Greetings everyone, I hope this email finds you well….at least better than me. Two days of budget is now behind us and these polyester pants are killing me. Let’s go over some highlights for this week starting with our new-hires.
- 40 New Recruits —Monday, we hired 40 new firefighters and as usual, the class looks strong. They will have an opportunity the last two weekends to come ride as extra staffing. This is your opportunity to train and show our new folks what they can expect. Please take the time to get to know them and be part of a positive beginning to their careers with the JFRD.
-
2014 Hazmat Team Picture
—attached is the 2014 HazMat
Team picture. We’ve come a long since 1977 when JFRD organized the
first fire-based hazmat team in the country. 12 volunteers were
handpicked and Station 9 became the first HazMat station. Soon after,
the team moved into Station 7. After 9-11, the team was split into two
stations to include 21. When federal grant dollars started flowing,
the equipment and training we received were second to none. Today,
JFRD is the largest HazMat team in the state and one of the most active in
the country. On October 25, 2013, Fire 9 was relocated to Station 21
to become the first HazMat Chief in our department. Soon after, a
dedicated battalion chief was created to oversee the forward progress of the
teams. Thank you to everyone who goes above and beyond to make the
team better than when you found it. When the HD version of the pic is
available, I’ll send out. This is just a cell pic. (sorry for
whoever was cropped out!) I must say, that is a great looking Tower Ladder!
- Firehouse Run Survey Part 3 —busiest Chief in JFRD—Fire 3, busiest engine and station—28…congratulations!…I think….lol They had 15,185 runs last year. That’s 41 runs per day for the station or 1.7 runs per hour as an average.
- Bail-out Kits —training and issuing began last Saturday. A huge thank you all the units and personnel involved in training our folks in the systems….you know who you are.
- RIT Training —is wrapping up this week. In a short time, the Technical Rescue Team and the Squads have trained every Suppression unit on the latest and greatest as it relates to rapid intervention. They also trained Mayport, NAS, and Jax Beach. This was all on-duty training and a huge thank you to all involved for making sure everyone goes home.
- Leave availability report and reassignment request report —is being changed. Once the programming change is complete, all ranks will be able to see the leave availability report (so you don’t have to ask your officer each time) and everyone will see the reassignment request and who is the most senior. This serves two purposes. First—full transparency (no conspiracy theories). Next, it allows the individual to see where they are at in seniority (so you’re not wasting your time or holding out for one request). As soon as ITD notifies us the go-live date, I will let you know.
- New Engines —if you’re not already following the construction…here is an update: