The Fort Myers Fire Department looks towards new year

Fighting fires is always top of mind for the Fort Myers Fire Department. The Fort Myers Fire Department leads the way when it comes to protecting your property when a fire breaks out.

In 2024, they saved 96% of property value. The department stressed that in 2025, they will strive to do even better when it comes to every aspect of keeping the community safe.

Firefighters respond to more than just fires. There are car crashes, people trapped, even incidents in high rises. It’s all about doing their part to have a safe, livable and vibrant Fort Myers.

“Many people get into this job because their goal is to be able to help people,” Fort Myers Fire Chief Tracy McMillion said.

Helping people, with the help of new tools, like the department’s new tiller truck, which is Southwest Florida’s first tiller truck since 1926.

The purpose of it is to help enhance how firefighters travel in narrow and busy streets, like downtown Fort Myers. It can easily navigate the streets better which in return, can help firefighters respond more efficiently to emergencies.

The unique-looking truck has independent rear wheels that can be steered differently than the front, a trick traditional firetrucks trucks can’t do.

“This is something that’s going to be perfect for our city, where we are today, but also where we’re going to be going in the future as our city continues to grow,” Chief McMillion said.

New tools help firefighters finish dangerous jobs and help others but it still puts their own lives at risk.

“It’s pretty nasty stuff. I mean, you’re talking about cyanide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, all these gasses that are basically can, can give any individual cancer,” Juan Salinas, the Fort Myers Fire Division Chief of EMS and Health & Safety said.

January is firefighter cancer prevention month and the routines and rules to stay clean are very important for any firefighter. They must wash their gear with soap and water after any fire.

“It prevents the spread of all those products of combustion that are on our bunker gear and on our on our firefighting equipment. It prevents the spread of that gear getting on to ourselves and in our cabs and around station,” EMS Division Chief Salinas said.

After every fire, each firefighter must change into their second pair of gear. The contaminated gear set is washed in a washing machine called an extractor.

“If we don’t do it, then we’re just exposing ourselves to that risk of possibly contracting cancer later on in life,” EMS Division Chief Salinas said.

The important steps to stay cancer-free don’t stop there.

“We have an extensive annual physical that we give to all our employees,” EMS Division Chief Salinas said.

Salinas explained that physicals can catch cancer early on.

The Fort Myers Fire Department lives by teamwork makes the dream work. Literally.

“They put in a lot of training hours, and that would be also any report the amount of hours that they did last year, they did close to about 54,000 hours of training combined. So that just goes to show how we’re training to be a safe city, to be able to take care of our public,” Chief McMillion said.

Other stats for 2024 in the Fort Myers Fire Department include:

• Total Calls: 25,000 responses to 19,044 incidents
• Busiest Engine: Engine 14 with 2,900 calls  
• Busiest Rescue: Rescue 13 with 3,200 rescues  
• Busiest Station: Station 13 with 4,600 responses  
• Structure Fires: 47 fires fought  

Chief McMillion says the focus for 2025 is to keep doing amazing work. He said he want’s to beat the 96% of homes saved and make it 100% in 2025.

Chief McMillion also addressed the wildfires burning in California.

“It’s devastating. And we know from the heart of a responder, right? Many people get into this job because their goal is to be able to help people. And sometimes, when you’re faced with fires such as that magnitude, it gets really tough to be able to actually find the abilities, the strategies, the tactics, the resources, to be able to slow that and save people’s homes, to be able save people’s lives, and that really just goes against everything we have,” Chief McMillion said.

Interestingly enough, a southwest Florida firefighter wouldn’t be the best choice to help out west because of the mountainous terrain. Still, firefighters here know what those battling the fires are going through.

He went on to say, “We know those individuals are working tirelessly. We know they’re putting in blood, sweat and tears to do everything they can to be able to save as much as they can.”