Kenneth Gotay, 54, of Crystal River, was killed.

Paynes Prairie State Park has claimed yet another motorist, the fourth in three years since it flooded after Hurricane Irma and has remained a water-filled bowl.

Kenneth Gotay, 54, of Crystal River, died in a crash Wednesday night after his vehicle became submerged in the Paynes Prairie swamp.

Alachua County sheriff’s dive team members had to maneuver in water 15 to 20 feet deep — while deputies on shore had to fire at several alligators — to get Gotay’s body out of his SUV, Lt. Brett Rhodenizer said.

“(Divers) were on top of the vehicle and did not break the surface,” Rhodenizer said. “Last night we had to deploy additional deputies to provide overwatch. We had to fire on a couple of alligators that were closing in. The alligators never surfaced again. There are a lot of them out there.”

Rhodenizer added the agency notified the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the incident.

Gotay was driving a 2000 Jeep Cherokee south on U.S. 441 around 9:30 p.m. when the SUV left the road and traveled onto the west shoulder, according to a Florida Highway Patrol press release.

The front of the Jeep hit a fence and continued traveling southwest, the report said. It then plunged into the swamp and became submerged.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident, according to the report.

Troopers were assisted on the scene by sheriff's deputies, Alachua County Fire Rescue, Alachua County Emergency Services and Elite Towing.

Gotay, who was not wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene, the report said.

An investigation is underway. It is not known if alcohol was a factor.

Last week a tractor-trailer rig ended up in the water after crashing off Interstate 75. The driver was able to get out of the cab on his own. In July, a car with eight people inside careened into the water. All eight got out and were plucked from the top of the car by ACFR.

Four people have died since 2017 but deaths have happened before that when the water wasn’t as high as it's been the past few years.

The Paynes Prairie water hazard for motorists on U.S. 441 and I-75 has prompted the Florida Department of Transportation to plan safety measures, including guardrails.

District DOT spokesman Troy Roberts said in an email that a project scheduled to begin early next year on I-75 will install a guardrail through Paynes Prairie. A separate project on U.S. 441 in 2021 — a resurfacing job on the roadway from Paynes Prairie through Micanopy — will also include guardrail installation.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, has proposed building a causeway over Paynes Prairie in place of U.S. 441 to eliminate detours that are needed when water levels are so high that the lanes become submerged.

DOT is planning to elevate the lanes by about 6 inches to try to prevent inundation.