Residents in South County receive the best fire and emergency protection available. The Mehlville Volunteer Fire Department officially earned a state charter in 1935, when it operated a 1925 Ford Model T equipped with a farm-style irrigation pump. The department later obtained a pumper from the St. Louis Fire Department, and purchased its first new pumper in 1940. The all-volunteer force functioned until 1953 when voters approved the formation of the Mehlville Fire Protection District. The Mehlville Fire Protection District, employing more than 150, protects 200,000 people in a 52-square mile area of south St. Louis County.
The firefighters and paramedics operate seven engine companies, and the department provides the following services: fire, EMS, Haz-Mat, search and rescue and extrication. The Fire Prevention Bureau currently performs approximately 4,000 inspections annually, and works under the regulations of the 1996 BOCA National Building and Fire Prevention Codes.