Fire Service
I'm a Fire Fighter EMT for the city of St. Petersburg Florida which lies in Pinellas County which happens to be the smallest most densely populated county in the state of Florida. As of November 2011, I've been on the job for twenty-eight years. I'm a certified driver-engineer for both fire engines and aerial ladder trucks. Up until this past year, all the apparatus in my station was manufactured by Pierce Mfg. My engine is a 2000 1250 GPM Pierce Saber. My ladder truck is a new E-One HP-100, 100 ft. all aluminum aerial platform. The HP-100 replaces a 1997 Pierce 100 ft. aerial platform with an all steel aerial. Given the fact that we live on the Gulf of Mexico, we were having problems with hidden rust in the aerial and a decision was made to move to an all aluminum ladder tower a couple of years ago. At a cost of $820,000.00, not including the tools and equipment it carries, it's was a significant expense. As long as you keep good steering and brakes on a fire engine you can run it for twenty-five years without a problem. With a ladder truck with a steel aerial on it, all bets are off. Each aerial must be recertified each year and the aerial section electronically checked for rust. Rust kills! Aerial failures never give a warning.
I'm a proud member of the International Association of Fire Fighters; the Florida Professional Fire Fighters & locally, The St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters, IAFF - Local 747. I'm the C-Shift Vice President and I gladly work for over one hundred Brother and Sister fire fighters and fire fighter paramedics on my shift. I'm a graduate of several national level labor classes given by the IAFF. My job is to act as a conduit between my co-workers on my shift and our three principal union officers as well as helping to ensure that everyone goes home safely at the end of their 24 hour shift. I'm very proud of the IAFF. The IAFF is a labor organization that is run by it's members from the ground up not the top down. Transparency is the order of the day.
