GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep.220 : MIAMI DADE (RET.) FIRE CHIEF DAVE DOWNEY

Gettin' Salty Experience Firefighter Podcast

Join us on our with our special guest, 37 year veteran, retired Miami Dade Fire Chief, Dave Downey. Tune in as we take you through his career that began when he joined the fire explorer program with the City of Lauderhill many years ago. He was hired in August of 1982 as a Firefighter with the City of Sunrise and just grew from there.

• Certified as a paramedic - Became a Haz May Technician - Certified as a Driver Operator - Met my future wife. She had 1 year seniority on me. Married in 1986 - January 1988 – Hired by Metro Dade (now Miami-Dade Fire Rescue) as a Firefighter/Paramedic -Assigned to Station 11 in Carol City (now Miami Gardens). - May 1991 Promoted to Lieutenant - One of the original members of FL-TF1 (USAR Task Force) - Deployed to various Hurricanes, earthquakes, and the AA plane crash in Columbia - Worked at Station 11 during Hurricane Andrew (1992) - Assigned to Station 7 as well as working relief on Air Rescue. - Developed Flashover Training programs in Palm Beach, Coral Springs and the Broward Fire Academy - Taught various technical rescue training programs - November 1999 promoted to Captain - Assigned to Special Operations- Tasked with implementing a second full-time Air Rescue operation - Became the US&R Bureau OIC - Deployed as part of FL-TF1 to the WTC post-September 11th - May 2002 promoted to Battalion Chief - August 2003 appointed Division Chief, North Operations, Responsible for 4 Battalions in the northeast part of the County - August 2004 assigned as Chief of EMS - April 2005 assigned as Chief of Training and Safety (My dream job!) - Deployed to New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina - No training facility but tasked with an aggressive hiring program. Trained 400 firefighters in 18 months - Responsible for the final design and oversaw construction of the $25M Training Facility - March 2010 appointed Assistant Chief and assigned Technical Services Fire Prevention, Communications, Logistics, and Training - Deployed to Hait Earthquake - May 2011 appointed Chief of Operations - February 2013 appointed as the 12th Chief of Department - Challenging first couple of years with budget. Faced with laying off 59 firefighters in my first year. - Retired June 2019 - Hired by State Fire Marshal to coordinate disaster response - Deployed to Surfside building collapse. Coordinated US&R operations for 19 days.
• We look forward to hearing his journey. Join us at the Kitchen Table on the BEST FIREFIGHTER PODCAST ON THE INTERNET! You can also Listen to our podcast ...we are on all the players #lovethisjob #GiveBackMoreThanYouTake #Oldschool #miamidadefirerescue

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