A helping hand for the rescuers

There has only been one serious mishap in the 64-year history of the Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department. In 1962, six of the department's firefighters were seriously injured in an explosion — some with broken bones and serious burns over most of their bodies — while fighting a fire aboard a 30-foot boat named the "Voyager," which was docked at the Nokomis Marina Ways. It was the closest the department has ever come to losing a firefighter in the line of duty.

NVFD Fire Chief Steve Kona described the incident to the Casey Key Association at the group's annual meeting Jan. 27. Kona went on to explain how, more than five decades ago, the community rallied around the injured firefighters by throwing a chicken barbecue to raise funds to cover their medical expenses.

That same community support still exists today, Kona explained, pointing to a $2,000 donation from the Casey Key Foundation, which allowed the all-volunteer, nonprofit firefighting force to purchase new protective equipment, including five helmets, 10 pairs of fire gloves and 16 fire hoods.

“They just surprised us with it,” Kona later said, referring to the donation. “They had talked with us beforehand about what our needs were. And a couple months later they gave us a check for $2,000, with a note saying it was for protective gear. It was totally unexpected.”

The Casey Key Association formed the Casey Key Foundation 10 years ago as a nonprofit, charitable arm of the neighborhood association.

The Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department serves Nokomis, Laurel, South Osprey and all of Casey Key. Residents within the department's jurisdiction pay voluntary yearly fire dues to fund the department, which comprises 48 volunteer firefighters (including one female firefighter). It also accepts private and public donations and grants.

“It gets tight sometimes,” Kona said. “Because we never know what our budget is from year to year, we have to work with what we get.”

Kona, who has held the department’s top spot for a year and a half, admits the budgetary constraints of running an all-volunteer department sometimes forces compromises — although firefighter safety is always the top priority.

"We always focus on the safety of our firefighters first,” Kona said. “Then we can focus on new equipment or gear, and we compromise on luxury items, like maintenance to the fire houses.”

Kona is the department’s only paid personnel. There are a minimum of seven personnel on duty at all times, capable of responding to a call for service with two fire engines and a water tanker.

Although Casey Key represents only a fraction of the department’s total annual calls for service (96 out of 1,687 total in 2013), the barrier island’s residents have helped fund the department's most pressing needs, such as the recent purchase of protective equipment.

"Our largest donations have always come from Casey Key," Kona said.

Despite the consistent support of area residents, Kona admitted “running a fire house is an expensive business.”

The cost of protective gear amounts to about $2,400 per firefighter, Kona said, adding that the usable life of the equipment is only about seven years.

“That’s a huge amount of gear we have to replenish every seven years,” Kona said.

In addition to providing emergency-response services, the NVFD also runs public outreach programs designed to lessen the risk of serious mishaps. The department was awarded a 2013 grant valued at $88,439 from the Department of Homeland Security to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in eight mobile home parks throughout the department's service area.

"Our goal is to always try and prevent a problem before we have to respond to it," Kona said, speaking to the Casey Key Association last month.

When asked what drives the firefighters under his watch to volunteer for hazardous duty, sometimes during weekends and holidays and on top of other careers, Kona replied: “Their hearts are in it. It’s amazing the passion they have to help.”

BY THE NUMBERS
20,000 — amount of residents the Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department serves

11,000 — Number of structures protected

16 — Number of square miles covered

1687 — Number of calls the Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department responded to in 2013.

48 — Number of volunteer firefighters

Contact Nolan Peterson at [email protected]