Severe
storms rolled through the St. Louis area on May 6, 2003 and severe straight
line winds damaged a 10 square mile area around the town of DeSoto Missouri
located about 50 miles south of St. Louis in Jefferson County. There was
widespread damage in the town and the call went out for surrounding towns
to send help. Soon fire departments in St. Louis were sending trucks and
men to help. Unit 220 and 65 arrived at the command post in DeSoto about
10pm and stayed until 2am. They directed the incoming fire trucks to the
staging areas since most of the St. Louis fire departments were not familiar
with the area. They went home at 2am to get a few hours sleep but were
back again at the command post at 7am. They assisted the Jefferson County
Police with traffic control at the intersection of Highway 21 & 110
for five hours straight. One person was killed by the storm and there
were dozens of injuries.
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