Hover II is a sleek, red machine that floats on a pocket of air and can travel over any smooth surface, be it dirt, ice, water or mud, said Chief Mike Fiedor. Fiedor said the hovercraft is capable of carrying up to four people at a time and it is primarily used to transport police officers and other emergency workers to people stranded in wetlands, creeks and other shallow waterways.
The hovercraft is equipped with emergency gear such as a floating medical board, life jackets, dry suits and a medical kit. Other special features include emergency lights and a siren.
While the gasoline-powered hovercraft isn't sent to emergencies every day, Fiedor said the fire company uses it frequently to practice ice and water rescue drills. The department has 15 licensed drivers trained to deploy the machine.
Last week, the fire company used the hovercraft to retrieve a Pleasantville man who ran into the the marshes on Old Turnpike Road. In the past, it has been used for a variety of other emergency situations such as rescuing lost fishermen, trapped boaters and picking up hikers and jet-ski riders stuck in the mud, Fiedor said. Other successful rescue missions have taken place in the township, Brigantine and Linwood.
Atlantic County Fire Marshal Harold "Whitey" Swartz said the Scullville hovercraft is handy during water-related emergencies and it is the only one owned by a fire department in the southern New Jersey region. "It's so flexible. They unload it off the trailer right on the asphalt. You don't have to worry about a boat ramp. You go right in the water," Swartz said. The vehicle could also be used in other places difficult to navigate by foot, such as ice flows, meadows and gravel pits.
Dept. Chief Mike Sweeney said the Somers Point Fire Department occasionally has used the hovercraft, especially during the summer months when personal watercraft riders get stuck in the Greater Egg Harbor Bay.
"It's an asset because, when we have to do a water rescue, if for some reason they get on the marshes, it's quicksand. We sink right in with them," Sweeney said. With the hovercraft, Sweeney said the emergency workers are able to reach the stranded people, carry them to the Somers Point fire rescue boat and bring them to shore.
The fire company also helps the U.S. Coast Guard and State and Marine police on occasion, and the vehicle has been dispatched to emergencies as far away as Burlington County and Ocean City, Assistant Chief John Webb said.
"You call, we'll go. You call, we haul," Webb said.
The Scullville fire company got its first hovercraft in 1995 when former Chief Wally Shields realized the company would need to monitor the coastline between Patcong Creek and Great Egg Harbor River and a boat would not be able to navigate the waters during low tide, Fiedor said.
The first vehicle, Hover I, was purchased for $5,000 in Ocean City. It was used for 10 years before the floor broke and it was put out of service.
The township spent $30,000 to replace the vehicle in 2005, said Don Stauffer, the township fire inspector and former chief. Hover II was custom-designed by Neoteric Hovercraft Inc., in Terre Haute, Ind. and the fire company assembled the vehicle in spring 2006, Stauffer said.
Fiedor and Webb said they've seen their fair share of interesting and sad rescue missions while using both vehicles.
One of the funniest emergency calls happened during a blizzard in 2001. Fiedor said a township resident spotted a dog stranded on an ice flow in the Greater Egg Harbor River and the hovercraft went out on a three-hour night patrol.
"We were searching and searching and searching on the river three miles out," Fiedor said. "The next day we came back and found out it was an otter on the ice."
In 1998, the fire company used the hovercraft in two separate incidents to search for a Cape May Court House man who went missing while shrimp fishing in Estell Manor and a Washington, D.C., fugitive who ran away from the Egg Harbor Township police into the Patcong Creek. Unfortunately, both men drowned.
Over the years, Stauffer estimated that Hover I was probably used in 20 emergencies and Hover II in four emergencies.
The cost of the vehicles may have been high, but fire officials say the hovercrafts are essential.
"It's a lot of money for something you don't need every day," Swartz said. "Yet, when you need it, it's worth their weight in gold."