Northeast Florida (the "First Coast") 2013

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I just got back from a week in the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area.  It was all business but I managed a few stops on the way. 

 

The St. John's County Fire Department serves a several hundred square mile area around St. Augustine, Florida, just south of Jacksonville.  It is a career Department with 17 stations.  I managed to visit a couple of them, dodging clouds and rain showers the whole time.

 

St. John's County Fire Station 4 is in Bakersville, west of St. Augustine.  They run a rescue pumper, tanker and a light rescue which pulls a trench trailer.  The pumper pulled up behind me at a light, so I decided to see where they were going.  Turns out that Station 4 is down a rural state highway a few miles outside of town.  The crew there was great (even though I showed up right before lunch).  They gladly pulled out the pumper (apologizing for it being dirty from the rain) and tanker and took all the time I needed to take some photos.

 

This station is a technical rescue station, so the pumper carries a certain amount of tech rescue gear, backed up by the Ford/E-One light rescue which pulls a 24 (?) foot trench trailer.

 

Engine 4 is a 2012 Pierce Impel PUC 1500/783 (that's what it carries, verified by the Engineer)/30a/20b, Pierce S/N #25327.

   

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St. John's County Fire Tanker 4 - 2006 Kenworth T-300/Pierce elliptical 750/2500  Pierce S/N #18190.

   

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St. John's County Fire USAR 4 - 2005 Ford F-550/E-One light rescue (sorry it's a tight crop - I couldn't back up any farther).

   

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St. John's County Fire technical rescue trailer - 24(?) foot Gladiator - Pulled by USAR 4

   

[hank]

Good photos!

 

tHANKs

[CAPTFBFD]

SJCFD used to be mostly made up of individual Volunteer companies. The transition to a paid department started in the late 90's. I was a volunteer at Station 2 from 98-2002.


Did you get any shots from Station 2?


There used to be a member on here who was a FF there but I haven't seen him post in a long time.

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SJCFD used to be mostly made up of individual Volunteer companies. The transition to a paid department started in the late 90's. I was a volunteer at Station 2 from 98-2002.


Did you get any shots from Station 2?


There used to be a member on here who was a FF there but I haven't seen him post in a long time.

Unfortunately I only made it to Stations 4 and 16, as they're pretty close together.  I only had an afternoon to scout around, so it was all I could do.  I'll post some photos from 16's later today, when I get them resized.  The Engineer at 16's insisted on showing me everything (all compartments, the hazmat trailer, etc... - I really appreciated his taking the time), so it took me over an hour, just at that station.

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Next stop was St. John's County Fire Station 16, located at the World Golf Village, just off I-95 between St. Augustine and Jacksonville. 

 

Engine 16 is a 2010 Pierce Impel XM rescue pumper setup for hazmat operations.  In addition to regular engine company gear, it carries a small extrication set, basic hazmat gear for patching and containment and is equipped with lots-o-lighting, including brow, Go-light and a nice Will-Burt tower, as well as portable scene lights.  The cab is setup with four riding positions, plus a single command/research workstation in the rear of the cab with desk, cabinets and laptop computer.  It is a PUC configuration, 1500/780/30a/20b with a very unique pump panel (coming up), Pierce S/N #23306.

   

 

 

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The unique pump panel on Engine 16.  They spec'd it this way to have the Engineer be out of traffic, but without the extra length of a walk-through panel.  The steps are contained in the compartment below the panel.   One note is that because of the height of the coffin compartments, the Engineer cannot see 360 degrees around the apparatus (apparently Pierce wanted the cab and body to be the same height).  I'm 5'11' and could barely see, standing on tip-toes.

   

 

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St. John's County Rescue 16.  This is a 2009 IHC/Medtec rescue.  One unique aspect is that it carries a CAFS setup with a 30 gallon tank of foam, fed through an SCBA bottle.  "Not used much" is what I was told.  Apparently good for protecting trapped occupants in a car fire, but not much else...  This rig has seen a lot of runs since 2009, as it has over 170k miles on it - "Still runs great".

   

 

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Hazmat 16 - Circa 2003 Ford F-550 pulling a 3x'-foot gooseneck trailer.  In addition to a wide array of hazmat gear (patching, diking, entry suits, testing, 6k PSI SCBA) it has a generator and a small cascade system. 

   

   

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Decon trailer - Wells Cargo trailer.  Pulled by a utility pickup truck (no photo).

   

[DaveYoung]

Great pics. Some interesting looking apparatus.

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I had a few more days in Jacksonville, but no time to visit any stations.  Downtown Jacksonville is pretty urban, so the stations aren't really conducive to visits.  All I had was a pocket point and shoot, which caused me to miss a few shots because of slow shutter release (so to speak).

 

Anyway, here are a few grab shots:

 

Rescue 15's Chevy 3500HD/Wheeled Coach running code

   

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There was some sort of Hazmat call at the giant Duval County Court House, so I got a few rigs leaving...  Sorry, it's a tight crop from a couple of blocks away.

 

Engine 21's ALF (I think it's a reserve).  Jacksonville seems to be transitioning to Pierce from ALF.

   

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Hazmat 21's Pierce Dash.  Darn camera was too slow... GRRR.

   

 

 

 

 

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Tower Ladder 21's Pierce Dash - Notice the missing chrome wheel well arches on the rears.

   

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x-Truck 10, 19xx Simon-Duplex/LTI 100' TDA

   

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Jacksonville brush truck @ Station 39 (fireboat station) on the St. John's River, just east of downtown.

   

 

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Fire rescue boat @ Station 39 on the St. John's River.