Jumpline magazine OCT 2022-pages - Flipbook - Page 5
President’s Report Continued
this job. Ask for their thoughts and recollections. Be careful
with the advice you accept from some, but listen patiently
to all those that take the time to share it around the kitchen
table. For them, it’s an opportunity to reflect nostalgically on
their own career while providing you with information that
one day just may save yours.
Contribute to your firehouse and unit. Capturing historical
moments, framing old photos, developing firehouse logos,
and taking time to improve where we live brings us together.
Bit by bit, these efforts also celebrate the memories of those
who came before us and leave an example for those to
follow us. Years later, when you visit your old house, some
of your efforts and “good ideas” will have lived on. No one
needs to know, but you’ll know - and that will be enough.
Contribute to making this the best job in the world. The
public looks to us as society’s problem solvers. House
catches fire? Call firefighters. Mother stops breathing?
Call firefighters. Toilet leaking at 3am? Call firefighters.
There is no challenge too big or too entertaining that we
cannot manage working together. That is who we are. So,
within our own firehouses, let’s work together to make this
the most enjoyable place you could imagine working. Be a
5
voice of optimism at the kitchen table, seek out answers to
questions that come up, and push back against falsities and
pessimism. Participate in making this organization better
each and every day.
Lastly, take photographs. I’m so thankful to have worked
with Nick Marian and Chris Ackerman in my first few years.
Long before camera phones were popular and nearly a
decade before Instagram even existed, these guys always
seemed to remember to say, ‘hey, let’s take a picture’ at
important moments in our careers. Twenty years later, those
snapshots take you back and remind you of where you
started. Take a look at this picture of Chris Fink and me.
Neither of us could have imagined back then that one day we
would be sitting in these leadership roles today. It’s humbling
for us, and I hope it is inspiring to the future leaders of this
incredible Union.
Let’s keep moving forward together.
Nick Marian and Chris Fink in my
first few years
Front Cover
21 years later, commemorating the 2977 civilians and 343 Firefighters lost at the World Trade Center skyscrapers.
Back Cover
We, Local 1403, sent 8 members to work as 2 IAFF response teams.
They went and checked on every single firefighter living in the area.
They tarped roofs, tore out drywall and cut fallen trees up.
We worked with Walmart to establish their largest food and water
distribution site in Ft Myers. We ran it for 2 of the first 3 days. Several
members were part of the IAFF peer support team. And of course many
members are part of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue US&R team,
Florida Task Force-1 (FL-TF1)
October 2022 | JUMPLINE Magazine
