Festus firefighters responded to an unusual request the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 2 – to help cool down a tractor-trailer full of piglets.
Chuck Boyer, assistant chief for the Festus Fire Department, said the department received a call shortly after 7 p.m. about a tractor-trailer hauling piglets along northbound I-55 north of Hwy. A.
“The Police Department actually got the original call that the truck broke down,” he said. “The driver asked if the fire department could come down and help because the piglets were getting overheated. As long as the truck is moving, the air blows on them. But, it was starting to get hot along the side of the road.
“We got a hose line out and sprayed them down. We did it for about an hour, until a tow truck came.”
Boyer estimated the truck contained about 2,500 piglets.
“The truck came from Mississippi and was on its way to New London, Mo., up by Hannibal,” he said. “The piglets were OK.”
A firefighter for 41 years, Boyer said this was a new experience for him.
“I’d never been called out for something like this,” he said. “We’d been called to chase down cows after a truck accident. This is my first time to hose down pigs.”
The Herculaneum Fire Department and the Jefferson R-7 Fire District assisted with the call.
