A Visit to the Sofa Super Store Site

Last week we had the opportunity to accompany our recruits on a visit to the Sofa Super Store site. This visit is a part of every recruit class and it gives the new hires an opportunity to learn about our fallen brothers. As we walked around the site, we stopped at the places where our heroes fell and we shared information about each of the 9, his place in the department, and personal information about them.   Afterwards, Chief Mark Davis shared his experience as a Captain on that fateful day. While all of us in attendance felt sadness, we believe it is important for all of our troops to know that the 9 were dedicated firefighters and family men, and also regular guys just like them. A visit to the site brings forth the stark reality that this is a dangerous job and that a firefighter’s life can hang in the balance on any call.  It also gives us an opportunity to honor Billy, Mike, Louis, Earl, Mark, Brad, Frenchie, Brandon and Melvin by restating our commitment as a department to never let this tragedy happen again.  Much has been done in the last three years to equip, train, and prepare the CFD to meet that commitment. There is much more to be done to continue to make the CFD a safer place and each of us, regardless of rank, position, time or affiliation with the department has a stake in that future.