Cedar Hill firefighters are better prepared for water rescues after acquiring a new aluminum boat, trailer and two motors.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office recently donated a rigid hull boat and a motor, both which had been deemed surplus property, to the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District. The boat, made in 2009, replaces an aluminum boat made in 2001 that the fire district had been using, Fire Chief Mick Fischer said.
In addition, Cedar Hill Fire purchased a new trailer for $15,200, funding it with a Missouri Department of Public Safety grant. The trailer was made by Rescue One, an Alabama-based company specializing in the manufacture of rescue boats, Fischer said.
He said the district also purchased a new 2023 motor for an inflatable boat the district already owned. The motor replaces a 1986 motor.
The new motor cost $4,300 and was purchased from OPC Marine Service in Imperial, Fischer said.
“The updated equipment is going to give us the ability to better mitigate water-related incidents,” he said. “The increased horsepower on both of the boats just allows us a lot more versatility when we’re dealing with swift water.”
In June, the fire district received the public safety grant it used to buy the double-decker trailer, Fischer said, adding it allows for better storage of the district’s two boats.
“We used to have to stack the boats right on top of one another (on the previous trailer),” he said. “Instead of having the boats sandwiched together on one trailer, we can now load and unload the boats individually.”
Fischer said the boat the Sheriff’s Office donated to the fire district is a wide, flat-bottom boat suitable for rescuing victims in swift-moving water.
“It’s really stable,” he said. “When you buy a johnboat from Bass Pro, for example, they tend to be skinnier. When you’ve got a couple of big guys trying to get on one side of the boat to pull a victim in, there’s a lot of weight on one side of the boat. The skinnier boats won’t tolerate that.”
Additional water training
Beginning Dec. 4, Cedar Hill firefighters began training with the new water rescue equipment on Lake Tishomingo, a private lake community on Hwy. BB between Cedar Hill and Hillsboro, Fischer said.
He said the agreement with the Lake Tishomingo homeowner’s association benefits everyone involved.
“They (the lake community residents) are actually in the Goldman Fire District, but if they’ve got a water-related incident, we’re the closest to respond,” Fischer said. “I think that’s why they agreed to it. We’re planning on doing a little more regular training over there in the future.”