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 Murph workout took place in Big Pine Community Park recently and included a one mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, another one mile run, typically while wearing a weighted vest in tribute to Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael Murphy killed in action in 2005.
Monroe County Fire and Rescue participated.
Chief Colina said, “We were honored and with Cathy Crane and the Veterans Affair, parks and beaches, what a great job they do by making sure that we recognize our veterans and Monroe County Fire Rescue, as many have seen out on the roads and at stations, we were honoring them this month by wearing a special shirt that just supports our troops. To kind of cap that off, we had eight members participate in the Murph challenge. We had one of our captains and one of our Deputy Fire Marshals battling led out to the end. They all did extremely well, extremely difficult and trying exercise in that. But they did great. My thanks to all the members that were out there that participated, and just all the community members that that joined in that as well.”
There will be five Beat the Heat events in the Florida Keys this summer.
Chief Colina said, “May 31 we start off at Harry Harris Park, and then we’ll follow it up June 7 in Layton. June 14 will be in Big Pine Community Park. The 21st of June will be at Sugarloaf School. And June 28 we finished it off on Stock Island at Bernstein Park, and it is a great event. I’ll tell you what, each year, as it grows, it’s getting larger and larger, we get more participation from parents also with their children. So we love that, that community coming together, the parents coming in, the children love it. I’ll tell you what our crew members look forward to it, to be able to be out there and provide that type of outreach to the community. The more that our children in our community, and even the adults, but we interact with the children, the more comfortable they feel with us. So in times of emergencies, in times we have accidents, a lot of times it’s more comforting when they see a firefighter and they understand what we look like in gear, out of gear, it helps reduce their amount of stress and anxiety when we’re trying to help remove them from a vehicle, or try to examine them. All these interactions, it plays back to when, oh, they remember the firefighters from Beat the Heat. They remember the firefighters from when we were reading with them at their schools. So we try to make sure that they understand we’re there for them. We’re there to help them. And it really is a great time for everyone involved.”
How was Memorial Day weekend with any incidents?
Chief Colina said, “We don’t like to say pretty quiet, but just like any other weekend, we’re always prepared. All our stations are fully staffed, and we’re just always ensuring that anytime somebody needs any type of medical or fire or accident, any type of mitigation of an emergency, that Monroe County Fire Rescue is prepared. Just like most, we had some down points, and some high points this weekend going into it, they work as hard as they can and try to provide the best service that anyone can find across the nation, so they’re fully trained and certified, really sets a standard for what we provide here in Monroe County.”
Will Sparky be at Beat the Heat?
Colina confirmed, “Oh yes, we’ll have Sparky at Beat the Heat. He’ll be out there interacting with the children, and we make him a staple of all our events as much as we can.”
July 4 is right around the corner.
Chief Colina said, “When we talk about hurricane preparedness down in Monroe County, I think that’s just about every day of the year. We’re always preparing. We’re always ready. As we get closer to the Fourth of July as well, even these little bit of rain storms and stuff we’ve had through, just realized the vegetation, everything around us is still extremely dry, and it does not take much, a firework that is misplaced or that doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to intended, these things can have devastating effects. So definitely, if you intend to have any type of display, ensure that it is permitted or go to one of the venues across the county that are provided to watch these firework displays. Because as we all know, we live on an island, and we’ve seen what happens when some of these brush fires get away from us and it really can impact our community. So we just want everyone to be safe for you, be safe for your family. If you have any questions at all about any of the events for the Fourth of July, go to our website or just give us a call.”
With the forest fires we have already seen in Miami-Dade, it’s important to prevent them.
Chief Colina said, “Most of the area impacted and affected was Miami Dade area. When they tell us, well, it’s impacting Miami Dade, but remember, it impacts us just as much when that area of Miami Dade is shut down. Miami Dade had a good handle of that and that is still under a daily monitor for that system. So we’re thankful for their resources and their support, and we maintain good communication with them. I just want to thank everyone that’s out there for their continued support of Monroe County Fire Rescue, the men and women that commit themselves to providing life saving measures each and every day to this community. Without the community support, without the commissioners, without our administration, a lot of the standards that we’ve elevated to would not be possible. So sometimes you just want to sit back and say thank you, so to everyone out there driving, be safe, wear your seat belt, and we appreciate you.”