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Pay Attention to Drowning Prevention in 2010
Posted on December 14th , 2009

DPC Logo

The Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Volunteer Battalion have teamed up to increase awareness of Drowning Prevention in 2010. Events in 2010 include hosting a fundraising golf tournament in May to help the DPC expand its free swim program for underprivileged children. In addition, the Coalition and volunteers intends to increase its water safety educational programming in the Palm Beach County School District and further promote the importance of drowning prevention and water safety via area health and safety fairs.

The volunteers will also be using their boat to visit marinas and promote water safety. The Volunteer Battalion is pleased to be involved in this effort and is looking forward to getting more people to "Pay Attention to Drowning Prevention" in 2010.

Fire Rescue Adopts a Family for ChristmasFire Rescue Adopts a Family for Christmas
Posted on December 23rd , 2009
On Monday night, December 21, Christmas season was a little brighter for our very own Rosa who does an exceptional job of keeping Headquarters neat and clean.  Rosa has three daughters, Victoria 18 yrs old, Miranda 10 and Veronica 8.  Her oldest daughter is working on a nursing career and will be leaving for UCF shortly.  She was in dire need of a laptop.  The other girls need bicycles and other items.  Through the generous contributions of headquarters staff, the family’s wishes were fulfilled.  The presents were given out at Station 34 that evening. 
Breakfast With Santa and Palms West Kids Cancer FoundationBreakfast With Santa and Palms West Kids Cancer Foundation
Posted on December 23rd , 2009
December 19th, 2009 marked the firefighter's second annual "Breakfast with Santa" event for the Palms West Kid's Cancer Foundation.  FF Mike Adams co-coordinated the event which included members from Station 25-B shift as well as the Palm Beach County FOOLS organization.  Gifts were purchased, donated and wrapped in time for Santa to deliver them off Ladder One. The breakfast was a huge success and a lot of sick kids were reminded of what a smile felt like on their precious face.   One of the many touching moments of the morning was made when FF Mark Freesman removed the T shirt from his back after hearing of a request from one of the attending children.   Kyle is a long time friend and his life battling cancer has left him confined to a wheelchair.  His Christmas wish was to ride on the fire truck this year, however, his health has not allowed him to do it.  His only request that morning was to have a firefighter shirt like the one Mark was wearing.  The families of this close knit community were struck with emotion and so thankful for the firefighters this year!
Station 72 Brightens Burn Victim's DayStation 72 Brightens Burn Victim's Day
Story by EMS Capt. Craig Prusansky, photos courtesy of Rescue 72 “A” Shift. Posted on December 23rd , 2009

At the beginning of September, the crew from Station 72 A-Shift responded to an 11 month old child who had accidentally been burned with some scalding soup. The child was transported to the trauma center, after which he spent 3 weeks in the burn unit where he recovered from his burns. The crew at 72 wanted to do a little something to welcome the child home after his ordeal.

On November 24th, after he came back home, the crew stopped by to check on him at his home just outside of Pahokee. Along with them was a toy fire engine purchased by Firefighter/Paramedic Ed Torres. The fire engine was given to the boy as a gift, and he seemed to like it.

The friends and family were surprised and happy that our crews cared enough to check on the boy after everything he had been through.

Kudos go out to the crew of Rescue 72, “A” Shift.

Photo captions (left to right): Hershie Hobbs, Lt. Keith Reed, FF/PM Ed Torres.

Car vs. Tractor-Trailer Near OkeelantaCar vs. Tractor-Trailer Near Okeelanta
Story and photos by EMS Capt. Craig Prusansky. Posted on December 22nd , 2009

On Monday, December 21, 2009 at about 1:05 pm, crews from Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue stations 73 and 74 responded to a car vs. tractor-trailer crash on US Highway 27 in front of the Okeelanta Sugar Mill. The sugar mill's medical staff responded to the scene and provided aid until the paramedics arrived.

The driver of the truck was not injured, but two occupants of the car were taken to a local hospital, and the other was flown to the trauma center via TraumaHawk. The cause of the crash is under investigation by Florida Highway Patrol.

Marine 970 Now in ServiceMarine 970 Now in Service
Posted on December 22nd , 2009

On Saturday, December 19, the volunteers completed the refurbishment of their 21' Wahoo boat and have now made it available for calls. The boat originally belonged to the Pahokee Volunteers but was transferred to the County Volunteers when the Glades became part of the County Fire Rescue organization. The boat has a 200HP outboard motor, VHF and Marine Radio, GPS, AED, a deck gun and a handline as well as 3 dry chem extinguishers. It also houses a backboard and BLS kit.

The primary role of the boat will be in public education pertaining to drowning prevention and fire safety. We expect to visit a number of Marinas in 2010 for pub ed events. It will also be available to County Fire Rescue crews as needed in support of operations or special events. The boat is on a trailer and is housed at station 42.

Thanksgiving Day with Kid's SanctuaryThanksgiving Day with Kid's Sanctuary
From the Customer Service Team. Posted on December 14th , 2009

Lt. Delrossi and his wife, who is a Fire Safety Specialist "NICOLE DELROSSI" went above and beyond for the young children of a needy organization here in Batallion Two.  Kid's Sanctuary is a nonprofitable housing system that provides a loving home environment while the children are awaiting selection into the foster care system here in Palm Beach County.  Instead of a Foster Care boarding house, these kids live in a converted duplex type structure here in St28's area.  Lt Delrossi has done many things for this organization throughout the years including several donations to the facility, gifts and toy deliveries every year at Christmas as well as a wonderful playground area that the guys all chipped in and built for the Kid's Sanctuary.  This year, thanks to the partnership with several generous members of BOSS, the team of fire rescue folks purchased, prepared and delivered an amazing Thanksgiving Day feast, along with quality time spent with the firefighters including full truck tours by the crews. Thank you for stepping to the plate to mentor these young children of our community and for making Palm Beach County Fire Rescue very proud!  Frequent Fire Miles are being awarded for going the extra mile!

Fight For Air Stair RunFight For Air Stair Run
Story and photos by Ed Kranski . Posted on December 1st , 2009

I would like to give you an update on Palm Beach County's outstanding performance at "The Fight For Air" stair run held this past weekend in down town West Palm Beach. The event was held to benefit The American Lung Association. The race consisted of a 444 step vertical climb to the top of the Phillips Point West Tower.There were both firefighter and open categories. Firefighters competed in full gear including SCBA.

Awards were given to the top 3 individuals in each category and the top 3 teams. Team times were formed by adding the 3 fastest members of each team together.

In the firefighter division, our 4 man team swept the field of 35 competitors with Lee Bronco taking 1st in 2:22, Isaac Laing 2nd 2:46, Jacques Aime 3rd 2:54 and Ed Delcampo a very impressive 11th in 4:20. The team time was nearly 3 minutes faster than 2nd place West Palm Beach and their 26 member team. Our team was so strong that I felt they did not need my help, so I chose to represent us in the open category taking 3rd out of over 100 in a time 0f 1:53.

More important than our performance was that our team raised 500 dollars for this most important cause. In attendance but not competing was our very own James Howard, who over the last couple of years has been battling with cancer in his lung. His presence was of strong motivation and we look forward to next year when he can run with us. We ran in support of him this year. Over all, the event was a huge success and I hope next year we can enter multiple Palm Beach County teams.

2009 Firefighter Combat Challenge Finals - Las Vegas, NV2009 Firefighter Combat Challenge Finals - Las Vegas, NV
Story by Capt. Craig Prusansky, photos by Mackenzie Briggs and Jason Martino. Posted on December 1st , 2009

Firefighters from all over the United States and the world competed in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge 2009 World Finals held in Las Vegas, Nevada. These firefighters competed in the preliminaries which ran from Monday, November 16th, through Wednesday, November 18th. Members from our team had to compete multiple times to qualify for the finals which were held on Thursday and Friday, November 19th and 20th.

The team consisted of members from Local 2928, as well as the cities of Delray Beach, Riviera Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Boca Raton.

"Team Mutual Aid", consisting of Jason Martino and Mackenzie Briggs of Local 2928, Tommie Osborne of Delray Beach, and Brett Lee and Warren Cann of Boca Raton. The team finished 12th overall with a time of 5 minutes, 6.18 seconds.

In the Male Tandem event, Jason Martino and Mackenzie Briggs of Local 2928 finished 7th overall with a time of 1 minute, 20.02 seconds. In the Co-ed Tandem event, Jason Martino and Melissa Jones of Local 2928 qualified but did not make the finals.

In the Relay event, Jason Martino, Mackenzie Briggs, Tommie Osborne, Brett Lee, and Warren Cann finished in the final top 16. In the Over 40 Relay event, Brett Lee, Scott Steel, Tommie Osborne, and John Morrow qualified but did not make the finals.

Local 2928 highlights of the individual run:
Melissa Jones ran her personnel record of 4 minutes, 30 seconds.
Jason Martino ran his personnel record of 1 minute, 43 seconds.
Mackenzie Briggs ran his personnel record of 1 minute, 31.14 seconds, beating some of the fastest people in the sport and having the fastest time in Florida. He was ranked 6th out of 132 in the final standings.

Great job to these individuals who competed and placed as well as they did!

Station 32: The Reconstruction (Part 3)Station 32: The Reconstruction (Part 3)
Story and photos by Drew Craig, E32-B . Posted on December 1st , 2009

Progress is moving along quite well over at the "32 House". The second floor is poured, the second floor walls are up, next will be the roof trussess and the roof. Everything looks to be going as planned, however we did notice a change to the plans. Nope, no addition of a pole... The second story balcony/patio has been removed, we've been told that its been blocked in (CBS) and it will now house a 5x7 window instead of an actual patio. There is a proof of the stucco pattern on the delta side of the structure, however the pictures didn't come out clear. It is a nice pattern, it's a tight stucco pattern. There were three styles of stucco patterns to choose from, wide stucco, medium stucco , and tight stucco  patterns. Don't know who chose the pattern, but it looks great we're pleased with it. Thats all for now, more pics will come soon. We heard the roof is going up within the next couple of weeks. Until then be good be safe.

Captain Doug McGlynn Receives Firefighter of the Year AwardCaptain Doug McGlynn Receives Firefighter of the Year Award
Story and photos by Captain Don Delucia, PIO. Posted on November 25th , 2009

Our very own Captain Doug McGlynn, Battalion 9A, recently received the Firefighter of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches.  Doug was the employee of the year with Fire Rescue last year and more than deserved this year’s honor for his untiring work with customer service, training and numerous other special projects.  Our congratulations go out to Captain McGlynn.

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