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.
Even through the holidays, Monroe County Fire Rescue is ready to serve.
Chief Colina said, “We’re a good thing for the county and the residents and the visitors. We don’t take a day off. All the stations are well staffed. We’re on standby for any type of emergency or any need that may arise within the county. With all the holidays coming between Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up in December, a lot of lot of activities for us in the community, though.”
The Flight to the North Pole is coming up on Thursday, December 5.
Chief Colina said, “At the Key West International Airport, our annual flight to the North Pole. We always have a great turnout when it comes to that event. We get really excited. Over 650 local children between Gerald Adams, Sugarloaf, Horace, St Mary’s, all the schools are invited to attend this event. That is from 8:30 to 2pm on December 5. It’s at the Key West International Airport, by the conch flyer, and it’s just a good visit. We track Santa Claus coming in, and we have a bunch of festivities. They do an excellent job out there.”
There are also the community parades.
Chief Colina said, “They start off December 9 in Stock Island and Key Haven and then we go to Big Coppitt and all of these dates and the scheduling can be found on Monroe County Fire Rescue’s Facebook. This is a great time. We decorate one of the trucks. We do a little parade in between the different neighborhoods, and we will map it out, just kind of going through the community. We do this throughout the entire month, and we actually have Santa Claus that joins us for this event as well. So I know a lot of people look forward to it, and our prevention division does an amazing job getting the truck prepared and just getting out there. As much as it’s a busy season for those that come and visit and live here, Fire Rescue, it’s like a double duty for us to make sure that we hit all these things and we enjoy the community, enjoy these events just as much as those that are participating. So on Saturday, December 7, from 6:30 to 9:30, we do have the city of Key West annual holiday parade and that starts there at Truman Avenue to Duvall and end at Eaton Street. So we look forward to seeing everyone out there and very excited about the new year coming and lot of good stuff.”
The MCFR just keeps going.
Chief Colina said, “We just make sure that all the trainings needed, everything’s completed, stations and apparatus are operational. Other than that, we just want to participate within the community and make sure that we’re just good partners with everyone. So we get a lot of help between the sheriff’s office and FWC and the other municipalities. It’s a big joint effort during the holidays, during high traffic season, and, well, we just have a lot of people here.”
It’s also important to keep in mind the fire hazards at this time of year.
Chief Colina said, “The deep frying the chickens, when that was a real popular thing, it seems like we’ve learned a lot from that over the years, the public has learned a lot in terms of how to adequately prepare the turkey prior to deep frying it. So I can say those incidents and occurrences have decreased, but it doesn’t mean that they’re completely gone. So just make sure you do it in a well vented area, away from anything else that can spill over and catch fire. Just enjoy your time, but make it safe.”
The new Emergency Operation Center has been really great.
Chief Colina said, “The facility is amazing, well staffed between emergency response, emergency management, our 911 center, it’s just a great addition to this entire community to be the pillar for emergency management for us. Thank you for everyone that’s out there, the support that we’re given. We just want you guys to have a safe holiday, maintain traffic awareness and wear those seat belts please. Enjoy your holidays. Have a great Thanksgiving.”