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FDNY 343 Memorial Club Honors Sumter County Fire Chief Gulbrandsen
The FDNY 343 Memorial Club of The Villages, dedicated to the preservation of the memories of firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001, honored Sumter County Fire Rescue and Fire Chief Bill Gulbrandsen for their participation in the 2008 Remembrance Ceremony held at St. Timothy Catholic Church in The Villages. President of the Club Bob Kane, John Gleeson, Mike Mongeluzzo and Bob Green welcomed Chief Gulbrandsen into their “Brotherhood” and honored Sumter County Fire Rescue for their professionalism and praised them for their efforts in helping make the 343 Memorial Club’s first-ever 9/11 Memorial a great success. The Club’s Memorial Cart was on display during the ceremony. The Cart displays the names and photographs of the 343 Firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11.
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Two Refurbished Fire Trucks For Bushnell & Wildwood
Refurbished Tower-11 Assignment: Bushnell
Sumter County Fire Rescue has two newly refurbished units ready to be placed into service. Tower-11 is our second Aerial Platform Truck and will be based in the Bushnell area. Tower-11 was purchased as a recently refurbished unit from the Sutphen Corp. for $175,000. Cost for a new aerial truck comparable to Tower-11 is about $850,000. The refurbished unit comes fully tested with new certifications for the aerial device and fire pump. It is powered by a new Detroit Diesel engine and operates and looks like new. Tower-11 can flow 1,500 gallons of water per minute and has a vertical or horizontal reach of 100 ft. for large fires or rescues. The platform has an 850 lb. rescue capacity and climbing ladder.
Also placed into service is Engine 31-2 which will be based in Wildwood. Engine 31-2 is a 2000 Pierce / Kenworth which required a complete pump overhaul and was updated to match current specifications for fire engines. The cost to bring E-31-2 up to the new standards for apparatus and completely new pump shaft & impeller assembly was $37,204. A new replacement unit would have cost approx. $235,000. The refurbishment and pump work was completed by Pierce Mfg. at their Bradenton, FL facility. This engine is newly certified to pump 1,250 gallons per minute and is outfitted with a complete set of firefighting equipment including extrication (jaws) tools. Engine 31-2 joins the 2007 E-31 placed in service in Wildwood, doubling that station’s firefighting capacity.
Both engines will be outfitted identically to serve the growth in that area. Refurbishment / Recertification of fire apparatus is a cost efficient way to extend the life span and serviceability of fire units at a fraction of the cost of a new purchase. Both apparatus look and perform like new and are expected to serve the needs of Sumter County for at least ten to fifteen years.
Refurbished Engine 31-2 Assignment: Wildwood
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Villagers Feel the Heat
 Recently the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office sponsored a Qualification Day for retired Fire and Law Enforcement Officers at the Sumter Correctional Facility Gun Range in Bushnell. With over 60 participants from the Retired Fire & Police Officers Group of the Villages, the day included safety and legal training. When not on the shooting range, club members were given a demonstration of the County’s new fire training Flashover Simulator. Sumter County firefighters performed training evolution demonstrations, simulating the type of fire that might be encountered during real time firefighting. The $380,000 Fireblast Portable Live Fire Training Trailer was purchased with an award from the 2005 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant. The Flashover Simulator meets the requirements of N.F.P.A. 1403’s guidelines for live burn training for firefighter certification and provides much needed training in a controlled but realistic environment. Fire Chief Bill Gulbrandsen, who sits on the State’s N.F.P.A. Live Fire Training Task Force, walked the spectators through each evolution, noting that temperatures in the unit reach over  1,000 degrees F at ceiling levels. During an Awards / Promotions Ceremony for the County’s firefighters held in March, Dave Casey, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Fire Standards and Training, commended Chief Gulbrandsen and Sumter County Fire Rescue for their continued commitment to firefighter safety. With the purchase of the Flashover Simulator and Firefighter 1 training now offered at the Lake Sumter Community College Sumterville Campus, the required 160 hours of training for Firefighter 1 can be offered in Sumter County.
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June 13, 2006
Fire Services is awarded "Operator Award of the Year" by the Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged at their annual Conference held last week in Orlando. The award was based on the operator's contribution to the coordinated transportation system (Sumter County Transit). It was also based on their safety record, driver training, and their contribution to the Transit as a dependable, reliable, efficient, operator.
The Commission selected Sumter County Fire Rescue for this prestigious statewide award.
Congratulations!
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The Birth of a Tanker
In line with its budgeted long-range plan for upgrades in equipment, S.C.F.R. sent out RFP’s for the purchase of new tankers. On January 30, 2006, bid opening was held for the purchase of three new tankers to meet the Sumter County Standard Spec for Rural Tankers. The new tankers will be assigned to Station 29, Tri-County, Station 21, Lake Panasoffkee, and Station 14 Center Hill. The bid was awarded to Deep South Fire Trucks in Seminary, Mississippi.
March, 2006, three Kenworth chassis were delivered to the Deep South facility in Mississippi. Each unit will be outfitted with a 2,000 gallon tank and made ready for delivery to Sumter County Fire Rescue in July.
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| Firefighters Tell Cat-tales Firefighters can only do certain things to plan for their days: stay fit, eat well, rest, keep their skills up through training.  But as each day begins they know that their day will be orchestrated by the needs in their communities, always knowing their goal and mission is to save lives and to protect property. And so it was on the morning of April 10th. At around 8 a.m. tones broke the morning silence at Sumter County Fire Rescue Station 21 – Lake Panasoffkee, with a request for service to fight a structure fire. And as the firefighters donned their equipment and set out in their fire engines, good neighbors did what they could to keep the blaze in the mobile home at bay. Firefighters arrived to find the owner safely outside of the structure and quickly extinguished the blaze. As firefighting operations moved into the “mop-up” stage, command was informed that the family cat was still inside. Sumter County Firefighter Tom Murdaugh entered the charred structure to search. In a back bedroom he found a gray fuzzy cat, still and hiding behind a bed, but breathing, with evidence of smoke inhalation. As he moved the cat to fresh air, he was joined by Division Chief Jim Simon and Firefighters Kim Ivy and Melissa Strickland. Together, the crew administered oxygen to the cat who quickly regained his composure and moved on to enjoy his new life for the day. When asked if he knew the cat’s name, Firefighter Murdaugh said it best, “In my mind his name will always be Lucky!”
Photo L/R: Division Chief Jim Simon and Firefighter Tom Murdaugh.
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New Pierce Pumpers
 Sumter County Fire Rescue is currently up-grading its fleet with the purchase of three new Pierce Pumpers. The purchase of the three new fire engines is part of S.C.F.R.’s budgeted long-range plan for upgrades in apparatus. The three new engines meet the Fire Department’s standardized spec for Engine/Pumpers and are made by Pierce. The high-side body construction is on a Kenworth chassis and carries 1000 gallons of water with 1250 gpm Hale pump. These three new units will be assigned to Stations 33 – Coleman, Station 28 – Croom-A-Coochee, and Station 12 – Webster. Photo provided by Pierce.
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Home becomes “Island in a Sea of Fire.” This “Firewise” home was saved as wildfire charred 460 acres surrounding it in north Sumter County. Sumter County Fire Rescue – arrived quickly with Chief of Department, Bill Gulbrandsen being the first arriving Command Officer. Chief Gulbrandsen quickly established a Unified Command System to control the blaze, calling in Division of Forestry land and air units and Marion County Fire Rescue units from Marion Oaks and Pedro Stations. Dry conditions increase the risk of wildfires. For more information on how to make your rural home a “firewise” home, contact the Division of Forestry. For a free copy of Forest Fire Laws and Open Burning Regulations put out by the Florida Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry, stop by any Sumter County Fire Rescue Station or the Division of Forestry Office.
Photo taken by Ralph Warnock aboard Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Eagle 1 helicopter, piloted by Jim Henderson .
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Awards and Promotions Ceremony March 14, 2006
Awards and Promotions were the main events for an evening honoring the achievements of Sumter County Fire Rescue personnel. The ceremony was held on March 14, 2006, at the Sumter County Fair Grounds new agriculture facility. Fire Chief Bill Gulbrandsen welcomed the firefighters and their families, Sumter County officials, distinguished guests and members of the public who assembled as the Fire Department formally acknowledged promotions, appointments, and State of Florida Firefighter Certification recipients; and, for the first time since the unification of fire services in 2002, firefighters selected three of their own to receive the distinguished “Sumter County Fire Employee of the Year -2005.”
 Photo: LtoR: Bureau Chief Dave Casey, Bureau of Fire Standards & Training, Fire Rescue Employees of the Year 2005: James F. Smith, Jr .(Battalion 1); Christopher Helbig (Battalion 2); Tyler Egner (Battalion 3); Bill Gulbrandsen, Fire Chief, S.C.F.R.
Driver / Engineer Appointments:
John Jungwirth Justin Richey
Thomas Hunter Marshall Underwood
Crystal Weiss Parran Norris
James Thalgott Mike Cassidy
Brian Gibson
Fire Officer Promotions:
Cecil B. Burris , Deputy Chief, Administration
Judd Wright, Deputy Chief, Operations
Janet Weiss, Lieutenant
Brian Tucker, Assistant Fire Chief
Robert Britt, Division Chief
J.R. Smith, District Chief
Donald Foster, District Chief
Christopher Burris, Lieutenant
Bill Luney, Captain
Frank Franklin, Lieutenant
Paul Pumphrey, Sr., Captain
Timothy Bellingar, Lieutenant
Ginger Jacobs, District Chief
Firefighter Certificates & Badges were awarded to:
Jerry Kooistra James Thalgott
David Harrell Robert Wozniak
Larry Reddish George Smith
Chad Sword Daniel Costanza
Steven Waters J.R. Smith
Donald Foster Marsha Fox
Thomas Murdaugh Joseph Fowler
David Rogers Terry Woodard
Angela Baker Geoffrey Martz
Gregory Martz Jason Packard
Mark Rothenberg Frank Franklin
Brian Gibson Ginger Jacobs
Bill Luney Ashley Jacobs
Douglas Kaufman Michael Cassidy
Andrew Nelson Justin Richey
Marshall Underwood John Jungwirth
Justin Thalgott Michael Redondo
Janet Weiss Josh Greenwood
Doug Laviano
Special recognition was given to retired District Chief Clarence Craig for his years of dedicated service to the Center Hill community and to the fire service.
Three certificates for Meritorious Service for life saving were awarded to District Chief Ginger Jacobs, Lt. Frank Franklin and Melissa Strickland. A pediatric patient entrapped in a vehicle was the incident that allowed this team to distinguish themselves.
Two members received special recognition as recipients of The Fire Chief’s Award for outstanding performance. Volunteer Assistant Chief Karl B. Tucker was recognized for coordination of the S.C.F.R. Equipment Acquisition and Standardization program, including; new and updated breathing apparatus, positive pressure ventilation fans, attack nozzles and powered equipment such as K-12 and roof ventilation saws for each fire station. Asst. Chief Tucker also serves as Training & Safety Coordinator for S.C.F.R., developing our first standardized annual training calendar countywide. Volunteer Assistant Chief George M. Jacobs was recognized for serving as the department’s first Fleet Maintenance Coordinator, overseeing the maintenance and repair of approximately 70 vehicles and apparatus and their transition from municipal or independent volunteer departments to part of the Sumter County Fire Fleet. Asst. Chief Jacobs also serves as the Special Operations Coordinator for S.C.F.R. Both Asst. Chiefs also serve as Operations Battalion Chiefs - Incident Commanders for major emergencies in their respective battalions.
The members of each battalion were asked to nominate and select a worthy representative from their own ranks to receive the “Fire Rescue Employee of the Year – 2005”for ongoing commitment, dedication and service to the citizens of Sumter County and the Fire Service. James F. Smith, Jr. was the recipient for Battalion 1. Christopher Helbig was the recipient for Battalion 2, and Battalion 3 chose Tyler Egner. All three demonstrate the qualities that we look for in our members and as Chief Gulbrandsen reviewed the individual reasons that resulted in this honor, he emphasized that these three epitomize “role-models” that all members can be proud of. Truly the recognition of one’s peers is an outstanding achievement in itself. In addition to their Award Certificates, Chief Gulbrandsen personally provided each recipient with a limited edition signed and numbered print depicting the history of progress in the fire service. He felt that this rendering caught the essence of Sumter County’s Fire Service as we have rapidly progressed in the last few years.
Guest speakers for the evening’s events included Sumter County Commissioner Jim Roberts who commended the firefighters and members of the steering committee who had the foresight to see the growing needs in public safety and the need for a unified county fire rescue system to better serve our citizens, to upgrade equipment and to offer first response medical to all citizens of Sumter County. Bureau Chief Dave Casey, Bureau of Fire Standards and Training, Florida State Fire College spoke about fire service traditions and he commended Sumter County Fire Rescue’s role of leadership in improving its firefighter’s training and safety. Chief Casey also spoke about his 30-year career and his roots as a volunteer in the fire service, emphasizing the importance of trust and responsibility that come with the badge, asking each firefighter to be the best firefighter or officer that they can be.
Elias “Buck” Tomlinson, Instructor - Florida State Fire College, administered the Oath of Service to Firefighters and Officers.
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