The Jonesburg-High Hill Fire Protection District received a huge gift over the summer.

The fire department got a new truck with a 75-foot aerial ladder. It was given by the Mehlville Fire Protection District, located in south St. Louis County.

“They actually reached out to us,” said John Woods, chief of the Jonesburg-High Hill Fire Protection District. “They had a representative to ask us if we were interested in this truck for free. So they wanted to give this to a needy area someplace they knew they didn’t have an aerial truck in the area and could really use it and had some knowledge of it. I worked on aerial apparatus for all of my career.”

Woods said the fire department took possession of the truck in mid-July. The ladder was tested by Underwriters Laboratories in March and passed its test. 

“When we took possession of it, the make of this truck was a Pierce,” Woods said. “The dealership that’s in the area is in Eureka: It’s called McQueen. They have an excellent shop there. The guys who worked on trucks are phenomenal. I took the truck there to have them go through, making sure there weren’t any small repairs that needed to be taken care of. So it’s been about a month and half there. While it was there, we also had the decal work done on it by a company out of Herculaneum. They went through the truck. It didn’t need a whole lot.”

The new truck is sitting at the High Hill fire station, located on Booneslick Road.

“It fits here,” Woods said. “It boiled down to a little bit of depth of the engine bay and a little bit of the height. It fits in this firehouse. The door is tall enough. We got enough length in the engine bay.”

Woods said he’s happy that his fire department has an aerial ladder since it’s much safer than a ground ladder.

“Before we got this, we would be doing it with ground ladders,” the chief said. “Ground ladders are a lot less safe.”

Brian Hendricks, fire chief of the Mehlville fire department, gave the truck to the Jonesburg-High Hill fire department. New rear tires and other items were later added to the truck.

“We’re putting some of our money into it,” Woods said. “We have to buy loose equipment for it. We bought a radio for it. We had somebody come out and install wireless headsets in the truck. We’re making it ours.” 

Woods said he climbed on the ladder on the truck several times. It takes him about a minute to climb up the ladder.

“I worked on an identical truck to this at St. Charles,” Woods said. “Only it was about 10 years newer. Everytime I checked that truck out, I would climb it, so I’ve climbed 75 footers like this for a long time.”

Woods said his staff members were thrilled to have a truck with a 75-foot ladder.

“We’re excited for it, not only for us, but for the area,” he said.