The Hometown Volunteer Fire Company is getting an off-road vehicle that can be used for fire suppression and rescues.

Township fire Chief Barry Messerschmidt said the department expects to put the side-by-side, or UTV, into service within a few weeks.

“It’s designed to carry 80 gallons of water” and will be able to access fires in remote places, he told Rush Township supervisors Thursday.

The vehicle will also have a Stokes basket for off-road rescues or recoveries.

“We could have used one a couple times this past hunting season when people had heart attacks in the woods to get them out,” Messerschmidt said.

He said the vehicle will be available to township police.

Messerschmidt added that the department’s 2007 International tanker will be refurbished.

“We have a ballpark price of approximately $340,000 to have it done,” he said.

A similar new vehicle would cost $540,000.

“So we are going to be basically getting a new truck for a lot less than going for everything new,” he said.