Deputy Chief RL Colina from Monroe County Fire and Rescue joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on in the county.
Summerland Farms had an Earth Day celebration and mangrove planting event.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “We had crews at the event to kind of help participate and be out there to answer any questions, anything with fire life safety, anything with prevention. It’s just such a great event. All the crews that came from there, they spoke volumes of what they’re doing in the research there for the Florida Keys and just everything that has to do between the mangrove planting, the plants a million corals. It was a great opportunity to kind of get out in the community and see what other people are doing.”
The Seven Mile Bridge run was another recent event for Monroe County Fire and Rescue.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “We definitely had the support for the south end of the bridge where the race started and Fire and Rescue was on scene early in preparation. But this year, we had an even larger group than we’ve had the previous years. We had some run in full gear. We had some participating, the families, the children of the firefighters. It was a great event. Just a great time all around and great representation by Monroe County Fire Rescue.”
A Special Olympics event is coming up on Friday.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “Something somewhat new. We’ve assisted the last couple of years with the Monroe County Bocce Culmination with the Special Olympics. That’s this Friday the 26th from 9am to 2pm. So we look forward to that. We assist with hosting a medical standby for the organization and for the visitors and the members and obviously the athletes that are competing that day.”
On May 4, the Big Pine Community Park will celebrate Wildfire Preparedness Day.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “I guess a lot of times, you don’t think about the wildland fires, the impact to the Florida Keys but obviously the Big Pine area, we have a quite dense area there. So it’s a lot about the community and preparedness, the tips to protect you and your community. We present our fire trucks along with Department of Forestry. They’re there with their brush trucks, their apparatus to kind of get in between those areas if we need to do some type of joint operation to assist with controlling a wildfire. The National Weather Service Association, they’re out there as well. They’re a big part of us down here in the keys between hurricanes, wildfire and just overall daily weather.”
Hurricane season will be here before we know it and the new Emergency Operations Center will certainly help a lot.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “We’re extremely excited about the resource that the new Emergency Operation Center is going to provide the county as an entirety. It’s state of the art. It’s been well planned out. It was well designed. The operation of that is going to allow for several 100 operators, if needed, to be in one facility secure and conducting operations county wide. So it’s definitely an amazing addition to this county, and to the workers that utilize in operating those functions during national disasters.”
Volunteerism is also an opportunity to help within the department.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “We have a Tavernier volunteer has a volunteer department and opportunities along with Key Largo volunteer fire department. Between our training facility, we’re one of 40 training facilities in the state that’s certified in the programs we offer for our locals in form of the hotshots program, to get them fully certified to a professional firefighter standard and hopefully obtain a full time position. So it’s a great stepping stone to give people the opportunity to kind of give back to the community and the same time develop into a career. I will tell you after nearly 27 years, it does not get boring, I promise you that. The station that we have in Tavernier has retained the Tavernier volunteer fire department. Right now currently, all the Monroe County Fire Stations are fully staffed with full time paid firefighters, Florida certified and credentialed as a professional firefighter. So some of the other organizations that retain a volunteer status, they do have training requirements and they do function in the capacity of support for some of those areas.”
The Hot Shots Academy is a good way for people to find out if they are interested in a career in fire and rescue.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “It’s a great opportunity for locals and for others outside of the community as well. The big part for the locals is that the fee for locals for that training academy in that program are waived. So it is something that we look forward to kind of encouraging the locals and we do a lot of outreach with that program as well. I know a lot of times people think that well, I may be too old and that’s the furthest thing from the truth. I will tell you that we’ve seen all types of different age groups go through that facility and be just as successful as anyone else. So it’s just having the desire and putting forth the time it takes and we get you trained.”
April is also Autism Awareness Month.
Deputy Chief Colina said, “It’s a great event. One of our firefighter paramedics, Jake Warner, he kind of spearheaded the event for us. He brought in guest speakers and professionals to help kind of bridge the gap between some of these calls that responders may go to, and with patients that may have the condition of autism. So it was a great event, it was a great time, in terms of learning opportunities for men and women of Monroe County, and those that attended from outside agencies. We put a lot of effort into it. We look at just continuously building that program each year and making it even larger for the upcoming years. It’s a very worthwhile cause. It’s a tremendous, tremendous opportunity to help bridge the gap and ensure that we’re communicating correctly, and we are providing the services that are needed. On behalf of a fire chief Callahan and the rest of the staff here, always going to be extremely proud to serve this community.”
Michael Stapleford of KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM said, “We are very indebted and humbled to have you here and to have the service every day of all of your great first responders there. So we thank you for that.”