Greetings everyone, I hope this email finds you exhausted from a great day!  Unbelievable turnout, pride, and honor for our fallen firefighters.  I have more thanks this week than information, so let’s begin…

• Sea of Blue—unbelievable….I will not do it justice writing about it in an email.  You have to be there to feel the way I do know.  Next year will be bigger and better and we will be discussing ways to make it better for the marchers…over 500 showed up which is fantastic!  We honored our fallen today and for heir sacrifices.  For what it’s worth, the JFRD today is better than it was yesterday for the sacrifices of those 500 (and the ones at work) who showed up today.  This will go down as one of the most memorable experiences of my life. 

• Capt. Ken Middleton and Eng. Tony (Tbone) Ragans—are retiring their Honor Guard duties today.  They both have 25 years each serving as members of our Honor Guard.  This means at nearly every funeral, LODD, ceremony, and other events, they took time out to protect the honor and integrity of our department and our nation’s flag.  If you have attended a funeral with their presence, you know this is no easy task.  While others are free to cry and share stories, they must stand guard and protect the fallen and then keep all of us in order after the event.  Attached is a letter from Tbone and in it he thanks us.  On behalf of the whole department and the families of the fallen, we thank you and Capt. Middleton as you both are a truth class act and two of our best!

• New Rescues—will be here in November, all of them.  Attached is a small video clip of the lights flashing.  A 24” light bar will be mounted at TSF once they get here.  We place the order for the next ten next week. SEE THE VIDEO

• New engines—4 will be delivered next week and training will begin for all 8 companies ASAP.  The other four will be ready for final in November.  The PO has been issued for the next 24 pumpers and we will be placing the order on Monday.  Look for delivery of those around May, June, July (8 per month)

• New Ribbons—are very cool.  What a great way to recognize your career accomplishments, certifications, and degrees.  Attached is Lt. Todd Smith’s rack (no laughing)…I think my new nickname for him is going to be the General!!!  All joking aside, that really is an amazing story to tell on your uniform.  Thank you to Capt. Bilodeau E-55 for suggesting it (the ribbons) to us!!!
   

• Food for thought—How about an annual Fireman’s Ball?  Formal event, evening gowns for the ladies, Class A’s for the gents, and a good time for all….somewhere nice, somewhere fun, just somewhere…

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

• FD28 TRAFFIC ACCIDENT MCI LEVEL ONE 6 PATIENTS.. BEACH BLVD/GROVE PARK TGB1...MMJ
• FD2 CUT GAS LINE UNKNOWN SIZE..1525 N. LIBERTY ST. TGB1
• Traffic Accident/Extrication/1 trapped/FD51/S Old Kings Rd & Sunbeam Rd./TGB1/End
• FD36 CSX REPORTS LOCOMOTIVE FIRE WITH 3200 GALLONS OF FUEL 3570 CLIFFORD LN.TGB1..MMJ
• FD31 W3 STRUCTURE FIRE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE ABANDONED HOME 8442 NOROAD RD...TGB1
• Apt structure fire/W3/FD50/3601 S Kernan Blvd./The District/TGB1/End
• W3 DETACHED GARAGE  STRUCTURE FIRE FD23 2929 IROQUOIS AVE...TGB1
• W3/ OAKWOOD VILLAGE APT 274/ 8201 KONA AVE/ TGB1/END/JLC
• FD21 ONE TRAPPED TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ST AUGUSTINE/ ALVARADO...TGB1
• FD11 ONE TRAPPED FROM TRAFFIC ACCIDENT E.8TH AND HAINES...TGB1
• Structure Fire/Northside Generating Facility/FD48/4377 Heckscher Dr./W3/12 primary units on scene/TGB1
• Structure Fire/2nd alarm/FD48/4377 Heckscher Dr./ JEA Northside Generating Facility/TGB1
• Structure Fire/3rd alarm/FD48/4377 Heckscher Dr./ JEA Northside Generating Facility/TGB1

Time to give some thanks…

• To all of you that showed up today and to everyone who purchased Class A uniforms.  That was a class act!!!
  • I know it seems easy, get on a bus and walk 1.4 miles but the amount of work behind the scenes was a monumental undertaking.  An incident management team has been meeting for three months every other week and for the last month, once a week to iron out the details.  From liaising with businesses and public relations (John Bracey, Tom Francis, and Cindy Davis) to lining up awesome food (thanks to our Union!!!) and transportation along with other logistical items (Capt. John Long) to Pam Ramsdell, Percy Golden and Chris McKeown lining up the Honor Guard and Pipes & Drums, not just from our department but from many others as well.   Capt. Ray Lutzen and his push to get everyone sized and orders placed for coats to Capt. Scott Jacobs who was able to help get the word out.  Putting an Incident Action Plan together requires a great planner and we had one with Laura Black assigned to the EOC.  Communications plan was handled by Miller Norton.  Our safety and special event guru Capt. Jordan assisted with the site safety planning for our marchers and the bike team. Last, but certainly not least, you need an Incident Commander and an Operations Section Chief to be accountable and get things done.  They are Lt. Scott Kornegay and Asst. Chief Les McCormick.  Without that team, none of this would have happened.  Thank you to Chief Wyse and the Union for the great food and fellowship and I know this event would not have successful without their help and support.  Thank you to Chief Senterfitt for allowing this to happen.  From one marcher to over 500…a huge thank you to everyone for your time (especially to those who came off duty), professionalism, and dedication to JFRD’s Sea of Blue.  There was a lot of restless folks last night worrying about this event….I had all the faith in the world in our team…well done!
• To Chief Jack Griggs, Capt. Aguilar, Capt. Gary Kuehner, Lt. Jessie Brown and Lt. Alan Mallard who have been teaching on their day off (no pay) the 40-hour Rope Operations class to our new team members.  Funding dried up and with it, no way of putting on a class.  They stepped up and donated their time to the mission and our cause.  I am consistently humbled by the character of our department.  Thank you again for everything!!!
  • To all the students of the same class.  You too came in on your days off to learn a new skill set and certification.  Attached is a pic of Lt. Crawford SQ-37-B going off the side of EverBank Field….pretty cool.  Thank you for stepping up and being part of the Special Op’s Team.
    
• To Chief Jack Griggs, Lt. Alan Mallard, and FF James Hardwick who showed up off-duty to paint the Museum door and hydrants for Fire Prevention Week.  Pic attached…thank you so much!!!
  

Now for the Quote of the WIR…

• “Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” ― Heraclitus
  • In our society, you are a true department of warriors.
• “Peristalsis is a great motivator for visiting fire stations you haven’t seen in 20 years.”—me
  • Thanks to everyone at Station 43 for being there!...lol

Well that’s it for this Week in Review.  I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope you get to spend it with family and friends.  Please continue to have your thoughts and prayers with our folks as some are truly having a tough time.  As for me, I will be decompressing down in Welaka, eating my weight in River Pub pizza and cruising on a pontoon.  How about Ole Miss last Saturday?  And so much for benching Jeff Driskel…lol  Enter FSU jokes here__________.  In all seriousness, I can’t thank you enough for the turnout today and this is was truly the most memorable event of my career.  I hope the turnout is even better next year. 

As always, we thank you for what you do (showing up when it matters), why you do it (warrior attitude), and for always showing why you are truly the Best Fire Rescue Department in the Country!

Very respectfully,

Kurtis R. Wilson

Chief of Operations