Mo. fire departments adding ballistic vests after fatal shooting

Vests were prompted by officials after a firefighter was shot and killed while responding to a patient suffering from a seizure

Today at 10:00 AM

By FireRescue1 Staff

Back in the "War Years" in NYC, some rigs had to cover

their tiller areas with plywood sheathing because of all

the rocks and bottles that people threw at them when
they arrived at Malicious False Alarms...

That was necessary then; are Bulletproof Vests really

that high a priority for the Fire Service?

ST. LOUIS — Firefighters are adding ballistic vests to their gear after a firefighter was shot and killed responding to an EMS call Friday.

Fox2Now reported that Richmond Heights Battalion Chief Brian Wideman said they first started wearing the vests as hand me downs from the police department.

"We are becoming accustomed to an age where you have to be concerned about safety and your men's safety," Chief Wideman said.

Chief Wideman said their vests are light and flexible and can be worn under turnout coats. But they don't wear them on every call.

"Any time there is a call that comes in that we are concerned about whether it is a patient who has a mental issue, or a large scale disturbance. If we get on scene and anything raises our suspicion we are going to have the guys put them on just to be safe," Chief Wideman said.

Brentwood Fire Department is the latest department in the St. Louis area to add the vests after the city approved the gear in their budget.