It has been since last July, that I haven’t missed a WIR on either a Friday or Saturday but I came down with a fever Friday night and have been on my death bed ever since. Ever seen the movie Airplane!? I should have had the tuna and noodles like the good captain at Station 1 suggested..lol Forgive me for any grammatical errors on this one…cold meds. I hope your week went well, let’s go over what’s going on with the JFRD.
· National Telecommunicator Week—was this past week. Hopefully you got the chance to stop by and say hi or thank them for all their hard work. It can be thankless and stressful job to say the least. Everyone reading this email has been to all the different types of calls they receive. I remember one morning going by to say hi in the morning and listening to three calls come in one after the other. First was structure fire and the FRCC lady trying to see if everyone is out. Then a call came in for a cardiac red and another FRCC person was giving CPR instructions to do on her husband of 30 years. Immediately after a car vs. school bus was lighting up all the phones. For us its one call at a time. For them, its every call at once. Keep up the good work, our mission starts with you!
· New Recruits—38 new members started with us this past Monday. My first impression is that we have another strong class with a large group of veterans and members from other departments. Please look out for new hires as they hit the streets soon. Welcome to the JFRD!
· Jeff Cool—presented here this week. Approximately 600 of you showed up to listen to him speak. I want to thank everyone who came from JFRD and the surrounding counties. We even had retired FDNY firefighters who came up to listen him speak. I especially want to thank the engineers who are studying for the Lieutenants test. That tells me you’re into the job…to coin a phrase. Also, I mentioned he helps with the Joey D Foundation which provides PES’s (Personal Escape Systems) to other departments. He was so ecstatic he raised $400 in Dallas, Texas for the foundation two weeks ago, he asked if he could do that here. Not only did you all show up, but you donated over $2200 for the cause…well done! For what it’s worth, there was a couple of us that sat through all four sessions. Each time, it was hard not to tear up hearing the stories of the families and the firefighters who were forced to jump 5 stories. I took so much away from hearing him speak. When I dropped Jeff off at the airport, he told me JFRD is a first class department and that I have a lot to be proud of…I couldn’t agree more. He wanted me to thank everyone for everything and for the 200 new Facebook friends he has! Jeff had so many bits of advice, you had to sit through 4 sessions to take it all in. The one that stuck with me and simplifies what I’ve been trying to do with you all is this…half comes from FDNY’s Memorial Wall and the other half from a Marine slogan in Fallujah, Iraq…In a war that never ends, make yourself hard to kill. FDNY’s wall says, To soldiers in a war that never ends… it means, there will never be a time without fires and EMS. You’re soldiers in that war. The second part is easy, don’t let this job kill you. Protect yourself with training, knowledge, and the equipment given to you. JFRD has a new honorary member and for some of us, a new brother. If you want to email him for anything, his email is Rescuecool@msn.com
· Our PES’s—will be delivered on May 8th with a train the trainer session beginning immediately. Thank you to Capt. Ennis who has been instrumental in setting up this TTT class with the vendor at no cost to our department! Once the TTT sessions is over, we will begin issuing out the first PES’s with the remaining 1100 to be delivered sometime beginning early July.
· Lt. Curtis Crawford—an active FF from Gainesville Fire & Rescue passed away Thursday just one week after his dad, Steve Crawford a retired FF from Gainesville, passed away from cancer too. Lt. Crawford was friends and family with some of our own. Our thoughts and prayers go out on behalf of the JFRD to his family and the GFR family as well. Please continue to protect yourself during overhaul and adhere to the W4. No family and no member should have to endure cancer because of this job…you give enough, don’t let that take it away from you.
· Chief Roger Taylor---died in the line of duty on May 16th, 2000. He was my first Rescue chief and there couldn’t have been a better one. He was a great person, teacher, mentor, leader, and so much more. You’re still missed and our thoughts are with you.
· PMDC Instructional Bulletin—how do you eat an elephant, the saying goes? One bite at a time. That’s how we’ll approach this one. A lot of confusion on both sides of the radio. The intent on our side was to reduce radio traffic on A2 and roll calls. The intent on FRCC side was to help reduce all the radio traffic. The amount of time each dispatcher talks is overwhelming at times. So for starters we’ll use the PMDC for A2 traffic like going available and in quarters. The riding chiefs will tell the companies how to roll call on B flights. Next we’ll work on A1 and come up with plan that includes on scene language followed by A3 and B flights.
· Rhyno Class Cutters—every ladder company and squad now has the cutters. I will be ordering the remaining cutters for our heavy engines and others as soon as I can locate the funding. Thank you to everyone at TSF for getting this and other equipment out this week!
Here are just some of the calls we went on this week:
· FD18/ W3 HOUSE/ 1400 W 6TH ST/ TGB1/END/JLC
· DIESEL FUEL SPILL FROM TRK/FD1/MLK JR PY& HAINES/F9 IC ON B1/BIO, SWP & DOT NOTIFIED/SAND TRK ENR/APPROX 30 GALS SPILLED/END
· FD59/ REPORTED 33 FT BOAT FIRE/ W2/ ICW & BEACH BLVD/ END JLC
· FD28/ W3/ STRIP MALL/ / 9800 BEACH BV/ TGB1/END/JLC
· W3 SNGL FAM RES/FD7/2512 OLUSTEE ST/F7 IC ON B-1/END
· W3 STRUCTURE FIRE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE FD57 10700 NORMANDY BLVD. TGB1..
· And a few thousand EMS and other runs!
Well that’s it for this WIR. I hope everyone is staying dry on this wet weekend. Happy Easter and regardless of the weather, I hope you get to spend some time for yourself and you spend it with family and friends. I want to say thank you to Capt. Fullford and everyone at Station 1 Friday who treated me to lunch and fellowship. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with our members as some are truly having a bad week. As always, we thank you for what you do, why you do it, and for always showing why you are a first class department!
Very respectfully,
Kurtis R. Wilson
Chief of Operations
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department