FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contact:
Sabrina Robertson
Administrative Manager, County Manager’s Office
(904) 530-6010
srobertson@nassaucountyfl.com

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Fire Rescue Station 71

On Friday, September 25, 2020 at 11:00 a.m., the Board of County Commissioners will host a groundbreaking ceremony in celebration of the construction of Nassau County Fire Rescue Station 71. The ceremony will take place at the site’s location, 96262 Chester Road (just north of Heron Isles Parkway).
 
District Three County Commissioner, Pat Edwards, stated, “Public safety is one of the County’s top priorities. Adding an additional fire station will increase our ability to respond to emergencies and citizens in need”.
 
The property for the station was deeded to the County in 2002 as part of the Heron Isles Planned Unit Development. The facility will be constructed using a combination of impact fees, one-cent sales tax, and capital reserves.
 
Nassau County Fire Chief, Brady Rigdon, stated, “Nassau County Fire Rescue is excited to ​bring online the newest ​fire station to ​our department. Station 71 will provide improved response capability to the Chester Road/Heron Isles area in the form of a fire engine, rescue unit, and a tanker. This project has been a vision for many years, and it is rewarding to have a small part in seeing it come to fruition”.
 
The public is hereby invited to attend the groundbreaking ceremony and to be part of this historic event.
 

9/17/20 @ 3:30 p.m. - Nassau County Fire Rescue has sent a rescue unit as a member of a five-unit ambulance strike team from northeast Florida to provide a medical assistance in the wake of Hurricane Sally.

Last night, two Nassau County Fire Rescue employees, Engineer Elvis Caballero and Firefighter Jeremy Staub, left Nassau County in a rescue unit, headed west to the panhandle to assist in recovery efforts. They arrived in Ft. Walton Beach about 2:30 this morning and after daylight were moved to Santa Rosa Fairgrounds in Milton where they are assisting in areas where the Category 2 Storm caused extensive damage and flooding.

Nassau County Fire Chief, Brady Rigdon, stated, “As part of the strike team, our members will use their extensive training to respond to medical emergencies in the hurricane damaged areas quickly and safely. This mutual aid effort is coordinated by the Florida Department of Emergency Management and is what we do to look out for our neighbors that need our help. It’s important that we respond to other counties when they need our assistance because one day, we may be the ones asking for help”.

Please join us in sending positive thoughts to all the brave individuals responding to this disaster, as well as to the residents who have been affected.
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If you have any questions regarding, please contact Nassau County Fire Rescue at (904) 530-6600.

6/26/20 @ 11:00 a.m. - We would like to welcome Steven Nishiyama and Jeremy Roberts to the Nassau County Fire Rescue team. Upon being hired, each were required to take a training course taught by Engineer Ryan Ward in which they learned about all department policies and procedures. Each completed the training on May 21, 2020, and have been assigned to a fire station.

-Sabrina Robertson
 County Manager's Office

4/28/20 @ 9:10 a.m. - Last week, Local 0766, the United Steel Workers Union from Rayonier, donated dozens of 0.50 bottles of hand sanitizer to Nassau County Fire Rescue. A majority of the the bottles were delivered to the County's fire stations, however a few were distributed to essential departments still operating during the pandemic.

Thank you United Steel Workers, Local 0766, for your generous donation. We truly appreciate your support of our public safety personnel.

-Sabrina Robertson
 County Manager's Office

4/2/20 @ 6:45 p.m.

Please read this important message from the City of Fernandina Beach:

​We love our community. We see you on school trips, in parades, CPR classes, station tours, & all over town during territory training. Sometimes, we are with you on your worst days. We consider it our calling to help keep you safe.. but right now, we need you to help keep us safe, too.

Currently, we have three firefighter/paramedics in quarantine, as a result of doing their jobs. So, we’re calling on our community to work together & keep this from happening again.

We need you & your loved ones to provide clear, concise information when talking to us about #Covid19. Monitor your health. Consider what symptoms you might be experiencing, or any recent travel. If you dial 911, make sure to answer any questions from dispatch or our personnel, honestly. Don’t be afraid - we won’t treat you any differently. We just might dress a little differently.

We must protect our team & their families. By working together as a community to flatten the curve, we can & will get through this. Thank you.

3/5/20 @ 1:20 p.m. - Read Across America Day is celebrated annually on March 2nd. Across the Country, schools and libraries hold special events to encourage the love of reading in children. To celebrate, employees from Nassau County Fire Rescue visited the Bryceville Elementary School to spread the message that reading is fun and that it is important in every career.

The personnel that attended were: Firefighter, Luke Davis; Engineer Brad Pierson; Engineer Tony Griffin; Engineer Sean Babbick; Lt. Pat Cauley; and Battalion Chief Kelly Gunnell.

Thank you to Bryceville Elementary for letting Nassau County Fire/Rescue be a part of this day!

-Sabrina Robertson
 County Manager's Office

1/16/20 @ 12:45 p.m. - On Thursday, January 9th, Senator Bean held a special ceremony at Station 20 to share information on a recently passed bill, CS/CS/SB "Firefighters", which will help firefighters diagnosed with cancer receive disability benefits. He also announced a new bill for the 2020 Legislation Session, SB 1092 and HB 487, "Fire Presentation and Control", which if approved, will create a Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Equipment Grant Program. 

Guest speakers at the event included: Nassau County Fire Chief, Brady Rigdon; Senator Aaron Bean; State Representative Cord Byrd; Commissioner Justin Taylor; Fire Union Local 3101 President, Darron Ayscue; and event organizer, Ashley Harvey.

-Sabrina Robertson
 County Manager's Office

1/6/20 @ 4:10 p.m. - Attached is a Press Release regarding a special recognition event taking place this week to share information on a successfully passed bill, CS/CS/SB 526 "Firefighters" which will help firefighters diagnosed with cancer receive disability payments. In addition, Senator Bean and Representative Fetterhoff will unveil their new bill for the 2020 legislative session, SB 1092 and HB 487 "Fire Presentation and Control", relating to decontamination of firefighter equipment.

The event will take place this Thursday, January 9, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Station 20 located at 5518 First Coast Highway, Fernandina Beach. The public is welcome to attend.

-Sabrina Robertson
 County Manager's Office

12/18/19 @ 1:20 p.m. - The Florida Department of Transportation recently installed new pavement markings in front of Station 50 located at 542310 US Highway 1 in Callahan. Please note that these markings were placed to prevent motorists from blocking the driveway to the Station to allow rescue vehicles to get out quickly during an emergency.

FDOT has indicated that drivers have not been obeying the markings so they are increasing public outreach efforts to spread the word. Please review the graphic above and take note of the shape in the middle of the intersection. Remember that anytime you see this shape on the road, you should not stop your vehicle in that spot.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for ensuring that emergency personnel don't waste valuable time when responding to a call for service.

-Sabrina Robertson
 County Manager's Office

10/30/19 @ 5:25 p.m. - On Tuesday, October 15th, Nassau County Fire Rescue visited Faith Christian Academy for a fire prevention presentation. The children learned about what to do in case of a fire, dialing 9-1-1 during an emergency and safety techniques like "stop, drop and roll". They were a very attentive and fun group of kids!

If you would like to arrange for Fire/Rescue to speak to your school or special interest room, please contact Fire/Rescue Headquarters at (904) 530-6600 or email Chief Ridgon at brigdon@nassaucountyfl.com.

-Sabrina Robertson
 County Manager's Office