Fire 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.
The Monroe County Airport falls under the purview of Monroe County Fire Rescue.
Chief Colina said, “Station seven is actually incorporated as part of the Key West International Airport and we’re so proud of just the strides it’s made. It’s going to a larger index. They’ve got the concourses now. It’s open and big thanks to Monroe County Fire Marshal’s Office Division Chief Craig Marston and his crew. They have been on that for years, just making sure that everything is up to standard, the codes are met, and just following the complete construction phase on their end. Then the other side, we’ve got Monroe County, our firefighters, which is our airport rescue firefighters. They’re specialized in training just for aircraft firefight. So these guys are stationed there 24 hours a day. It’s one of those stations that’s there, but they’re kind of out of the way. With the expansion of the airport, we look to their station at the airport will also start getting a face lift, and that’ll be redone to be able to service the airport as it expands.”
What is the special training for the airport firefighters?
Chief Colina said, “Airport firefighting is a specialized form of firefighting, as opposed to the structural firefighting, where they have to annually, every year, they have to go through a special type of live fire training that they undergo. On top of that they have to be aware and complying with all FAA guidelines that surround the airport in terms of security, the inspections. There’s a lot of what to do’s when we start talking about airport property, and these guys do a great job. Chief Bentley is our division chief of aviation there at Key West airport. Spectacular job that he performs on a daily basis for us.”
Community events are a big part of outreach for Monroe County Fire Rescue.
Chief Colina said, “It seems like we were just wrapping Beat the Heat up, and here we are getting ready to start again. School is going to be letting out soon, and one of the first things on our agenda for the community outreach will be our Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Big Pine on May 3, from 10 to 11. We just had that that wildfire over there by the 18 mile stretch in Miami Dade. We saw what an impact that does. Those that were around previous, when we had the fires in Big Pine realize the importance of proper management of those areas, making sure that debris around your houses are picked up, but also that we provide good containment for the debris that’s there in case it does catch fire. So they do a great job. This is just one of those other days that the community can come out to the station. We’ll have representatives from the Florida Forestry Service there, the National Weather Service will be there and just kind of give people pointers. If you do live in that type of surrounding, what to do to better prepare your house?”
The Easter egg hunt just happened.
Chief Colina said, “It’s getting bigger and bigger each year. We love it. Great community support. I’ll tell you, the firefighters love it. The children, when they come out there, they’re so excited. That’s part of our fire marshal office for our outreach. Mary Moeller just does an amazing job with between the schools, the outreach events, and she’s got a tremendous support team there. A lot of the people, even administration, they will volunteer their time to go out there and make sure that everything is set up and that these events are top notch. So we thank them for that.”
The pinewood derby will be on May 3.
Chief Colina said, “The pinewood derby in Summerlin Key from 1 to 2 on May 3 and that’s the thing, a lot of these outreach, the best education is when they don’t realize they’re being educated. The best lessons learned is when we’re not sitting there teaching them something, but they pick up on what the message is, and they ask these really great questions about, what would they do for this? What would they do for that? That type of engagement is what we look for and we’ve got great youth out there.”
With the Fourth of July coming up, anyone planning a fireworks display in unincorporated Monroe County, should get a permit through the Monroe County Fire Marshal’s office no less than 30 days prior to the event.
Chief Colina said, “With the permitting we do the 30 day notice, because we have to be sure that where you want to do it is, you’re able to do it and everything is good with the permit. On the other side of that, those that have animals that are very sensitive to the noise, the light, they can go on our website, and they can see where any of the events are going to be in unincorporated Monroe County. So any of the permits we issue, we will put those on the Fire Marshal’s website, Monroe County’s website, so that maybe if you need to plan and say, well, I’m going to be close to this one and my dog is very sensitive to the noise, it might be something that you would go somewhere else. Maybe it might be a better time for like that hour or so, you go to a neighbor’s house, you go to a friend’s house, and we post that up there for that information, so people are aware of what’s happening around them with these displays.”
The fire stations are also a safe haven for newborns.
Chief Colina said, “All of Monroe County Fire Stations participate in that, and we’re trained in that. It’s one of those things that we don’t want to encourage it, and we hope it doesn’t happen, but at the end of the day, if somebody is having a very difficult time and they’re unable to care for a newborn, there are places that will help. Monroe County Fire Rescue is one of those places, and it’s no questions asked, and we take care of that, and we’ll take care of you as well. We care about what’s going on in the community. We care about our residents, and there’s a lot going on out there in this world, so we’re there to help. It’s an honor to serve as the representative, as the fire chief from Monroe County. Great support from the Board of County Commissioners, our county administrator, it’s really refreshing to know that you have that support behind you, that you can provide these services to your community. We set standard and go above, so we’re proud to do that each and every day. Monroe County Fire Rescue is out there 24/7, anything you need, we will be there. Our men and women are highly trained and highly dedicated to this community.”
For more information, click here: https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/firerescue