Jumpline MAG_Winter 2026 - Flipbook - Page 8
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1403 Of昀椀cers
“Bobby Boucher” Paul Blake
Local 1403 Treasurer
Report from the
TREA$URER’$ Desk
On August 4th, 2025, the Water Tender
became a reality when it was added to
the MDFR Table of Organization.
If only the process for it was as
easy as the opening of other units; unfortunately, that
was not the case. In my opinion, had it not been for
ISO, (International Organization for Standards) the
water tender would still be non-staffed and held
together by wire nuts and electrical tape.
The purpose of the water tender
is simple: to have a unit dedicated
solely for water supply. Currently, MDFR
operates 2 Tankers, each carrying 2,000 gallons of water.
When a unit needs water, they often call for a tanker. Each
of the tankers has a primary response area for both 昀椀re and
medical response. Every time one of the tankers is requested
to assist another unit; they are leaving their territories without
adequate coverage, that also assumes that they are available
and not on calls.
When I 昀椀rst got the bid on Squrt-16, I was coming from Battalion-5.
Structure 昀椀res, down South, involved larger homes, but the lack
of a dedicated water supply was the biggest challenge. The
same aggressive tactics used all throughout the county were for
naught. It didn’t make sense to me.
Property owners outside of the Urban Development Boundary
(UDB) property pay the same tax rate as comparable properties
within the UDB. Why should the 昀椀re department not have a
plan and/or dedicated resources to properly serve them? Solid
waste picks up their trash; school buses pick up their children;
the postal service delivers their mail. Why couldn’t their 昀椀re
department operate the same on one side of the street as it
does the other?
It didn’t take long for me to look outside of Miami Dade County to
see what other departments did for rural water issues. Logistics
was receptive towards purchasing items to assist in my efforts
such as purchasing Turbodrafts, 3” drafting hose and selfsupporting tanks. The biggest one which they could not
assist was purchasing a water tender. I had seen one at
the Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB) as well as Key
Largo Fire Department.
I was able to 昀椀nd a 4000-gallon vacuum manufactured
(EAM Siphon) in NW Miami Dade. I reached
out to Logistics, and we set up a demo. The unit
was impressive. It had 4,000 gallons of water, a
4,000-gallon portable tank (pool) and the ability to
suck water from an agricultural well. The demo was set
up at 352 Street and SW 217 Avenue – 3 miles from the
closest 昀椀re hydrant. There was an agricultural well for the water
supply. Two units were involved: Ladder-16 (formerly Squrt-16
then Aerial-16) with 400 gallons of water and 4 personnel, and
the demo tanker with 4000 gallons of water and 2 personnel.
The tanker set up its portable tank, dropped its water and went
back and got more water, repeat. The ladder drafted from the
tank and 昀氀owed a handline. Just two units, 6 people, 昀氀owing
250 GPM (uninterrupted).
It wasn’t that it had 4,000 gallons, because you would exhaust
that in 16 minutes. It was that it had the ability to of昀氀oad its
water into a portable tank and get more water. That was not
something our Tankers had the ability to do. Honestly, they
shouldn’t be called tankers, just engines that have 2,000 gallons
of water.
The issue of properly providing 昀椀re suppression came to a head
in 2007. There was a fatal 昀椀re in Station-60’s area. As fate
would have it, Tanker-60 was unavailable. This prompted a
study of the cost related to installing 昀椀re wells outside the UDB.
The cost was over-stated, in my opinion, and nothing came of it.
All the while structures still burned and the response to media
was that “there were no 昀椀re hydrants” as the reason given to the
Winter 2025 | JUMPLINE Magazine
