Jumpline magazine Spring 2025 - Flipbook - Page 8
8
1403 Of昀椀cers
Chris Fink
Secretary
of dog bones on the truck that the he gave out on a regular basis.
The Captain held morning brie昀椀ng each and every shift. He would
print out and review the memos that the Department had published
since the previous shift. He discussed the plan of the day and
alluded to “shameful personal business” that he wanted to conduct
during shift. Usually, his “shameful personal business” was something 昀椀re related that he wanted to do for an upcoming article or
project that he was working on. During the brie昀椀ngs, he covered
who was cooking and what the meals would be for the shift. I usually did ‘Taco Tuesday’s’ and Captain Gustin affectionately referred
to the meal as “Mother Fink’s Night in Guadalajara.” After dinner
he would always say to me, “I’m on my way to the toilet where my
a** will be singing the praises of your cooking.” When you cooked
at the station, he had two rules: 1) There had to be enough for everyone; 2) It had to make a turd.
The Captain was the quintessential student of the Fire Service. He
was always reading 昀椀re service articles and was always working
on his next Fire Engineering article. I rarely recall him going to
sleep before 2 or 3 am. Often, we would get a call at 1am and the
Captain would already be up doing something 昀椀re service related
or tending to his “administrative duties.” When we returned from
the call, we would head right for the dorm to get some sleep before
the next call, and he would go back to his computer and continue
working.
Final Thoughts
In closing, Captain Gusting loved the 昀椀re service and reveled in life as the Station 2 Captain. I give a 昀椀nal salute to the
Good Captain and close with an Irish Blessing:
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
and the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Stifel is pleased to support the
METRO-DADE
FIREFIGHTERS
MIAMI’S NEIGHBORHOOD FORD DEALER!
Proudly supports the Dade County
Association of Fire昀椀ghter Charities
Anthony Small, CFP®
Senior Vice President/Investments
Bronco
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(786) 539-3653
2340 Collins Avenue, Suite 200
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
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Spring 2025 | JUMPLINE Magazine
