ST CHARLES, Mo. — St. Charles emergency workers unveiled a new weapon they say could save lives during natural disasters.
The Central County Fire Protection district just put two massive heavy duty trucks on the road. From fires, to floods and, of course, snowstorms, these trucks handle it all.
Four years and $400,000 buys you a pretty nice set of trucks.
"It's kind of the maiden voyage. We get to get out and see what these trucks are capable of," said Jeremy Loehrer, a firefighter with the Central County Fire District.
Meet the Swiss army knife of rescue trucks.
With its military-grade wheels, mounted cameras and remote spray nozzles controlled by a joystick, you won't find its match anywhere in the St Louis area.
Most important? It's allowing emergency workers to get to places that were previously hard to reach.
"If this was snow covered we wouldn't even attempt to drive our pumper truck up this hill. We'd park down here and then we'd walk up by foot," said Loehrer.
Loehrer is one of the firefighters who used the truck to respond to emergencies last weekend. With the heavy snow, he says the possible uses for the truck are endless.
"In these kinds of conditions, they could go off the roadway a little bit, hit a utility pole, something like that. And if the vehicle catches fire, we can still access sometimes with a pumper depending on where it's at. You could drive this down, in the snow, and get closer. Every minute counts," said Leohrer.
And when asked if he thinks the truck should reassure residents, he said:
"I think they should be able to sleep a little easier," said Loehrer.
Central County fire district picked up two of those customized trucks last week at a cost of $200,000 each.
The money came from Prop Safety, a measure passed by voters in 2015.