High Ridge Fire Protection District’s new ladder truck has arrived and will start running calls March 15.
The district is inviting community members to see the truck from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at House 1, the district’s headquarters, 2842 High Ridge Blvd., in High Ridge. A brief ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. and afterward, personnel will demonstrate the truck’s capabilities.
Assistant Chief Kevin Miniea said the Rosenbauer truck cost $854,000 and took about two-and-a-half years to plan and build. “We’re able to now have a ladder truck as the first or second truck on every call,” he said.
The truck replaces two aging trucks, including a ladder truck the district bought used in the early 2000s and a pumper from 2000.
Chief Tom Lakin said the truck was purchased with funds from Proposition Life Safety, a 25-cent tax increase approved by voters in August 2018. He said this is the first truck purchased with the funds.
Lakin said High Ridge needs a ladder truck because of new higher buildings in the area. He said the district used to rely on mutual aid companies, like Fenton Fire Protection District, for a ladder truck.
“There are so many uses for this type of apparatus,” Lakin said. He noted that a ladder truck can also be used to help rescue people from flood waters.
Miniea said the district has 10 firetrucks stationed across four firehouses. He said the district also has two boats.
Miniea said he hopes the new truck will last about 15 years. He said the district tries to replace its oldest truck every five years.
Captain Jared Capliger will be one of the firefighters assigned to the truck on calls. He said it comes equipped with tools for many types of rescues.
“It’s like having the best toolbox possible at your disposal,” he said. “It’s safer for the guys because it’s got all the modern safety features.”
Goodbye, bond
Lakin said the district will be able to pay its last payment on a 2000 bond issue without charging taxpayers in the 2020 tax year.
He said the bond, which brought in about $4.3 million, paid for two new trucks and the construction of the current headquarters.
Lakin said retiring the bond issue should save residents about $20 or more a year.
“They could look at their personal property tax from last year and this year and compare the two and see what they paid to the High Ridge fire district and there should be a reduction in there,” he said.