vanderbrook.

“Probably the biggest saving we will see is a fire engine gets three to four miles to the gallon, and this will get 12 to 15 miles to the gallon for fuel.”

The fire department will use the SUV when a fire truck isn’t needed.

“It gives us more of a 360 view so we can see where we are going, especially in traffic. With the rescue that we had we were restricted side to side. Now, that we have windows in the back, we can get to the scene safer,” said firefighter Christopher Intartaglio.

Firefighters say they are getting to calls faster, which is important when seconds matter.

“I think they are a lot easier to maneuver around and we can get to places we normally couldn’t with the old rescue,” said Intartaglio.

Lee County EMS ambulances will still take patients to the hospital. Iona McGregor Fire is the only other station with the SUV’s in Lee County.