St. Louis Fire Captain Bradley Trower Honored with Excellence in Service Award

Captain’s overnight invention restored fire protection to neighborhoods after thieves disabled more than 85 hydrants.

October 30, 2026 | 2 min reading time

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer alongside Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson presented the City’s Excellence in Service Award to St. Louis Fire Department Captain Bradley Trower. Trower was recognized for his quick, innovative thinking that put more than 85 vandalized fire hydrants back into service.

“Captain Trower saw a threat to our neighborhoods and solved it overnight,” said Mayor Cara Spencer. “He’s our own McGyver! He didn’t wait for a long-term fix. He built one. His ingenuity kept families and homes protected, and it’s exactly the kind of public service St. Louis residents deserve.”

The hydrants were rendered inoperable when thieves stole their brass valves to sell as scrap metal, leaving the surrounding neighborhoods without dependable access to water. Working overnight, Captain Trower designed and built an emergency plug adapter that allowed his fellow fire fighters a way to connect to the damaged hydrants and restore fire protection to those neighborhoods.

“A firefighter’s first job is to be ready, and a hydrant that doesn’t work puts everyone at risk,” said Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. “Captain Trower understood the danger immediately and came up with a practical answer that our companies could use right away. I’m proud of him, and I’m proud that this department’s team members worked so creatively under pressure.”

Stolen metals are an increasing citywide infrastructure problem.

“Copper and brass thefts have caused major risks to public safety over the last several months and we are taking them very seriously. The recent damage and brass thefts that hit our fire department posed an immediate public danger by rendering those hydrants almost unusable, and earlier wire thefts along the Eads Bridge and the riverfront on Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard continues to plague the safety of our Riverfront area by turning out some of the lights,” said Chief Operating Officer Col. Ben Jonsson. “Scrap dealers have been put on notice that buying these items has steep consequences.”

The Excellence in Service award was presented at 9:00 a.m. at St. Louis Fire Department headquarters, 1421 N. Jefferson, St. Louis, MO 63106.

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