Today, we hosted a tour for new clinical members of our Team who give their time and expertise to all of us. We began the day by visiting the Charleston 911 Center and were treated to a welcome by Sasha Vargas-Fimiani, our dear friend, who does such a great job with public education at the Center. Then, it was on to North Charleston Station 2 where they toured one of the most state-of-the-art firehouses in the Lowcountry.
After visiting there, we traveled downtown to Jestine’s Kitchen, one of our favorite firefighter hangouts for lunch. After a coconut cream pie overload, we took them across the street to “Central Station”, the historic home of CFD Engines 102 and 103. Built in 1887, this old firehouse holds so much tradition, history, and honor for not only our CFD brothers, but all of us as well. Our guests were able to stand in a bunk room where generations of Charleston firefighters have slept, see the tracks cut in the concrete floors to keep the horses from slipping when they were led in to be hitched to the steamers. Coupled with being able to touch four different generations of fire trucks, the old steamer fire engine, the Ahrens Fox, the 1948 Mack and the new Engine 102 really gave then some idea of where the Fire Service has come from and the progress that has been made.
No tour would be complete without a visit to the Charleston 9 Memorial Park and today was no different. To be able to tell them about each of our nine heroes is truly an honor for an old firefighter and is truly a mission for me. It has always been important to provide visitors with personal stories about these nine good men, shared with us by family and friends over the last ten years.
To conclude the day, we stopped to let them see” Brenda”, the NCFD pink fire truck, and the “Road Runner”, our Team’s Autism Awareness truck so they could see the Fire Service commitment to many community outreach programs.
These clinician tours are offered to give our clinicians an opportunity to experience the sights, smells and sounds what it’s like to be a part of the Fire Service and to welcome them to our family. We are pleased that these folks join many others who will provide clinical support to our emergency services personnel. Thank you to Sasha at the CDC and to all who welcomed us into their firehouses today. We sincerely appreciated the hospitality. Gerald
Pictured above left are Paul Malvarosa, Jason Anderson, Leah Adams, and Christina Garrett of Wellspring Psychology Group in Florence, Sasha Vargas-Fimiani of the Charleston County 911 Center, David Reindollar, our Team Leader, Lee Hopkins, our Pee Dee Region Coordinator, and Steve Mason of Healing Roots Behavioral Health Center in Summerville.
