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Greetings to everyone, I hope this email finds you well. As for me, I’ve taken 17 phone calls between 0750 and 0900 this morning already…uncle! But thank you to Lt. Bebernitz for the last one, I needed that. Once again, not too much going on this week which I guess is a good thing…

Retirements—today we have two retirements to announce. Captain Rob Mericle and Eng. Scotty Hicks. Both have dedicated over 20 years of service to our community and our department. I wish the both of you a long and healthy retirement. Engineer Hicks came on the HazMat Team after spending yeas in Nassau County ultimately ending up at JIA. Capt. Mericle, as most of you know, dedicated many long hours helping all of us while in the HSO car. A big thank you again for everything you all have done.

Bail-out kits—were approved by Awards committee yesterday which paved the way for our next purchase of 1100 units. RIT Safety Solutions was the winning bidder. Look for the next round of training in about 5 weeks when they arrive.

Instructional Bulletin on TSF—is coming out today. This the is new way of requesting repairs for your apparatus Capt. Powers talked about in the company officers meetings. A fillable form will take the place of the double spaced email but you will still send the request and form to tsf@coj.net This is a much needed improvement to the current process. Thank you to Capt. Powers and David Johnson and their team on making this happen.

New Engineer openings in Suppression—I will not be opening any futures Suppression engineer spots until after the engineers test. We have senior folks in Rescue who currently can’t get out until after the exam. The main reason is Rescue can’t function with all Provisional engineers (riding OOP, etc…). the positions I’ve already announced, I will fill. Until then, we will have FF’s riding up at vacant positions. I hope this helps alleviate some of the anxiety for Rescue Engineers wanting Suppression spots.

Paychecks—if you are one of the remaining few who still receive paper payroll checks, they will no longer be delivered to your station. It will be the responsibility of the employee to come to HQ and pick up.

Let’s see some of the runs you’ve gone on this week:

W3 RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE FIRE/FD 9/6630 HOOPER ST/TG B1/END
W3 STRUCTURE FIRE FD51 10259 BENT TREE LN. SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE...TGB1..
FD21/ W3 RESIDENTIAL/ 7645 PRAVER DR E / TGB1/END/JLC
W3 SNGL FAM RES/FD09/3810 EVERGREEN AVE/IC F7 ON B-1/END
1-INCH CUT GAS LINE/FD12/5811 ATLANTIC BV/IC F9 ON B-1/END
W3/2 RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE FIRES/FD 01/623 ODESSA ST/TG B1/END
And a few thousand other calls…!

Time to give some thanks….here is an email I received on Lt. Rick Carlson, L31C

On Sunday, June 8th Lt. Carlson worked for Captain Reyes on E-31. After breakfast he began training with Probationary Firefighter Carol Conrad of E-31-A. The training began with airbag operation. This training included using the airbags to actually lift an object, load calculation, and continued to encompass many scenarios in which the bags could be used. This was followed explaining, demonstrating, and then allowing FF Conrad to use the slice pack to make several cuts to a section of rebar. He then brought the gas leak tool box to the work bench in the bay and went through all the tools, demonstrating each tools use. Then he moved on to the sprinkler kit tool box where he repeated the same. Next, he got the Porter Cable saw out, explained the equipment and its varied situational uses, followed by demonstrating and then allowing FF Conrad to use the saw. Later in the day I found Lt. Carlson going over the Apparatus and SCBA Report completion in Fireweb, emphasizing the importance of properly checking the equipment as well as accurate documentation. The training previously listed was only what I witnessed and took part in myself. At different times throughout the day, I heard Lt. Carlson in the bay going over other things with FF Conrad.

I am writing you in an effort to explain how dedicated Lt. Carlson is to the development of other firefighters, engineers, etc. For Lt. Carlson to work an LOA at Station 31 and spend several hours training on his second day with a firefighter not assigned to his apparatus or his shift, all the while going on runs and completing reports for E-31, speaks volumes about his commitment to being the best and attempting to ensure that others around him do the same. While I understand that we have many officers that operate this way on a daily basis, I had to inform you of how proud I am of his actions.

I am sure that this is old news to Chief Blanton as he is fortunate enough to work with him every shift.

Thank you to Chief Hooten for letting me know how our folks go above and beyond. Many of you do the same thing day in and day out too. So I would like to take a moment to thank Lt. Carlson and each of our members that go above and beyond to make sure our probationary firefighters learn to be great firefighters.

If you see something and would like someone or some crew to be recognized, please email me and let me know. So many good things happen out there I just can’t possibly know about them all from here.

Here’s one I’ve witnessed for myself….

Last Saturday, a 41 y/o lady that gets chemo at my wife’s facility had a going away party. Her prognosis is not good and she wanted to thank everyone at the Wilson Cancer Institute for all the support. Her next stop is Texas for a last chance experimental treatment. At the party were dozens of couples with one or two of them suffering from cancer. Each time someone found out I was a fireman, they heaped praise on the JFRD. Everyone had called 911 at least once, most several times for a variety of reasons ranging from a lift assist to transport for other reasons. Each person took the time to say how polite the crews were, even at two in the morning. They’re thanking me as my heart breaks for them. You don’t always know the impact you have on someone you respond to. Many times, they don’t get a chance to thank you. On behalf of all of those that were there last week…thank you again. It made me so proud to be part of what all of you are doing each and every day.

Well that’s it for this WIR. Please continue to keep your thoughts and prayers with our folks as some are truly having some hard times. I hope everyone has a good weekend and I hope you get to spend it with family and friends. For me, I’ll be in Welaka on the river with friends; This is the point you can start humming the song "Pontoon".J

As always, we thank you for what you do, why you do it, and for always showing why you are the Best Fire Rescue Department in the Country!

Very Respectfully,

Kurtis R. Wilson

Chief of Operations

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department