Recent News

Cedar Hill FPD Welcomes New Member to the Board of Directors

April 12th, 2010

  The Cedar Hill Fire Protection District would like to welcome Josh Malson as our newest member of the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District Board of Directors.  Mr. Malson was elected by the citizens on April 6th, 2010, and was sworn in at the regular meeting of the Board of Directors on April 12th, 2010.  Mr. Malson was elected to serve a six year term.

   The District would also like to thank Mark Carley for his many years of service to the community as an elected Board of Director.  Mr. Carley was elected and served one six year term.

Cedar Hill FPD Battles Large Outbuilding Fire

March 10th, 2010

  At around 8:00 PM Cedar Hill Fire units as well as mutual aid units were dispatched to a structure fire in the Cedar Hill area.   Units were on the scene for about 6 hours.  Mutual aid companies came from Eureka FPD, Pacific FPD, High Ridge FPD, Antonia FPD, Big River Ambulance, Jefferson County Sheriffs Department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.  All crews did an excellent job bringing this fire under control without injury.

Fire District Receives Fire Prevention Grant

January 1st, 2010

The Cedar Hill Fire Protection District is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  The Cedar Hill Fire Protection District applied for a grant to supply low income families with smoke detectors free of charge.  Included in the grant are provisions for providing elderly and deaf citizens with smoke detectors designed for the hearing impaired and carbon monoxide detectors for low income families that heat or cook with fossil fuels or wood. Fire Prevention literature will also be distributed.

The grant, which totals $33,000.00, was part of the 2008 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program administered by FEMA.  The District researched and developed a program to address a high risk population.  From national statistics and local history, the district identified that low income families living in mobile homes and river cabins were at greater risk for fire deaths.  Since 1978 there have been six fire deaths in the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District.  All six deaths occurred in low income households, three in mobile homes, two in river cabins, and one in a regular house.  In addition to identifying the high risk population, the District also had to write how the program will be implemented, executed and documented.  Approximately 375 smoke detectors and 250 CO detectors will be acquired through the grant. 

Cedar Hill Fire Protection District will utilize various avenues for distribution.  The installation of the detectors will be performed by District personnel and should begin around March 14^th 2010, the same time as Day light savings, a time when all families should be changing their clocks and changing their batteries in smoke detectors.  While it may seem like a simple and easy habit to remember, 20 percent of homes in the United States do not have a working smoke alarm, mostly due to dead or missing batteries.

Jefferson County Emergency Communications Network

Click on the CodeRed Link below to add yourself to the Emergency Communication Network. Jefferson County 911 will initiate a call to the telephone numbers you provide in the event an emergency occurs in your geographical area. Notification will be made for both natural and man made disasters. If you reside, or own property in Jefferson County and would like to receive CodeRed notifications, please use your physical address in Jefferson County. P.O. Boxes or addresses outside of Jefferson County will not receive notifications. If you reside within the city limits of Festus, Herculaneum and Pevely, check their websites for a CodeRed Sign up link. Should you at anytime desire to be removed from the calling list, you can do so by calling Jefferson County 911 at 636-797-9797 ext 301.

Cedar Hill Fire Protection District Helps Deliver Gifts to Children in Need

December 10, 2009

On Thursday, December 10, 2009, the House Springs Lions hosted a reception that was a culmination of the tremendous efforts of the Northwest Chamber of Commerce to collect toys for less fortunate children in the northwest quadrant of Jefferson County.  The hall was decorated beautifully, the appetizers were excellent, and it was a pleasure to meet many of the people who made generous donations of both their time and money.  However, the most wonderful part of the evening was when I walked in to the hall and saw the tremendous collection of toys in the front of the room.  There appeared to be even more toys than the previous years.  It made me almost wish I were a child again and could explore each and every toy.  I knew the children in our community were going to benefit greatly from such efforts. 

Earlier in the evening, (approximately 4:00 p.m.) I was rejoicing in the fact that yet another day’s work had been accomplished and I was even more excited that there was only one day left in the week.  While driving home, I suddenly realized that my day was not over – I had to attend a toy drive reception that began at 5:00 p.m.  I groaned.  Was it that time of year already?  Where did the time go?  I thought of all the work I still had to do to prepare for the distribution of the toys.  The fire department was going to be packing and distributing them to children in our community in just 8 days!  How was I going to get everything done in time for that day?   

Once I arrived home, I rushed to the closet to change into my firefighter uniform.  As I was changing, I suddenly stopped.  It had just dawned on me that all of this was for the kids!  I actually looked forward to this event every year.  However, I had, like so many people, let the pressures of every day life cloud the really important things.  What could be more important than helping to ensure that a child, who might have thought they weren’t going to get anything, receives presents on Christmas day?  No, it’s not the presents that are important (unless you’re the child receiving them), it’s the warm feeling that goes with giving, especially when that gift is to a child.   

I dressed a little more quickly, grabbed my wife, and we headed to the reception hall.  During this drive, unlike the ride home from work, I had a smile on my face and I was now looking forward to beginning all the efforts that go into the distribution of the toys.  The Northwest Chamber of Commerce had completed their efforts and now it was up to the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District, the High Ridge Fire Protection District, and the Ladies of Charity to distribute them to the children. 

There is an enormous effort that goes in to providing the toys to our children each year.  It begins with the coordinated collection of the toys and ends with their distribution.  Numerous organizations and individuals are involved throughout the process, and although I’d like to list everyone individually, due to space restrictions, I must settle for listing only a few.  Therefore, on behalf of the children in the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District, I would very much like to thank the Northwest Chamber of Commerce and all the businesses and individuals who did such a tremendous job of collecting, what I believe, were a record number of toys.  I would also like to thank the Lions for providing their reception hall free of charge so that we could gather and collect the toys.  In addition, I would like to express thanks to the Cedar Hill Peace Pantry for providing names of families and for all the work they do throughout the year, Cecil Whitaker’s and Dollar General for allowing us to put collection boxes in their stores, and to the firefighters and auxiliary members for their help in packing and distributing the toys.   

As a final note, I would like to express the fact that although the fire department distributes the toys, there are numerous organizations that also distribute food and clothing to these families.  We all try to coordinate our efforts to ensure that anyone who needs help receives it.  The most important aspect to our toy drive is that all of the toys go to families in this area.  It makes me feel good to know that everything being done is for the benefit of our community. 

Thank you.

John Hutson, Captain

Toy Drive Coordinator

Cedar Hill Fire Protection District   

The Cedar Hill Firefighters Organization Auxiliary Hosted its First Annual Golf Tournament

December 1st, 2009

The Cedar Hill Firefighters Organization Auxiliary hosted its first annual golf tournament on Saturday, October 24, 2009.  We are very pleased to announce that the event was a success and we were able to raise approximately $3,300 to benefit Backstoppers and to purchase life saving and safety equipment for the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District.   

The four-man scramble tournament began at 9:00 a.m. at the Sugar Creek Golf Course.  The day was filled with 18 holes of challenging golf, Skins, Mulligans, a 50/50 drawing, welcome packets, a silent auction and attendance prizes.  The first place prize of $300 went to Bill McCabe’s team.    The second place prize of $100 went to Brian Luitle’s team.  Both teams generously donated their winnings back to the Auxiliary.   

We would like to extend a special thank you to the Sugar Creek Golf Course for the tremendous assistance they provided and for the use of their facilities and the donation of the silent auction items.  We would also like to thank the following hole sponsors:  Rescue Repair; Clean – The Uniform Company; Gills Tree Service; Save-a-Lot, Pyrotec; Rockwood Bank; Montgomery Bank; First Choice Construction & Landscaping; Gary Marquardt Hauling; Marquardt’s Contracting LLC; Terry Wippler (on behalf of the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District Auxiliary); Phase I Realty, Thelma Dunn and Randy Marquardt (cart sponsor); Schuhmacher Fire Equipment; Cedar Hill Topsoil and Garden Consultants.  We are also very grateful to the following companies/individuals for their generous donations:  ProPrint; Culver’s; Arcadia Valley Country Club; Golf Club at Deer Chase; Gary Hahn; Meramec Lake Golf; Chester Country Club; Stoney River Legendary Steak House; Save-a-Lot; Perryville Country Club; Cecil Whitaker’s; Security Title Company; Frank Talbert Ford; Jilly’s Restaurant; Radeackar’s; Big River Bar and Grill; McDonald’s; Towers Apparatus and Chapel Hill Mortuary.