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Alligator Point firefighters get training, equipment boost
The Alligator Point Saint Teresa Volunteer Fire Department has
been named a 2021 grant recipient by Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, receiving
$32,030 funding to be used to purchase Hurst Extrication Tools.
Were so thankful for the support from Firehouse Subs
Public Safety Foundation and our local Firehouse Subs restaurant, in
Tallahassee, said Robert Gates, president of the fire department. The Hurst
Extrication Equipment will help us safely and effectively rescue trapped
occupants of vehicular accidents and remove barriers for rescue operations in
structures.
During the most recent grant cycle, the Foundation awarded
118 grants to public safety organizations across the country, totaling more
than $2.5 million toward critical lifesaving equipment, a new record for the
most money ever awarded in a single quarter.
The Alligator Point fire department was eligible for the grant
funding because they fell just within the maximum distance from a Firehouse Sub
location.
The members of the department trained on the tools last
August and again earlier this month.
Under the leadership of Hugh Hartsfield, over the past 14
months the department has seen four members who completed the requirements for
Firefighter 1 certification by the state of Florida. They include Hartsfield,
Gates. Ken Clizbe, vice president of the board, and Paul Parker, the longest
tenured member of the department, and a former fire chief and president of the
board.
In addition, the department now has two certified emergency
medical technicians – Mike Avera and Gates. The department also has 16 members
who are certified as emergency medical responders
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.