Jumpline magazine Spring 2025 - Flipbook - Page 18
18
Cat’s in the Cradle
Paul D Blake, Ret.
Treasurer
I would like to start off by saying thank
you to the agencies that sent apparatus,
and the thousands of 昀椀re昀椀ghters who
attended the service. Hats off to our
municipal partners for 昀椀lling in at our 昀椀re
stations, with suppression units having
to respond to medical calls.
I 昀椀rst met Captain Gustin back in April
of 1992. I was a recruit in Class 67. He
was teaching our class 5” hose operations. I would work alongside him one year later, with my rescue CR route through Station
2. I got to know him over the next ten years, working in his battalion, but on B shift. When he saw me, he would say, “Paul-eeee.”
The last time we saw each other I was giving a class at headquarters. He shared a video with me of a ladder crew on a roof
of a commercial occupancy where the wind was sending the 昀椀re
towards them. I was looking forward to reading that article.
He was everything related to structural 昀椀re昀椀ghting for our department; be it a safety zone release, SOP, Vector Solutions
class, or evolutions on the training ground. If it had to do with
昀椀re昀椀ghting, it was in his wheelhouse. When I was teaching a
course through the IAFF, he came down and said hello to the
cadre (instructors from around the country). They knew Bill
through his contributions to the 昀椀re service. They posed for a
picture, and he gave them a Gustin Fire Training challenge coin.
Like Bill, I started my journey in the 昀椀re service at the age of
18. I was a volunteer 昀椀re昀椀ghter in a small town outside of Providence, Rhode Island. At that time I was also a college student.
I literally spent every weekend at the 昀椀re station learning how to
become a 昀椀re昀椀ghter. While that training did not afford me “the
college experience,” it did give me a career, and (now) retirement that my college education could not have provided me.
Metro-Dade Fire Rescue was my career goal. I joined MDFR
at a time when our department’s “greatest generation” was preparing to leave. While that term is used for those that were born
during the Great Depression, I use it to refer to those that truly
put MDFR on the 昀椀re service map, be it the creation of our special operations teams, or our role as a prehospital 昀椀re service.
Early on, I lived in Miami Shores. I was married, but no children. I had a red Honda Civic and a scanner. Not like today’s
scanner, but an actual radio that allowed me to listen to 昀椀re calls.
I lived one block away from Station 30. When I heard Engine
30’s Federal-Q, I would get my scanner and listen. On more
than one occasion, I would see a column of smoke, while working in the yard and getting in my car to “buff” the 昀椀re. Bill would
see me and say, “Make sure you get pictures,” and I did. He
would use them in one of his many articles and I would get a
nominal check from the publishers of Fire Engineering when I
was credited for the photos.
One of my favorite parenting songs wasn’t a lullaby, but an actual song – Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin. It’s about a
father caught up in his career, promising to spend more time
with his son, but never delivering on the promise. The son grows
up with his father missing important moments of his son’s life.
When the father becomes older and wants to reconnect with
him, the son is now older, busy with his own family and career.
Fortunately, that wasn’t necessarily my case. Instead of putting money into deferred compensation, I spent it on my family, whether it was for tutoring, sports or even a family vacation.
When I retired and received my 30-year plaque in a padded envelope from a civilian. I looked back with gratitude that I did not
sacri昀椀ce my family for MDFR.
Towards the end of the 1990’s, MDFR was threatened from
cities wanting to leave the district through the incorporation process, as well as having other cities provide 昀椀re rescue services
to them. Key Biscayne had done it and there were many others in the pipeline, as well as existing cities looking elsewhere.
I was one of two political action coordinators for Local 1403.
Catherine Wall was the other. I worked tirelessly, going to meetings, representing the Local (and MDFR). We were able to modify the rules as they related to incorporation and Miami-Dade
Fire Rescue, and as a result, preventing cities from opting out
of the 昀椀re rescue district. While it meant sacri昀椀cing time with my
own family, I honestly couldn’t sit idly while our organization was
being attacked.
After Bill’s celebration of life, I went up to his son and thanked
him for the sacri昀椀ces his family made for our organization and
the 昀椀re service. There is no telling how many 昀椀re昀椀ghters lives
he saved, or 昀椀re victims whose lives were saved because of his
passion and training. Bill Jr.’s comment to me was that, based
on the outpouring of support for his family, he did not realize how
admired his father was. While it did not give him his father back,
it did show him that he and his sister, Renee, shared their father
with thousands of other brothers and sisters.
There were several after-event gatherings. One was at the
Dubliner, an Irish bar in Miami. It was packed with both retired
and active MDFR personnel. There were a few bagpipers in
attendance who had also been at the service. They asked for
a toast and went on to play Amazing Grace, a hymn that has
become a staple at public safety funerals. A hymn that is about
redemption and the joy of receiving God’s grace even when you
have done terrible things. The event at the Dubliner was special
because for one moment in time, I felt as if I was in some other
city, enjoying fellowship, while listening to bagpipers.
It is hard to understand the impact of being retired,
unless you are retired. To some it has been many
years in the making. To others it’s, “What now?”
From years of a routine to none. How do you prepare someone for reentry back into society? How
do you keep them involved and relevant if that is
what they are seeking?
While I do not think that would have made a difference to Bill,
it does to others. What might have helped Bill is the First Responders Resiliency Foundation. Bill spent thirty years on Squirt
2. While some walk around with an emotional cup, he (and others) carried around a cooler. The cup being 昀椀lled with both traumatic calls and events experienced, sometimes on a daily basis.
Spring 2025 | JUMPLINE Magazine
