New airboat will help Cambridge Fire Department with water rescues

The Cambridge Fire Department is training on its newest airboat this week on Puslinch Lake.

The rescue vessel features a flat bottom to help with rescues on the many bodies of water in the area.

Members of the Cambridge Fire Department training on their new airboat on Puslinch Lake on July 19, 2023. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)

“[It] allows us to get into shallow waters. A lot of swampy marsh, muddy waters, as well as shallow rivers,” said Cpt. Bill Savory with the Cambridge Fire Department.

The new boat replaces an older one. Unlike its predecessor, it features a flat bottom, which allows for better access to areas where traditional boats would get stuck. The new boat can access water as shallow as one foot.

“It’s a flat bottom boat. It’s approximately 4,000 pounds and you steer it by using a joystick on your left side that steers the rudders, and using a gas pedal,” Savory said.

By having the propeller out and above the water, it does make the boat a little bit noisier, but it gives the fire department the ability to access even shallower bodies of water, and travel across ice.

“On ice it will perform very well. It also has an ice brake on the back,” Savory said.

The vessel’s flat bottom allows for better access to shallow areas traditional boats would get stuck. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)

The new airboat will be put in service once firefighters finish training this week. It will be available year-round for local calls and with any emergency departments that Cambridge assists.

“It’s going to be more accessible to all of the waterways within the Waterloo region and in Puslinch,” Jessica Buczynski, a fire and life safety educator with the Cambridge Fire Department said.

The fire department has used its older airboat for rescues before, including in 2017, when a canoeist was stuck on the Grand River.

The department said this new machine will help prevent future emergency situations from getting worse.

“It’s a 525 horsepower motor and it will get up to speed very quickly. And it will hydroplane on about four inches of water,” Savory said.

The 4,000 pound boat has a 525 horsepower motor and is steered with a joystick. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)

The department picked it up in Florida and received extensive training before bringing it back.

Fire officials want to remind anyone using a waterway to wear a personal floatation device, and in the winter, if they are going ice fishing, to check the level of the ice before proceeding.