Fire departments around the St. Louis area are turning to fast-attack units to reach emergencies in places traditional apparatus have difficulty reaching.

According to FirstAlert4, the Des Peres, MO, Department of Public Safety added its first unit a couple of weeks ago. The smaller units, featuring ultra-high-pressure pumps, make it easier to reach certain areas around the town, such as parking garages.

Assistant Fire Chief Dale Fiala said that if they had a car fire in those areas, it would take 4-5 minutes for a pumper to get water on the fire.

“This vehicle is equipped with an ultra-high-pressure system that you’ll be able to drive this unit to it and start an immediate fire attack,” Fiala said. “It just broadens our operations of what we can do.”

For the Kirkwood, MO, Fire Department, it has similar access issues, including certain bridges, conservation areas and trails that are harder to reach with a traditional apparatus.

“We do have a real concern that if there was a fire in one of those structures, we can’t get our normal apparatus up,” Fire Chief Jim Silvernail said.

Kirkwood invested in similar units several years ago by purchasing a mini-pumper, a brush truck and a utility task vehicle.

“On a house fire, it requires a lot of effort, a lot of capabilities and this is not the main suppression apparatus out of its firehouse,” Silvernail said. “This is made to supplement and also take care of those inaccessible areas.”

The smaller units are not meant to replace larger apparatus, but the St. Louis area may see more vehicles like the fast-attack rigs. They are typically cheaper than a pumper or aerial.

“That’s (fire truck) a million-dollar piece of equipment: very expensive to run, very expensive to repair,” Fiala stated. “This unit here (fast attack) you can run for pennies on the dollar, maintenance-wise.”