Skip to main content

Page last updated on February 21, 2019 at 9:43 am

Thanks to Chief Moore and Deputy Chief Washel, and to all of you, for your service to our community.

Our community has supported investing in basic city services – fire engines, police vehicles, vehicles for Streets, Parks, and Sanitation, and major replacements and upgrades for buildings and other equipment. In three years prior to this administration, from 2013-15, our community invested about $19 million in this. In the past three years, in this administration, our community has invested about $39 million in this. Doubling.  

That pays for rolling stock. And safety gear. And station improvements. That’s important. We’ve also invested in training – as have you – with more than 10-fold increase in training. And an increased attention to firefighters' health:  1) with new locution system allows them to sleep with fewer interruptions, 2) physical fitness, 3) exhaust system improvements at stations, and 4) quartermaster system and double sets of gear to avoid contamination as much as possible.

These are all good things. And results are impressive:

I could mention the Trip to Sierra Leone that demonstrates our excellence and our values and the way cities are leading the way in terms of bridge-building around the world, international assistance even when national trends are going in the other direction.

Or their Oscar-nominating worthy performance in the beautiful Bloomberg video in which they showcased the 3M Scott breathing/thermal imaging apparatus that has allowed them to see more in dark smoke-filled rooms-- 

We have a #2 ISO rating, which puts us in top 2 per cent of fire stations around the nation.

No fatalities in two years. Fire calls down about 20% from 2017 to 2018.

The awesome save last graduation weekend (the 1st weekend in May) at the Park Doral apartments--forestalling a tragic outcome and allowing those students to have their graduation instead.

And today is about you. An exceptional group of individuals. And exceptional teams working together.

On behalf of all 85,000 residents and 2 million annual visitors, thank you for who you are, and what you do, every day.

Speeches