The fire district needs equipment to save lives.
That’s the message Mehlville Fire Protection District officials and residents conveyed during the second meeting of the district’s public engagement program.
About 50 district residents attended the Fire District Advisory Committee for Tomorrow’s Emergency Services, or FACTS, meeting June 16. They heard — and saw — information about the district’s equipment and apparatus.
FACTS is designed to involve residents in developing recommendations that will provide fire and emergency medical solutions to meet future needs for the entire community. The group will meet two to three times a month until August to study key issues, define the district’s needs and reach consensus on potential solutions. At the end of the process, participants will present recommendations to the Board of Directors — Chairman Tom O’Driscoll, Treasurer Dan Ottoline Sr. and Secretary David Gralike — for consideration.
Last week’s meeting culminated with a mock rescue, in which firefighters and paramedics in their personal protective equipment, used their trucks and tools to extricate district mechanic Kenny Wenk from a junkyard vehicle in front of the No. 5 firehouse and district headquarters, 11020 Mueller Road, Green Park.
“I am really encouraged at how well they’re getting it,” O’Driscoll said of the residents in attendance after the meeting.
Deputy Chief Steve Mossotti delivered a presentation about the district’s equipment and apparatus. He outlined the engine company apparatus first by breaking down the district’s trucks into different types and explained each — the pumper, rescue pumper, quint and specialty units, such as the heavy rescue squad, aerial platform and four-wheel drive pumper and advanced life support vehicles or ambulances.
Mossotti discussed the equipment that each truck carries and also listed the standard cost at which each was purchased last, from more than $140,000 for an ambulance in 2001, to $636,000 for the arial platform in 2000 and anywhere from $268,000 for the heavy rescue in 1997 to $506,000 for the quint in 2001.
“Virtually all the repairs needed are done in-house,” Mossotti said, adding that the district’s mobile service unit repairs trucks out on the street. The longevity of a pumper, Mossotti explained, is about 14 years.
“Fourteen years is a workable timeframe for us and we came to that number through history. Then there were a lot more breakdowns. The smaller incidents started add(ing) up and major repairs increased too,” he said, noting ambulances are scheduled to be replaced every five years because they get a lot more miles on them.
“In both divisions (ambulance and fire apparatus), we are behind our schedules.”
Board approval was first sought in March 2003 to seek bids to replace the district’s 1717 ambulance, a 1997, which had about 98,000 miles on it in August.
Its replacement, which would cost the district $165,000, was delayed first to see how much revenue the 2002 ambulance billing policy would bring in, and since then it was delayed again each time the item was placed back on the board’s agenda.
Besides using a competitive bid process for apparatus purchases, the district also has “tagged” onto other departments’ apparatus purchases after those districts have already completed the competitive bid process. For instance, Mossotti said the St. Peters district may bid out a truck and the Mehlville fire district could decide it needs the exact same truck. It “tags” its order onto St. Peters and by doing so, saves money.
As for smaller equipment, the three sizes of fire hoses, totaling 600 feet, cost nearly $7,000 on each truck. A nozzle costs $500 to replace, ventilation fans cost $1,400 each and a rescue tool costs $19,000, he said.
During the first May 26 FACTS meeting, residents questioned whether the fire district would seek grant money to assist with finances. Mossotti addressed the question June 16, explaining that the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides $750 million to fire departments, but requires 30 percent in matching funds. The district received $148,366 in grant money in January 2004 and last month submitted another proposal for $178,000 to replace the district’s outdated radio system.
Comments from residentss following a group activity at the meeting included concern about the delay in replacing the district’s equipment as well as a desire to publicize the meetings to more residents.
The next FACTS meeting will discuss district staffing at 7 p.m. June 30. The meeting tentatively is scheduled to take place in the basement of St. Simon the Apostle Church, 1101 Mueller Road, across the street from the district headquarters.
