VIDEO: Resort City firefighters say if a building collapse similar to the June disaster in Surfside, Florida were to happen here, they're now better prepared to respond.
In the last six weeks, the Virginia Beach Fire Department added two identical vehicles, called rescue companies, to its fleet. The vehicles are designed to respond to fire entrapments, vehicle entrapments, water rescues and building collapses, among other emergencies.
"It's the Swiss Army knife of vehicles," said Capt. Jon Rigolo, a 38-year veteran of the department who works on the Technical Rescue team at Fire Station 7, near the Virginia Beach Town Center.
Also described as a "big toolbox," Capt. Rigolo says the roughly $1 million vehicles were specifically designed with Virginia Beach firefighters in mind, a process that took about two years.