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.
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!
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!” 
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. 
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.