The Pattonville Fire Department began with volunteers in 1947. The department was started due to a tragic house fire. The community’s anger and shame over a needless death incited a grass-roots effort to establish an area fire department. The Pattonville Volunteer Fire Dept. was formed at the first department meeting held on March 3, 1947.
On October 7, 1947, the first pumper was purchased. The truck was a 1947 Central Fire Truck (ringtail style), mid-ship 500-gpm pump with a 250 gallon booster tank. The necessary funds to buy the truck were raised from private donations and the sale of fire tags. Storing the new truck presented a problem. During the day, it was kept in front of a restaurant and at night it was parked in the garage at the home of a volunteer. Eventually it became necessary to give the truck a permanent residence. The Pattonville School District donated a section of land to the department and through volunteer labor a one-story engine house was constructed at 4008 Fee Fee Road.
In the spring of 1948 the department changed its name to Pattonville-Bridgeton Terrace Volunteer FD and on Sept. 7th, 1949, the volunteers decided to form a fire district. The name changed to the Pattonville-Bridgeton Terrace F.P.D. As the district grew, Station #1 was expanded to house a second pumper. The district grew to 29 square miles, and to accommodate this growth, Station #2 was constructed in 1963 at St. Charles Rock Rd. & McKelvey and a third pumper was purchased.
In 1963 the fire district had (80) volunteers and in October 1964 the district hired its first five paid men. They were Otha Lee Young, David L. Shepard, Nick Sacco, Oliver E. Ries, & Larry Belford. In 1969, the fire district hired its first paid Fire Chief, Robert E. Palmer, who remained until 1972. The fire district became fully paid in 1974 and the volunteer force was disbanded.
In 1981 the fire district began to offer additional services by providing paramedic staffed advanced life support ambulance service to the community. Since 1981 the emergency service demand on the fire district has rapidly grown. To meet the demand, a third station was constructed at St. Charles Rock Rd. and Earth City Expressway in 1991.
In 2007, with the airport buy-out of the Bridgeton-Terrace area completed, the district officially changed it's name to the Pattonville F.P.D. The fire district is now serving the communities of Bridgeton, Maryland Heights, Village of Champ, and St. Louis County.
With the passage of the 2008 capital bond issue, which was supported by 72% of the public, the district is now embarked upon the construction of a new station #1 and station #3, and the replacement of it's entire fleet of vehicles. The fire district presently staffs three fire stations with two state of the art ladder trucks, one pumper, two LSV ambulances, two marine rescue boats, and a HazMat response unit. Fire district personnel include three board of directors, eight staff officers, fifty-two firefighters and paramedics, and five civilian staff.
The district's management, and labor force that is represented by I.A.F.F. Local #2665, are proud of their labor/management relationship that produces professionalism through customer service, community relations, public safety education, and fire prevention programs.
The fire district has come a long way since 1947. Thank you to those first volunteer firefighters for laying the foundation of the present day Pattonville Fire Protection District.