New Page 1

Greetings everyone as I hope this email finds you well. It’s kind of weird writing a WIR in past tense but try to keep it in perspective. Not too much news but a few cool stories and a little praise to go around so I will focus much of this to budget.

Budget—Per ordinance, the Mayor has to present a budget to the City Council by July 15^th. From there it gets introduced as an ordinance and assigned to standing committees such as the Finance and CIP sub-Committee. Please note, this is when things get funded or unfunded. Ultimately, the Council votes what they will fund which means some items in the budget may not happen while new items not in the proposed budget may get put in with a minimum of 10 votes on budget night (sometime in September). Here’s the proposed budget introduced today and to say this was a win is an understatement!
- Fleet Replacement
  - 24 new engines
  - 6 ladders
  - 10 rescues
  - 1 hazmat
  - 1 tanker
  - 8 chief trucks
  - 1 brush truck
  - 4 outboard motors
  - 3 jet skis for Ocean Rescue
  - 2 ATVs for Ocean Rescue
  - 7 cars
- New Fire Station 56
- New Station alerting system
- All new SCBAs
- New FF positions
- Refreshing our mobile radios
- Additional Fire Comm positions
- Replace TSF roof
- Replace Sta 4 roof and waterproof building.

Sea of Blue—a uniform bulletin is forthcoming but there a couple of things I wanted to share. First, a silver stripe on the cuff will now be approved for the rank of engineer for dress coats. Next, once the ribbon committee presents its findings, they too will be on the bulletin. So you can dress up your Class A coat with ribbon bars based on certifications, degrees, deployments, and others, not just awards. Good stuff. Also, please set aside 10-10 on your calendar and come be a part of the Sea of Blue. We will be marching from Sta 4 to Sta 1 to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. JSO will lead with their motorcade, then ours, followed by all of you walking in parade formation. Honor Guards and Pipes & Drums bands are coming from other departments to walk with us. Same goes for our retirees and Military vets, who want to say thank you for constantly supporting them. We will be sending out an RSVP sometime in late August or early September to get a head count for JTA buses. Please take the time and lets show our LODD’s family what 900+ firefighters look like!

Volunteer Program—is currently accepting new members. Here is a quick link if you know anyone who is wanting to sign up. Also, a new program for the volunteers will be announced shortly for our retiring members.

Thank you for your interest in the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Volunteer / Reserves program. You can get started by following the steps below to submit your application.

1. Visit the City of Jacksonville website at http://volunteerexternal.coj.net/AUIL/volunteer/signin.aspx?volType=Ongoing&volEvent=603&BioID=

2. Fill in your name and date of birth then click Submit. The complete application will then display.

3. VERY IMPORTANT – Once you have completed the application you must click Submit to process correctly. Clicking Submit will send us a notification of a new application. Clicking Save will save the application to our system, but we will not be notified it’s there until you click Submit.

Once we have received your application, please allow at least a week for processing. Once that information is collected, we will begin the process of completing the FDLE background check and finger prints.

Let see some of the runs:

MCI LVL2 MVA/FD21/4351 PHILLIPS HWY/11 PTS/IC E21 ON B-1/END
FD 58/MCI LEVEL 1/5-6 PATIENTS/TRAFFIC ACCIDENT @ SAN PABLO RD AND ATLANTIC RD/TG B1/END
W3/SNGL FAM RES/FD20/404 BRUNSWICK RD/IC E20 ON B-1/END
CUT GAS LINE/FD5/150 STOCKTON ST/ON B-1/NOW UNDER CONTROL/TECO ONSCENE/END
Commercial Structure Fire/Enkei/Hopper on fire/Unable to use water on fire/Hazmat Teams 7 & 21 en route/IC has not advised W signal/FD35/1401 Wheels Rd./TGB1/End
W3 SINGLE FAMILY RESD STRUCTURE FIRE/FD 24/9169 8TH AVE/TG B1/END
FD 54/EXTRICATION AND MCI LEVEL 1/6 PATIENTS/SB I95 AND I 295/TG B5/END
Structure Fire/Single Family/1 Story Residence/W3/FD51/9425 Beauclerc Oaks Dr./TGB1/End

Time to give some thanks:

To Capt. Jolly and the crew of Ladder 30 C who helped me out last Wednesday. I watched a woman almost T-bone a city bus on State Street after running up onto the curb and back into traffic. It turns out her brakes went out. Capt. Jolly and L30 gave me a hand pushing her out of the street into a parking lot. 10,000 cars behind us gave us a collective thanks!
Capt. Ratliff and his crew at Plans Review, who broke an all-time production record. Anyone who has spent any time in that office, knows how challenging reviewing construction plans for code compliance can be. Well done!!!
To Lt. Jason Jones and SQ-5B who had two visitors last Sunday. On their way out the door to conduct training, a father brought his son into the station to see the truck. Instead of the two-cent tour, they invited them to come be a part of the training. Making sure he held onto his New York hook, the kid got to be a part of the action. Thank you for going above and beyond as we just won over another JFRD supporter.
To all of you, who come in everyday and make a difference by making things better.

Well that’s it for this WIR. It’s kind of weird writing it on a Monday so I apologize for getting it out late. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and I hope you got to spend it with family and friends. It looks like we’ve finally turned a page (fingers crossed) with the budget and for that I’m thankful. As always, keep your thoughts and prayers as some of our folks are truly having a tough time. I’ll give you one guess as to the question if I’m done with the bathroom…hint: Unlike Prevention, no production records were broken at my home this weekend…lol

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

Very respectfully,

Kurtis R. Wilson

Chief of Operations

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department