Early February in Tampa, sounds great to most Central New Yorkers and a contingent from our group made it a reality. At least 15 people represented Central NY SPAAMFAA / Belle Isle Reserve Fire Company at the 2010 Winter National Convention, meeting and Muster in Tampa Florida hosted by the Dalmingo Chapter.  The weather was mild and the hospitality was great. The Dalmingos organized a nice convention and some informative and interesting side trips.  Groups of our members attended tours including a trip to the Pierce Fire Apparatus Facility in nearby Bradenton Fl. on Thursday and an all day tour of Tampa Fire Department Facilities. My groups tour of the TFD started with trip to the Tampa Fire Departments Training grounds where we were able to watch and discuss demonstrations including their team of Rescue Dogs and Handlers who had recently returned from assisting after the Earth Quake in Haiti, A High Expansion Foam Demonstration, a tour of one of their special operations vehicles, and a live fire demonstration that featured the current Tampa Fire Department Recruit Class training to extinguish Flammable Gas fires.
  Our next stop was Tampa Fire Departments Headquarters Station. While there we were shown great hospitality by the on duty crew in showing us Truck 1, their 2007 Pierce Quantum Tillered Ladder Truck, Engine 1, a 2005 Pierce Dash, a 2006 LaFrance Paramedics Rig, and a HUGE ventilation rig on a 2005 Sterling Chassis. From there we ventured across the street to the Tampa Fire Museum which is housed in their old headquarters station that was closed in 1977.  The museum has many nice displays of firefighting history in Tampa Florida including a complete example of an antique fire alarm receiving center, pictures, artifacts and an antique Mack Pumper. Upstairs in the museum is a large meeting room where lunch was catered by Firehouse Subs (those cookies were great !)  After Lunch we were taken to see Tampa’s new Fire Boat – “The Patriot” which was soon scheduled to go into service. This 69’ Fire Boat, which happens to be the fastest fireboat in the world, was built in Kingston Ontario Canada. A Crew from Tampa Fire & Rescue went to Kingston to pick up the craft and set off on their journey home with The Patriot on September 11, 2009.  This state of the art craft is manned by the crew of Tampa’s Engine 17 who spend their day shifts on the boat doing cleaning, maintenance and training. They are ready to respond when called as either an engine company or as the Marine Unit. The boat is powered by 4 Iveco Diesel engines that can be configured in various combinations to pump or drive the craft. The Patriot is capable of pumping 11,000 GPM when using all the Hale pumps and discharge monitors.

Friday night several of the CNY Chapters members attended the Winter Meeting held at the Tampa Fire Museum. New national officers were introduced. There was a lot of discussion on how to attract the next generation of SPAAMFAA members to keep our group strong.

Saturday was a partly cloudy day but the weather was nice enough to allow for rigs to be displayed and many chose to pump also.  Much of the flea market was weatherproof with inside space at the host hotel. Tampa Fire was also in attendance with the current in service Fire Boat and Truck 1 – The 2007 Pierce Tillered Ladder, as well as their 2005 Pierce Special Operations Vehicle.

Saturday Night we enjoyed the banquet dinner at the hotel and Yours Truly managed to win a Hydrant Wrench as a Door Prize.

A huge tip of the hat goes to the Dalmingo Chapter for pulling off a successful winter meeting and muster. They were under very difficult circumstances with a last minute change of cities.  A thank you must also go out to the City Of Tampa and in particular Tampa Fire and Rescue, Chief Dennis Jones – who attended our Saturday Banquet and Captain Bill Wade who seemed to be everywhere at once during our tours, attending the Saturday Muster and joining us Saturday Night. It was obvious that their cooperation was a huge help to the Dalmingo Chapter and making the muster happen.