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For the second week in a row, I’ve been out of town, this time on business as we have finaled the new Ladder 158. This is out early today as my flight doesn’t land until 6:30 tonight. I hope everyone has been having a good week and with not too much new stuff to inform you about, here we go.

W3’s—does it seem like we’ve been going to a lot of W-3’s lately? In the last 60 days we’ve had 45 confirmed W 3’s. And the unfortunate thing is we are not even into fire season yet. Please stay vigilant and keep your crew’s and your self’s safety in mind, regardless of your rank.

New Personal Radio and Accountability SOG’s are being finalized now. (don’t worry about if you will have to study for them or not). We’ll make that very clear when we announce any tests.

New Courthouse SOG is out. Please, if you haven’t already, take some time to look over. It’s not long but has some important information about lines of authority within that building. Kind of unique.

Outstanding reports---Please, if you haven’t already done so, today is the last day to catch up on any outstanding reports. The state statues and our SOG’s are very clear on this one. I want to thank each and every one of you that have been putting in the extra time to get this done. It’s much appreciated.

New Ladder 158 will be here first week in November. Training by the manufacturer will take place late November, early December on the truck. I’ve attached some pictures if you are interested in seeing the new quint. We took the new engine spec’s and married it took our current ladder spec’s and this is what was built. Immediately, you will notice a change with the all red paint scheme and Federal Q. IT has a two-stage 1500 gpm Waterous Pump, 500 gallon tank, 75 foot heavy aluminum aerial with a 750 lbs tip load. The aerial illumination looks pretty cool too.

Preliminary NIOSH FF Cancer Study is out—and it doesn’t look good for us. I sent out two emails but here’s a link to a PPT in case you missed it.

http://www.iaff.org/Comm/PDFs/NIOSH_Cancer_Study.pdf

Now it’s time to recognize some truly heroic efforts on the parts of our JFRD members.

A Perfect Storm—When you think of Station 40, what do you think of? Beautiful water views, a new station, crowded summer beaches, boat rides? Tuesday morning at approximately 0500 hours a call went out for a shrimp boat taking on water. The boats location was 2 miles due east of Vilano Beach. Not normally an issue, but Tuesday morning we were in the midst of a Nor’easter. When Capt. Scott Turnbull, Eng. Brian Peterson, David Johnston, and Chris Philips exited the St. John’s River at the Jetty’s, they were greeted with 25 knot winds with gusts to 40, seven foot seas with swells over 10 feet, and an eight mile journey to get there. Once on scene, and the only ones on scene, they found a shrimp boat with four soul’s on board taking on water. De-watering pumps were immediately placed on board as water was already in the engine compartments. Had the motors stopped, the boat would have lost power and would have been at the mercy of those waves. Not a good scenario for the shrimpers or the boat. The Coast Guard arrived in a 50’ boat with a crew of six but had to return to port because three of them became so sea-sick they couldn’t operate. The captain of the shrimp boat called for a mayday as he was overcome with carbon monoxide poisoning from operating in the engine room. This was no ordinary rescue, by no ordinary crew, as it took over eight hours in that weather to bring the crew safely home into port. Had JFRD not responded, I have no doubt, the outcome for the crew and boat, would have been much different. That was truly an amazing rescue.

To the other 1100 men and women that come to work every day and go above and beyond the call-of-duty to help those in need on shore. I know I’ve missed some folks this week in recognizing their calls and for that I’m truly sorry as I have been out of the office for a bit.

Keep your thoughts and prayers with our folks as some of our members are having a very difficult week both in the hospital and out.

Well that’s it for this week, and yes, that was Lambeau Field our ladder was sitting in front of; very cool. Please take some time for yourself this weekend and I hope you spend it with family and friends.

Don’t sweat the small stuff, and remember in the end, it’s about your family and friends.

Keep up the good work, as always, we thank you for what you do, why you do it, and for truly being the best Fire Department in the Country, both on land and at sea!

Very Respectfully,

Kurtis R. Wilson

Chief of Operations

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department