On October 22, 2018 Firefighters from Southern Manatee Fire Rescue District, North River Fire Rescue District, a General Contractor and a sales person from Municipal Fire Equipment Company joined forces once again to help repair and clear debris from the homes of Firefighters that suffered damage from Hurricane Michael. The local firefighters in the panhandle were busy taking care of their citizens and they could not take care of their own homes, so the mission of these firefighters were to clear trees, debris and do some repair work of these firefighters homes.
They arrived on October 22 and stayed until October 25 and in this time span they took care of eight (8) panhandle firefighter’s houses, they did a week’s work in three (3) days and saved these firefighters and their families tens of thousands of dollars in clean-up fees. Florida Power and Light could not restore power to these homes until all of the trees and debris was removed. The pictures tell the story.
This was not a FEMA or State of Florida mission, there will be no reimbursement, and they did this out their own pocket. They brought their own equipment from chain saws, tools, tractor and other equipment. They were self-contained and stayed in an RV while they were up in the panhandle assisting.
We know that these firefighters and their families truly appreciate the work that was completed by the personnel that provided this assistance. Both Southern Manatee Fire Rescue District and North River Fire Rescue District truly appreciates this Team for doing what they did for these firefighters and their families. A “BIG THANK YOU” to Ed Tumolo, Kiel Duquette, Joel Baker, Justin White, Joe Sicking, Richard Smail, Stephen Carlsen and Bobby Gonzalez – JOB WELL DONE, YOU ALL MAKE US PROUD!