Firefighters said the smaller trucks will be easier to navigate in city traffic compared to the larger fire trucks, combined with faster speeds, they hope to get to medical patients faster during emergencies where every second counts.  

“These two particular ARV’s are a way for us to operate more efficiently, and safely as we navigate from the fire station to the emergency scene,” Little Rock Fire Department Chief Delphone Hubbard, said.

Fire Captain John Brand said currently, the bigger fire trucks can slow them down during high traffic hours.

The firefighters grabbed their equipment and along with the sprinkler system were able to put the fire out. One firefighter recovered at a local hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation.

As for the fire truck version, Toyota indeed built the SUV to spec with almost everything needed to join an emergency vehicle fleet. A Japanese company called Morita completed the finishing touches, however. There, it was painted fire engine red, received the water pumps, and was finished off with traditional gold flake graphics to signify it as a fire truck.  

According to Corsetti, this model specification was actually available to the public, save for the actual fire truck components from Morita. It wasn't, however, sold in the United States. Toyota. which appropriately nicknamed the SUV the "bubble top" for Japan, fitted the SUV with beefier axles, an inline-6 engine, and a 5-speed manual transmission. The specifications were available in other right-hand-drive markets, but the bubble top was reserved for Japan only. Also, Leno guesses the carburated engine is something exclusive to Japan since the U.S. market had largely moved away from carburetors by the mid-1980s.