By Rich Pollack
The new Highland Beach Fire Rescue Department was in only its third week of operations when the call came that a construction worker had fallen off a building.
Within minutes firefighter/paramedics arrived and treated the man, who had fallen from the third floor of the building he was working on and landed on his van.
Although his injuries weren’t life-threatening, the worker was rushed to the trauma center at Delray Medical Center as a precaution based on how his injuries occurred.
The incident, Highland Beach Fire Rescue Chief Glenn Joseph says, illustrates just the kind of calls for which the members of his department have to be prepared.
“It shows that anything can happen on any day of the week,” he said.
In its first 20 days since its May 1 start, Highland Beach Fire Rescue responded to just short of 40 calls, an average of about 1.8 calls per day, and the operations went smoothly.
“It’s going well,” Joseph said. “For the most part it’s going smoother than I expected.”
Along with mostly medical-related calls, the firefighter/paramedics handled a fire call that involved a smoking pot on the stove that set off smoke detectors.
When not responding to calls, the firefighter/paramedics have been working their way through the condos and other buildings in town, doing “area awareness training.”
They jot down on iPads the locations of elevators, fire alarms, automated external defibrillators, and other items of which they might need knowledge in an emergency.
That information is then fed into a database that is accessible to the whole department.
“I think it’s terrific that they’re coming through the buildings with an iPad and marking down where everything is,” Town Commissioner Evalyn David, who saw the firefighters in her building, said during a commission meeting in May.
During that meeting, commissioners heard from Joseph and Town Manager Marshall Labadie that final punch list items at the town’s new fire station were being finished off and that the station was completed $500,000 under budget and ahead of schedule.
Labadie also said that the town is in the process of having plans developed for the portion of the old fire station that could be converted into an area for community activities, such as the popular food truck events the town holds several times each year.
During the meeting, commissioners passed a resolution naming the new fire station in honor of former Mayor Doug Hillman, a driving force behind the creation of the town-run fire department, who died in 2023.
A bronze plaque recognizing Hillman will be displayed in the lobby of the station as a lasting tribute to his contribution and “enduring impact on the safety and welfare of the Highland Beach community.”
Commissioners also approved a proclamation commending Labadie for his efforts leading to the creation of the new fire department.
Labadie was recognized for his “leadership, perseverance, oversight and management” that led to the successful creation of the department.
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