Jumpline magazine Q1 2023 - Flipbook - Page 43
Al Cruz
L1403 Former President
A History of Dade County Fire Dept.
43
An Al Cruz interview
with Carl E Stridfeldt,
President Emeritus
(A partial explanation of MDFR’s development as seen and
told by Carl Stridfeldt to former President, Al Cruz, many years
ago, and reprinted with his permission)
Prior to 1967, the fire protection needs of unincorporated
Dade County were provided by the Dade County Sheriff Department’s Fire Division, whose Chief and budget, through the
chain of command, came under the Sheriff and his staff.
When I was hired in October of 1960, I was in class number
one. Our class was to be the first group trained at the Civil Defense Center by the City of Miami Instructors and was to bring
the Fire Division’s manpower up to 77. This class also guaranteed two men on all apparatus, working two platoons, 24 on
and 24 off.
I was elected Union President in 1963 and by 1966, it had
become obvious to me and the executive board, that requests
for job improvements such as safety equipment, manpower needs, shorter work schedules, etc., were going to suffer
in priority and support. (Executive Board was comprised of
Nelson Bradshaw, John Biller, George Nally, John Soeder
and Harvey Krieder). The Fire Division would not be important
when competing against the needs of the Sheriff’s Department
at budget time. It should be noted that this was prior to a collective bargaining law for public employees. That was enacted
for firefighters in 1967.
Whereas today, the threat to Fire and Rescue service is privatization. In those days, the local government across the country
were tuned to the false concept of the “Public Safety Officer”,
the armed deputized firefighter; a police officer training in firefighter tactics and ultimately, a man wearing two hats and neither fitting properly. The purpose of this was to save taxpayer’s
money, but it was a false economy.
Today, fully aware of how complex and technical fire and police services are, it is hard to imagine such a concept being
considered, but it is a fact that came very close to happening.
Even though a separate fire department had been discussed
in the past by myself and the Executive Board, I took the opportunity on a 175-pension board luncheon to pass a covert
note on a paper napkin to the Mayor suggesting he be aware
of our desire for this separation between Fire and Police.
The catalyst finally came in early in 1966, when I
answered a phone call at home. It was a firefighter
on duty reading from a memo to all fire personnel
from Sheriff Tai Buchanan. On a specific date the
following week, all firepersons would be deputized,
authorized to carry guns, etc. and along with the
police, be called Public Safety Officers. I remember my shock and disbelief. Nothing like this had
been rumored or mentioned prior to this memo.
How could this be happening? My first reaction
was to call Chief Bullock and inquire what he knew
about this. His response took 15 to 20 minutes. He
said to move and progress, we had to be adaptable
to change. He alluded to benefits of being part of a big organization all working towards the same goal of public safety, taxpayer savings and so on. This was the gist of his thoughts. It
should be kept in mind that he was at the time a Division Chief,
working under the Sheriff and his staff.
When he had concluded I said, “If you are through, let me
give you my opinion. If we are deputized, we will lose all our
identities. We will lose our affiliation with organized labor,
the AFL-CIO. We will not be able to have membership in the
International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). We do not
buy this move and we are going to fight it”. Chief Bullock’s
only comment was “you do what you have to do”. That call was
concluded promptly, and I stood there confused, angry, and to
quote Thomas Paine “everything that was right or reasonable
calls for separation”. Minutes later, my call went through to the
Sheriff, who had respect and was not an enemy of the firefighters. If anything, he had acted in what he had thought was our
best interest. He was willing to welcome us as a total part of
his organization. When I, as spokesman for the Union, voiced
my objections and concerns, as I had with Chief Bullock, much
to my surprise he agreed with me 100%. Sheriff Buchanan
stated that at the staff meeting, when this move came up, he’d
asked the Chiefs present if there were any comments or objections, and no one responded. He insisted on coming to the
Union’s Special Meeting that I was to call and so stated his rescinding of that memo. He also said that if we wanted a separate Fire Department, he would not oppose the endeavor. All of this took place within 24
hours. What was to come next would take longer,
but the die was cast.
Because of what I had perceived as an inability to
adequately advocate the needs of the men, and
the county government’s bureaucratic obstacles
to be a recognized voice in a bargaining process
that has us relegated to second class citizens compared to the police. The following days and nights
were spent by me pondering how to alleviate this
political dilemma.
February 2023 | JUMPLINE Magazine