Sarasota County Fire Department adds high-water rescue trucks and other new tools ahead of hurricane season

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Sarasota County Fire Department has new tools they've been training on ahead of this year's hurricane season. 

The department added new high-water rescue trucks, rescue boats and equipment to protect those responding. 

The 2024 hurricane season showed the need for the department to make the investment for the community. 

The backstory:

Tropical Storm Debby brought flooding to Sarasota County that hadn't been seen in decades. 

The storm trapped people in their homes and led to hundreds of rescues. 

"Before we had tools and some tools, now we have the best equipment to do the best job to help the citizens," Tim Dorsey, Sarasota County Fire Department assistant chief of special programs, said.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton followed Debby. 

Sarasota County was able to perform rescues, but with the help of the National Guard and outside agencies. 

For the 2026 hurricane season, the Sarasota County Fire Department has added two new high-water rescue trucks, two jon boats, two inflatable Zodiac boats with double-stacked trailers and personal protective equipment for the emergency response fleet. 

What they're saying:

"They are purposely built to drive through 55 inches of water, so that’s a lot of deep water, where some vehicles have limitations of 30 inches," Dorsey said. 

The high-water rescue vehicles will not only allow the Sarasota County Fire Department to get deeper into water rescues, but it will also allow them to get there faster.

"With our last storms and storm season of 2024, where this would have been extremely beneficial and one of the hallmark reasons why we purchased this was we had a lot of difficulty getting out to the barrier islands. It wasn’t the water on the barrier islands, but we had 30 to 45 inches of water before we could even drive across the bridge to get out to the barrier islands," Dorsey said.

Big picture view:

Dorsey said he knows it's not a matter of it they will have to respond again, but when. 

"It's very important because we are in Florida. This is not the first time this will happen. Thank God it’s the first time it happened to Sarasota County in quite a long time, but we have to be prepared for that worst-case scenario, and that event to go down that we need to take care of," Dorsey said. 

Crews will be training with the new rescue equipment every single year to keep their skills sharp. 

The goal is to eventually have four sets of high-water rescue trucks and boats located at fire stations across the county. 

By the numbers:

A grant from the West Coast Inland Navigational District covered half of the funding for the rescue boats and trailers. The rest of the funding came through the Sarasota County budget.

The boats and trailers cost around $130,000, and the high-water rescue vehicles were purchased for around $350,000 apiece.