COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The Council Bluffs Fire Department says its new hovercraft has already aided its rescue capabilities, and should come in handy this winter.

The department purchased the hovercraft for about $60,000 last summer. According to department Technical Services Captain Jason Sorenson, the hovercraft can fly 9 inches off the ground and can travel over water, grass, ice and snow.

The department was able to rescue a 23-year-old man trapped in the West Nodaway River in Clarinda due to flooding less than a month after acquiring the vehicle.

According to department officials, the hovercraft will be an asset when ice begins to appear in Lake Manawa. Department chief Justin James says it’s difficult to deploy rescuers through bad ice on the lake due its large size.