Brentwood firefighters have joined those in Maplewood and Richmond Heights in having body armor available when they feel it is needed.
The Brentwood board of aldermen on Tuesday approved the purchase of nine ballistic protective vests for the firefighters. It will be funded from the 2015 capital improvement budget, at the lowest bid of $8,073.
“Throughout the county, sadly, it’s become kind of a standard issue,” Brentwood Fire Chief Ted Jury said after the meeting. “In Brentwood we want to be as prepared as we can for the next time that we need it. And this is all in the wake of Ferguson. This will give us a piece of body armor for everybody in a riding position on all of our vehicles. This is for the firefighters’ protection in the event we get put in a circumstance where there could be violence.”
Maplewood Fire Chief Terry Merrel said by email that Maplewood purchased ballistic vests for the department a couple years ago, including eight sets with ballistic helmets.
Richmond Heights bought the vests for their firefighters last fiscal year, City Manager Amy Hamilton said.
See also: Brentwood mayor on city’s ups and downs: 2015 was good, but no 2016 budget so far
John, thanks for your response. It is good to know the city has bought a quality vest. It may be some extra weight to carry along with everything else they wear for protection. In Vietnam we called ours pajamas as a joke, however, some did wear them to bed, (rack). They just wanted to be safe and not sorry and we never made fun of them for wearing it in the rack.
Thanks again for the feedback.
Jack I was at the meeting for the vote and Fire Chief said they did not get the cheapest version as they asked for specifications and Quaility of the vest they wanted in the bid process and one or two bids did not follow the guidelines so they were not selected. I think everyone is happy our firefighter will be protected,
The lowest bid is not always the best of quality. In Vietnam the Marines had plates in their vest, which are now long gone. As I understand from Army Surgeons, they did not like the Army vest as it was made of woven fiber glass on the inside. When a round or fragment penetrated the vest and went into the body, it carried the fiber glass with it which was sometimes difficult to remove. I hope the City purchased the best Kevlar vest.
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