South Gulf County Volunteer Fire Department

Welcome, Visitors

Please use this site as a starting point for safety information during your visit to South Gulf County.

Some of our primary areas of concern are;

  1. We have had several fires start by fireworks. Under Florida law, only sparklers, approved by the Florida Division of State Fire Marshal, are legal for consumer usage. It is illegal to use exploding and/or flying fireworks in Florida, which include: shells and mortars, multiple tube devices, Roman candles, rockets and firecrackers.
  2. Our beach conditions change daily.   Rip currents are present very often, and we have already has loss of life this year due to them.  The facebook feed on this page will give you the current beach conditions.  Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sgcfire for updates.
  3. Weather conditions change rapidly.  Pop-up thunderstorms are frequent in the afternoon and can blow kayakers across the bay or out to sea very easily.

Visit our safety links here for more information.

Your Donations are Truly Life Savers

Your Donations are Truly Life Savers

Because of your DONATIONS we can equip our first responders with these lives saving devices.

Immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation, with an automated external defibrillator (AED), can more than double a victim’s chance of survival. In fact, early defibrillation, along with CPR, is the only way to restore the victim’s heart rhythm to normal in a lot of cases of cardiac arrest.

For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, however, the chances of survival decrease by 7–10%.

We have AED’s in all our Rescue Vehicles and most of our First responders carry them, again made possible by your generous donations…

 

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New Fire Trucks

In the past couple of years, we have received delivery of 4 new vehicles.
A Ford F-150 Beach Rescue Vehicle #596 and a Ford F-250 support truck #594.  Truck #596 paid for out of our generous donations and butt roasts.  It has been used extensively for transport from the beach to the ambulance, and as a quick response and basic life support vehicle.
We also received our new E-One 50' Teleboom aerial pumper #591.  This is permanently positioned at Station#2 and is availble for use 24/7.
Finally, we have just received delivery of the new Ford F-450 Brush Truck #597.  The chassis was paid for out of donations received and the build was paid for from part of a State Grant received by the Fire Control District. 

Click here for pictures of these new trucks.

A Really Big Thank You

Major grants and donations have been received from the T Douglas Hale Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation and The Miller Charitable Foundation Inc. as well as other amounts received from local businesses, organizations and individuals.

Safety Blog

Wildland Smoke Dangers

Wildfire smoke is a mixture of gases and fine particles from burning trees and other plant materials. This smoke can hurt your eyes, irritate your respiratory system, and worsen chronic heart and lung diseases.

Breathing in smoke can have immediate health effects, including:

  • ·       Coughing
  • ·       Trouble breathing normally
  • ·       Stinging eyes
  • ·       A scratchy throat
  • ·       Runny nose
  • ·       Irritated sinuses
  • ·       Wheezing and shortness of breath
  • ·       Chest pain
  • ·       Headaches
  • ·       An asthma attack
  • ·       Tiredness
  • ·       Fast heartbeat

Older adults, pregnant women, children, and people with preexisting respiratory and heart conditions may be more likely to get sick if they breathe in wildfire smoke.

Who is at greatest risk from wildfire smoke?

o   People who have heart or lung diseases, like heart disease, chest pain, lung disease, or asthma, are at higher risk from wildfire smoke.

o   Older adults are more likely to be affected by smoke. This may be due to their increased risk of heart and lung diseases.

o   Children are more likely to be affected by health threats from smoke. Children’s airways are still developing and they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. Also, children often spend more time outdoors engaged in activity and play.

Do not rely on dust masks for protection. Paper “comfort” or “dust” masks commonly found at hardware stores are designed to trap large particles, such as sawdust. These masks will not protect your lungs from the small particles found in wildfire smoke.

For more information on wildfire safety, please go https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/wildfires/duringfire.html.

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