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Inside FeaturesIn Memory of Captain Sam Downing.....................................Page 2Citizens Academy Inspiration...............................................Page 3Kudos.......................................................................................Page 4Hot Shots................................................................................Page 5Firefighter Safety...................................................................Page 6Fire Prevention Week...........................................................Page 7Featured Cartoon...................................................................Page 8

FIRE PREVENTION WEEKOCTOBER 7-13

FIRE PREVENTION WEEKOCTOBER 7-13

Our MissionThe Mission of the Mobile Fire- Rescue Department is to iden-tify and respond to communityneeds in order to deliver aneffective and efficient systemof service which minimize riskto life, health, and property fromfire, trauma, acute illness, andhazardous conditions.

A PUBLICATION OF THE MOBILE FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT- EST. 1888 SEPT - OCT 2007

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Mobile Fire-RescueDepartment is mourning the loss ofCaptain Samuel "Sam" W. Downing.

Downing, a veteran of over 21years with the department suffered anapparent heart attack and diedSaturday, June 30 in Lucedale, MSafter working a 24-hour shift.

Downing was assigned as ashift supervisor for Engine 15 and theHazardous Material Response Teamat Gus Rehm Fire Station

Captain Walt Riley saidDowning, 45, never lost his enthusiasmfor the job.

“Every time the lights came onto make a run, he was just as excitedas probably the first run he ever made,”Riley said. “He never got tired of it. If hecould come to work every day andmake run after run after run, he’d behappy.”

Riley said Downing workedhard as one of the captains of thedepartment’s hazardous materialsresponse team, but he also lovededucating the public about fire safety.

In Memory ofSamuel W.Downing1962-2007

11 a.m. at Wilmer United MethodistChurch in Wilmer. Downing was buriedwith full fire department honors.

A permanent internet memorialfor Captain Downing has been setup. Itcan be viewed at:w w w . f i r e f i g h t i n g l i n k s . c o m /sdowning.html

Above: Captain Sam, Left, at a house burn located at 961Lawrence Street on January 24, 2007. Top: Receiving anaward from Assistant Chief Mike Byrd (Retired), date un-known.

Photos By STEVE HUFFMAN

"Quality Professional

Services Delivered with

Compassion"

On the CoverKent Landsberg and Dusty theDragon at a recent Public Educationprogram.

Cover Photo By: Steve Huffman

“He had a bit that hedid about fire safety and theright way to get out of yourhouse alive,” Riley said. “It wasamazing how he related tokids. They would sit there inawe.”

Downing went theextra mile when school groupswould visit the fire station.Rather than having them simplywalk through the station seeingthe fire truck and where thefirefighters sleep, Downing didhis best to entertain as well aseducate theyoungsters. Downingwould dress up, doskits, dress the kidsup and let them squirtwater from the hose.

He wouldactually teach themsomething while theywere there, Hecertainly will bemissed.

D o w n i n gleaves behind his wife,Lisa, and threechildren, CodyJefferson Downing,Victoria ElizabethDowning, and ColtonEdison Downing, allof Citronelle; and onebrother, John WayneDowning of Wilmer.

F u n e r a lservices were held onWednesday, July 4with a processionfrom Radney's tothe church at 10a.m.

T h eservice was at

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At some point in our lives, prob-ably when we were kids, there wassomeone that inspired us and we pro-claimed that we wanted to be just likethat person when we grew up. Well,Captain LeAnn Tacon and myself foundthat person recently.

Shirley Mears, a 70-year-oldMobile cancer survivor, inspired us asshe most likely did many others in ourrecent Citizens Fire Academy.

Hopefully some of you had theopportunity/honor to meet this veryunique woman.

Shirley was among the 25graduates on June 19 of the first MobileFire-Rescue Citizen’s Academy.

Shirley received an award thatrecognized her as the most enthusias-tic member of the class. “She rappelled... she did everything,” said CaptainTacon, who organized the academy.

Diagnosed with brain cancerabout two years ago, Shirley under-went surgery to remove a tumor overher right eye. After that, she had tolearn to walk again, she said.

But the cancer scare set heron a mission: She resolved to geteverything she could out of life, and thatincluded learning and sometimes do-ing what police officers and firefightersdo for the public.

Citizens AcademyGraduate

Recognized byCity of Mobile

By STEVE HUFFMANPIO

Recently Mayor Sam Jones and CityCouncil Member Gina Gregory pro-claimed July 3 as Shirley MearsDay. A recognition that was well de-served.

I can honestly say that ShirleyMears is listed among my own per-sonal heroes and is truly an inspiration.

Left: Mayor Jones, Council MemberGregory, and Captain Tacon stand withShirley Mears and her family membersat the recent City Council meeting. Top:Shirley successfully completes herrappelling from the top of the drill tower.Above: Shirley suits up in Level A HazMat Suit.

Please see Remember Page 4

I Remember When...By FRANK BYRDDistrict Chief

Well it's been awhile since I putpen to paper or should I say fingers tokeyboard in my typical hunt and peckfashion. But there has been a lot goingon and I really just have not had theinspiration to write. Recently however,I was ask to come up with a littlesomething concerning some issueswithin the department. I truly hope all ofyou will take the time to read and reflecton some of the material that is writtenhere and in ever segment on this paper.For some of us who choose to write, itcan be quite difficult getting our thoughtsinto the right words and phrases. Thelast couple of times I submitted to theTrumpet, the articles had twists to howthings were done in the past versuswhat was going on at the present timewithin the department. I'm still going totalk about what's going on and appeal toyou to look inward among yourselves.Hoping to stir something inside your-selves that will help you to a better job.

Before I went on vacation I wascalled to a meeting to discuss somerecent events and happenings withinthe department that are out of characterfor our personnel. If true we have to nipit in the bud early and begin working oncorrecting these uncharacteristic be-havior patterns. Since returning fromvacation I have been in a few meetingsthat were not only enlightening but verypositive in nature. The last one I was inwith Chief Dean was very informal andupbeat. So much so, I wish each of youcould have had the opportunity to havebeen there. The topics ranged fromlines of authority to accountability, butthe biggest issue was job satisfaction.We as a department have to restore thePride that once ran rampant amongpersonnel within this department. Wherehas that gone? and why? Twenty-threeyears ago I fell in love with this job andstill love it today. When I was a PrivateI couldn't wait for that third day to gethere. How many of you feel that waytoday? Even as a Chief, I still love this

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JUNE - Tommy Bishop - Driver, TA04JULY - Dwight Smith - Firefighter, Supply Division

Wise men talk because they

have something to say,

fools, because they have to

say something.

-Plato

Representatives of the Hero to Hero (H2H) programarrived at Central Station on June 11 to collect t-shirts fromMobile Firefighters. H2H travels around the country visitingpolice and fire departments, collecting department t-shirtsthat are signed by members of the department. Photos,along with the collected t-shirts, are sent to military personnelfighting overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was their firstvisit to Mobile.

Photos By DEBBIE BRYARS

RememberContinued from Page 3

job and enjoy coming to work. Admittedly though, there areaspects of this level I could live without but that doesn'tchange my attitude nor my love for the job.

Ok, let's get down to some issues at hand. The outof character issue I spoke of occurred recently when severalstations had some visitors. Some were foreign and somewere female and some were John Q. Public looking forassistance. The word I got was that people entering thestations were not properly welcomed and then attended to.Well, some of this may go back to home training. I don't knowbut when guest enter a room it is always proper to stand andgreet them. It was reported that in several situations thatsome of our personnel never even lifted their head to acknowl-edge the visitors presence. Well folks, that is just down rightrude. In days gone by most everyone in a sitting room wouldjump up to assist and greet visitors in a polite manner. It didnot matter if it interrupted our favorite episode of Days of OurLives, it was and is expected of us. It is part of our jobs, partof our traditions. So when you signed onto this department,you signed up for the traditions regardless of home training.So, in this case I appeal to your sense of human relations.Jump up and treat people the way you would expect to betreated if you were in their shoes. If that doesn't work I canalways point to the bible, Mobile Fire-Rescue Departmentrules, regs policies and OG's.

Rules and Regs 725, Floor Duty, #5, Shall greetvisitors. Also, R&R 350 #23 and R&R 500 #16. Boys andgirls, it's just down right laziness not to acknowledge thepresence of a visitor in the room. Turn off the TV, get up, smileand politely ask how you can assist them today. I hear tellof a story of a young man on this department a little over ayear was transferred to a news station. At this new stationone day his new Company Officer told him he had floor dutytoday. The young firefighter ask, "what's floor duty"? Thissort of thing is happening all over the department and it isneglect of duty on behalf of Company Officers. Captains havegot to step up to the plate and do the job that is expected withthose bugles on your collar. Until you do we will struggle toturn things around for the betterment of all. Cleaned,polished and firefighters ready, willing and able to help is acustom and tradition that the public has come to expect fromfirefighters and we do not need to tarnish it. Most of the JohnQ. Public will have very little interaction with you and thedepartment over their lifetime. We need to make sure thatwhen they do, we, meaning me, you, Chief Dean ChiefBrannon or whomever it may be do not leave a bad taste intheir mouths when it comes to the Mobile Fire-RescueDepartment.

I think this will fill about all the space Steve will allowme to have so I'm going to close with this. When I drove atSAIA Motor Freight, there was a gentleman that came

around very often from the home office, who could havebeen Captain HuiHui's twin brother. I can't remember hisname and to this day I don't know what his job was. I called

This letter comes as an accommodation toyour Firemen and Emergency Department.

On Tuesday, July 3, 2007, I was a customer inWal-Mart when the Tornado hit. I was not physicallyhurt, nor were my two other best friends (who were inthe store and neither of us knew the other were in thestore at that time, we all met at the same side in thefront to exit the building).

My letter is to commend your department forthe professional job that all of the units did. They wereso caring for the safety of all (customers and employ-ees). They responded so fast (jumping off the truckstaking over, taking charge, helping everyone).

I know that there were many units there, so thisthank-you goes for the whole Department.

This letter may be used to encourage yourdepartment. I was certainly encouraged and felt safewhen I witness the action of the Mobile Fire Depart-ment.

God bless your department.Sincerely, Jacuelyn Young

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Yorkwood Road House FireMay 2, 2007

him the RAH! RAH! Man, because most times his solepurpose was to pump us up and tell how good a job we weredoing, regardless of how true that may or may not have been.I never heard "Frank, you had 300 returns out of 700 deliverieslast month, explain why?" I never heard "Frank, you had 30damaged deliveries last month due to driver, care to ex-plain?" He would always show a short little customer serviceoriented video, ask a few questions, thanked us for beingthere, like we had a choice, and thanked us for doing a goodjob regardless of how our true performance was. I hope weas a department can take some of that attitude and apply itto our daily work ethics. After all your attitude is solely yourcontrol.

There are other topics and other issues that need tobe laid out before you and if I can do so without stepping ontoes, I will bring them to you. Some of the issues that werediscussed in the meeting I told you about in the opening. Ithink you will find to be interesting reading. So, I hope youare reading and I hope you will do your part to help make thisan even better place to work and in the words of my friend fromSAIA.

THANK YOU FOR THE HARD WORK AND GOOD JOBYOU DO AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!

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Check your PPE between calls

While personal protective equipment (PPE) cannever guarantee firefighter safety, a large number of injuriesare still caused by firefighters not wearing required gear.

With hand injuries being among the most common,research shows the majority of these injuries are causedwhen gloves are not worn.

Common reasons firefighters give for not wearinggloves are that they have been lost or left at the station.

An easy solution is to check all PPE after returningto the firehouse from each incident and before going on thenext one.

Remember everyone, regardless of rank or years ofservice, makes an impression on someone at every call…letsall try to make sure it’s always the right one!

Something to think about:

Amateurs practice until they

get it right.

Professionals practice until

they cannot get it wrong.

Which one are you?

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House Fire, Location Unknown,Date Unknown

Photo Courtesy of CHIEF DONALD CLEMENTS

Submit your old photos to huffman@cityofmobile.org

“Practice Your Escape Plan!” —that’s the message of Fire Prevention Week2007. It’s not enough just to have a fireescape plan. To escape safely from ahome fire you’ve got to make sure thateveryone in the home has practiced theplan as well.According to a recent poll conducted forNFPA, while the majority of Americanshave an escape plan in case of a fire, mosthaven’t practiced it. And three-quarters of

Americans believe they have 10 minutes or less until a fire turns deadly.From October 7-13, fire safety advocates across the country will be spreading the word that when it comes to

escape plans, practice is key. Whether you’re a firefighter, a teacher or a parent, we’ve got lots of helpful informationto help you help neighbors, friends and family members escape safely in the event of a home fire. So let's get started!

Sound the alarm for the Great AmericanFire Drill! In October, NFPA is asking kidsand families across the U.S. to practicetheir home fire escape plans. With yourhelp, we’re hoping to have the world’sbiggest fire drill.

Make Your Own Escape Plan• Draw a floor plan or a map of your home. Show all doorsand windows.• Mark two ways out of each room.• Mark all of the smoke alarms with . Smoke alarms shouldbe in eachsleeping room, outside each sleeping area, and on everylevel of the home.• Pick a family meeting place outside where everyone canmeet.• Remember most children don't wake up to traditionalsmoke alarms, consider a voice activated alarm in additionto your traditional alarm.• Remember, practice your plan at least twice a year!

An official publication of the MobileFire-Rescue Department.

Stephen A. Dean, Fire Chief

Editor & PublisherSteve Huffman

The Trumpet welcomes yourquestions and/or comments. Tosubmit photos, articles or commentscall (251) 208-2857 or e-mail:huffman@cityofmobile.org

The Trumpet is published by theMobile Fire-Rescue Department. ©Copyright 2007 by Mobile Fire-Rescue Department. All rightsreserved.

WEB SITE:http://www.cityofmobile.org/fire/

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Mobile Fire-Rescue Department701 Saint Francis StreetMobile, Alabama 36602

Dates to RememberSeptember 3 - Labor DaySeptember 11 - Patriot DaySeptember 23 - Autumn BeginsOctober 8 - Columbus DayOctober 7-13 - Fire Prevention WeekOctober 16 - National Boss DayOctober 31 - HalloweenNovember 4 - Daylight Saving TimeEnds