Hello on a beautiful Saturday morning with the smell of
bacon and eggs in the air….yes she’s cooking breakfast. Which means a Saturday
version of the WIR. There’s quite a bit to go over with you so let’s get
started…
·
We lost two good firefighters this week---for good
things. I would like to wish FF Ed Jefferson, true ladder man, all the best
after 25 years of service. Anyone who knew him knows his gentle demeanor and
kind heart and a willingness to help anyone, anytime. I hope you have a long,
happy, and healthy career my friend. Next FF Latisha Guinn decided to join the
evil empire, JSO. All joking aside, Latisha will be sorely missed as she was a
true professional and her smile was always contagious. Please don’t ever make
the mistake of trying her in a game of basketball, and now that she carries a
gun, just don’t try her at all!!! Please be safe and JFRD wishes you all the
best in your new endeavors.
·
Council Special Committee on Budget---on Thursday, after
nearly two weeks of preparation, the senior staff presented 2 ½ hours in front
of a select committee on budget. The hope is for a smooth budget process this
year. Part of the presentation is our wins and still some of the issues facing
our department. I have included the PPT used…I hope the slides are
self-explaining but we (the JFRD) have done some really great things for the
last year; I hope you know that…!
·
Boston Firefighter Funerals—Thursday was the last day of
funerals for the two fallen firefighters in Boston. Lt. Todd (HazMat) Smith and
Lt. Jason Kerr both traveled to pay their respects as each had a connection with
those lost. First Lt. Smith was friend with Michael Kennedy and had taught
both Lt. Walsh and Mike in February at a HazMat IQ class in Boston. Lt. Kerr
was good friends (Boston Mike) who was on the truck that found the remains of
Lt. Walsh. Both represented the 1371 members of the JFRD during that event. We
are all sorry for your loss.
·
Sea of Blue---if you watched any of the video from the
precessions, the sea of blue was probably the largest since 9-11. Thousands
traveled from around the country to march and pay their respects as well.
Attached is the JFCU flyer for the Class A uniform loans. Roughly 16 bucks a
payday gets you the full uniform for our march. Please seriously consider
purchasing your uniform for our 10-10 march this year to pay our respects to our
fallen firefighters. We have over 1200 uniform FF on JFRD and just imagine what
900 of those marching from Station 4 to Station 1 would look like. I have no
doubt the community and your family would come out to watch you. Percy Golden
is beginning the process of planning but if you are interested in helping,
please let him know.
·
Something Very Cool--On Tuesday afternoon, a bicycling
caravan of FDNY active and retired duty firefighters rode through our city, and
several members of JFRD helped to warmly welcome the group into Jacksonville.
The cyclists had been on the road for 14 days, having started their ride March
19 in Philadelphia. Their contingent included an RV-trailer combo
carrying/displaying a 14-foot-long section of I-beam salvaged from the rubble of
the World Trade Center. The firefighters are riding to promote awareness about
a Navy Seal facility in South Florida, but more on that in a moment.
Their first JFRD encounter on
Tuesday was Fire Station 33 where Capt. David Dickinson and his crew greeted
them. Once downtown, JSO helped escort the cyclists over the Fuller Warren
Bridge until the caravan reached Beach Boulevard. It wasn’t long until they saw
Ladder 28’s crew including Eng. Daniel Dunkley, who was riding up that day. As
the cyclists got closer to their hotel on Beach Boulevard, they got another
welcome from Capt. Jim Smith and Station 50.
Wednesday was a rest day for the
cyclists, and a “rehab” day for their bicycles, thanks to Rescue 28-C’s Lt.
Tommy Crow, a cycling enthusiast who connected the group to his friend Joe
Stephenson of Bicycles Etc. for some maintenance and repairs. The next morning,
Crow, a member of JFRD’s bike team, joined the FDNY group for a 20-mile stretch
of A1A.
Today, April 5, the caravan should reach Ft. Pierce,
Florida. That’s where the group will present the I-beam and a recovered halligan
tool from WTC to the National Navy Seal Museum. The FDNY connection to the
museum is the SEAL memorial which includes an FDNY insignia. But the cyclists
were really riding to raise awareness/funds about a housing facility – the
Trident House – near the museum where families of fallen soldiers can stay while
visiting the memorial and museum. Just about every firefighter recognizes FDNY
and the 343 firefighters who perished on 9/11, and now thanks to many of you,
the seven or eight New York firefighters/cyclists who rolled through on Tuesday
will remember our department and city as one of the highlights of their
1,400-mile trek.
·
Something else cool---Captain John Longs dog passed the
FEMA Type 1 test this past month in Virginia. Only a few dogs in the state, let
alone in the country, have passed that test. Although we can never replace
Storm, Gunner can and will carry on the mission of USAR’s and JFRD’s K-9
missions of finding lost souls both that are still alive and those that have
passed. Attached are two pics of the duo.
·
Speaking of Cool---Jeff Cool of FDNY will be here a week
from this Tuesday. Please, please, please, take three hours out of your day to
come watch him speak. St. Johns County has already RSVP’s over 30 of their
members and many others are coming from across the state. If you’re study for
the Lt’s. test and you’re lucky enough to get promoted, you will find yourself
in the position of being responsible for the life safety of your crew. His
message may just save your life one day. That’s worth 3 hours of your time.
The two sessions are Tuesday & Wednesday 0900-1200 and 1400-1700. You only have
to make one.
·
Personal Escape Systems---will go before full Council on
Tuesday…I’ll keep you informed of the final vote. So far, so good.
·
Joint Maritime Transportation Exchange or JMTX---What
started with a vision from Chief Drysdale became a reality on Wednesday after
almost a year of planning, training, and table top exercises between JFRD, USCG,
shipping companies, Port representatives, salvage companies, clean-up
contractors, and others. It culminated with a full scale exercise at North
Florida Ship Yards on Tuesday. Lessons learned on our side are few but very
important. Shipboard fires are considered a high-risk, low-frequency events
(kind of like giving my wife the credit card to go shopping). One of our LODD
was due to a fire on a barge. Lesson’s learned was that any fire in the
interior part of these large ships will be a multiple alarm events taxing the
all involved. I wanted to thank Chief Drysdale for initiating the exercise and
Eng. Shawn Hall, Chief Les McCormick, Lt. Tracy Davis, Lt. Todd (formally known
as Evil, now its proud papa) Smith, Lt. Scott Kornegay, and everyone else who
has been engaged in this process for a year. To say a lot of work went into
this is an understatement….class act. If I missed anyone, I’m truly sorry….
o
Lt. Joseph F. Stichway, May 25, 1979, was killed while attempting
to rescue workers trapped in the hull of a burning oil barge at the Jacksonville
Shipyards. Overwhelmed by gas fumes, Lt. Stichway fell off a 40-foot ladder as
he was rushing to reach the workers and lead them to safety. He was posthumously
awarded the Gold Medal, the Fire Department's highest honor. Twenty one
firefighters and six barge crewmen were injured in the fire.
·
Quick Response Units or QR28, QR31, and QR30—Sometime in
May we will begin implementing 2 or 3 Quick Response or QR units for testing
purposes. For now, they will be two-person brush trucks stationed at 28, 31,
and possibly 30. The idea to take some of the run loads off the engine and
ladder at our three busiest stations. Details are still being worked out and
thought through but I’ll keep you informed as we move along. I foresee the
larger brush units being relocated to those stations for the duty. I know room
is limited at these stations so T28 and T31 may have to be temporarily
relocated.
·
The MDT Inst. Bulletin---is almost complete. This is the
step by step manual on how to go available for certain runs on your MDT. Look
for it this week.
·
Brush Trucks and Tankers---If you have a unit at the
station and its un-staffed and a run comes in for it, please take a FF off the
ladder or engine and respond the unit. If neither of those units are at the
station, let Fire Comm know and they can dispatch the next closest. We are
still trying to restore staffing to some of those units and your help in the
meantime is greatly appreciated.
·
Now let’s see some of the runs we went on this week…
o
FD7/ CAR VS RESD HOUSE/ TRAFFIC ACCIDENT/NO INJ/ F4 ON SCN REQ FS
4/ TGB1
o
FD2/ CUT GAS LINE/ 1708 WALNUT ST/ TGB5/END
o
FD16/ ALERT II/ JIA / TGB1
o
FD10/W3 SHED STRUCTURE FIRE/ 4517 DELTA AVE/ TGB5
o
MVA MCI LVL1/FD19/MERRILL & TOWNSEND/6 PTS/1 PED TR RED/1 PED & 1
ADULT TR ALERT/IC E27 ON B-1
o
CUT UNDERGROUND GAS LINE/FD20/BARNES & UNIVERSITY/IC E21 ON B-1/W2
FOR FS21 & FS7/TECO ENR
o
W3 SNGL FAM RES/FD26/7446 OLD PLANK RD/IC E7 ON B-5
o
W3 STRUCTURE FIRE SINGLE FAMILY RESD/FD 35/109 BIRD RD/TG B1
o
And a few thousand other calls this week!
Time to give some thanks…
·
To John Bracey & Scott Kornegay who stayed late (0140 hrs in the
morning) and worked around the clock to help put all the information together to
the budget review.
·
To three of our most senior employees (no that’s not an old
joke!) Capt. Bunky Ennis (9-26-81), Liz Henderson (4-23-83), and Ed Auld
(11-1-83) of Fire Comm. The three of you have been contributing to our
organization for longer than anyone else. I could write and entire WIR on just
the three of you. Thank you for everything you continue to do for us and the
community. It doesn’t go unnoticed because you all continue to work at a level
few can keep pace with; The Geritol must be working!!! (okay, that was an old
joke J)
·
To all of you who had the calling to become a member of the JFRD.
Thank you for everything you continue to do: make things better.
Well that’s it for this WIR. I hope everyone gets
to spend some time for yourself and I hope you spend it with family and
friends. I’ll give you three guesses what I’ll be doing and the first two don’t
count….tiling.
As always, we thank you for what you do, why you do it, and
for always coming together and showing why you are the Best Fire Rescue
Department in the Country!
Two important things I missed….
First is from Lt. Jason Kerr and his experience he wanted to share with you all from Boston.
· Per your request here's a AAR of my trip to Boston for the Multiple LODD 1, Arrived Tuesday and meet by FF Michael O' Conner who gave me a ride to the hotel, he returned later and I accompanied him to Lt Edward Walsh E-33 viewing. After the viewing we ate and I was informed by mike that he had "Casket Watch" for FF Michael Kennedy L-15from 8-10 pm, where I was asked if I wanted to take part in. And humbly answered yes and joined members from BFD to watch over him.
Wednesday Morning came and I assembled with over ten thousand Firefighters across the world, to pay tribute to Lt Edward Walsh. The out pouring was truly amazing as the streets were lined with Honor Guards side by side that easily spanned 10 city blocks, and as the procession was near it was led by 200 plus pipe and drums ! After his service we had lunch and then joined by Lt T Smith where we were off for FF Michael Kennedy's viewing.
Thursday came and we assembled with over ten thousand Firefighters across the world, to pay tribute to FF Michael Walsh L-15 the scene for the service was a mirrored image of the morning before.
In closing it was an honor to be a part of this, it was humbling to sit and talk with the guys that made the rescue on FF Kennedy, to shake the hands of hundreds of BFD members that went out of their way to say Thank You and how much this means to them and the family of the fallen. It also reiterates the importance of this class A uniform program ! Yes it was a true see of blue, I didn't see one shirt and short sleeve in the entire crowd !
Second is a thank you to all the crews at the MCI Level 2 on Merrill Rd. Level 1 MCI happen almost weekly in Jacksonville if not daily. Level 2 and Level 3 are a little more rare and a lot more difficult to manage. Chief Jake Blanton R104B wanted to recognize all the crews who were involved in this bad accident…
· They all did a great job! It was a scene that was spread out over approximately 200 yards and required a lot of teamwork.
E19, R19, E27, R27 and L30 performed especially well under a great deal of stress, they were the primary crews that dealt with the extrication vehicle that had the two critical pediatrics and 2 serious adults.
14 total patients. 12 transported. 2 refused.
Units involved: R19, R27, R1, R2, R4, R13, R28a, R30a, L30, L1, E19, E27, E1, F1, F3, C2A, R104.
Thank you to Kerrdog and Chief Jake Blanton for sharing this with us.
Please have a safe and fun weekend….
Respectfully,
Kurtis R. Wilson
Chief of Operations
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department