MONCTON, N.B. – The Moncton Fire Department showed off its newest rescue vehicle today – a hovercraft.

A simulated rescue was conducted on the McLaughlin Road reservoir.

Fire chief Eric Arsenault says the hovercraft is not a car or a boat, but a unique vehicle which can easily transition from land to water, by flying on a cushion of air just above land, mud, water or ice.

Arsenault says it will be a useful tool, given our terrain.

An instructor is training a number of firefighters to pilot the hovercraft.

It comes at a cost of $80,000, but city councillor Pierre Boudreau says he believes it’s an essential addition to the fire rescue unit.