PHOTO: Tropical Storm Eta presented a challenge for Longboat Key first responders.
As tides and rain runoff rose during the November 2020 storm, north-end roads began flooding. And then, Longboat Key Assistant Fire Chief Bryan Carr recalled, there was a 911 call about a fire in Longbeach Village. There never was a question about responding into the rising salt water to protect lives and property, but ...
“We were told by our fleet services maintenance that we were probably about four inches from destroying a truck completely,” Carr said. “So it was that close to the air intake.” Enter the town's newest vehicle, a behemoth of a four-wheel drive machine that can easily roll through almost anything Longboaters can expect do see and looks perhaps more suited to a Tom Clancy novel than a day by the beach.