The Highest of Praise For Your Fire Chief

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Out of a possible score of 105, Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Scott Wirth received a perfect score of 105 during his performance review Wednesday. The Chief was graded in 7 categories and in every one, the 5-member Fire District Board gave Wirth a perfect score.

The 7 categories Wirth was graded on were:
1) Financial Management
2) Personnel Management
3) Strategic Planning
4) Leadership
5) Community & Local Government Interaction
6) Interaction with the Fire District Board
7) Disaster Planning & Management

Each of the 5 Commissioners graded Wirth on a scale of 1-3 with 3 being the top grade. Each board member commented on Wirth’s performance in every category and gave him a grade of 3 in each one.

Among other things, board members praised Wirth for his leadership skills, how he’s prepared the Fort Myers Beach district to deal with the next big storm, and how he dealt with the “imposed” merger with the Iona McGregor fire district that State Representative Adam Botana is pushing for.

Fire District Board Chair John Bennett said about Wirth, “He truly cares about the future of this district. He’s a hands on leader that leads by example. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty”

Board member Ron Fleming said, “We’ve been very fortunate that we selected Chief Wirth. It’s because of Chief Wirth and his leadership that we’re in such a strong position.”

Wirth was in the room at the time of he performance review and took all the accolades in stride. After receiving his perfect score the Chief said, “I appreciate the kind comments. The last year has been a journey. Your nice comments are a result of the team that we have. These accomplishments are theirs.

Wirth makes $175,000 per year and will most likely get a pay increase before the end of this year.

4 COMMENTS

  1. My question was where are the logs? I know that logs have to be kept on the call and what was for and result. Most towns will have them on a website as well as printed in the paper. Time, address block, emergency? Fall, MI, CVA,etc. and were they transported to hospital or cared for on site? I am aware that they are ambulances as well as all the other vehicles. Just not real efficient to be racing down the road with a fire truck, chief and ambulance for a kid that fell off their bike. I would think an ambulance and the chief would have been enough. The tax payers are picking up the tab for all of that. I am not obsessed with the address. How did I know you would respond with a comment like this? My curiosity is if the calls are mostly tourists or is it more locals in the residential areas. I know you don’t live here and tend to “hang out” on the board so you can’t hear the sirens but for example, between 5 pm and 7pm there have been 3 seperate “events” with sirens blasting. That really is unheard of to have that many with such a small population. On the app Next Door people often will post comments about all the sirens and wondering what is going on. I’m not interested in listening to dispatch.
    As I said, it is just me wondering. I was prepared for the snide comments and voila, there is Holly O.

    • 🤣🤣🤣

      “Not interested in listening to dispatch” but you want all the logs? Try calling the chief instead of posting on BTR.

      Why would the town have FMBFD logs?

      And when you call, be sure to share how you believe they could be more “efficient.” I’m sure FMBFD’s professional firefighters and EMTs would love to hear your layperson opinions on how to better respond to emergencies.

  2. Where can we go to see the logs of all the calls that the fire department responds to? It seems for such a small population on a small island that we have an excessive amount of sirens from “emergencies”. I’d be curious to see what the emergencies were and where they are located. It always seems that the sirens sounds can be heard traveling the entire length of the island so I was wondering how they determine which fire station responds and why they seem to dispatch 2-3 vechicles for each call. I’m sure I’ll be attacked for asking but I was curious and thought I would ask. As a RN who has worked in large trauma hospitals, this does seem like we have a lot of emergencies.

    • As a former (Oregon) firefighter, multiple vehicles respond to nearly all calls, whether it’s a fire alarm, CO alarm, collision, fall, or other medical call. Those “sirens” you hear may also include an ambulance.

      Fire stations have delineated zones in which they are dispatched; sometimes a different zone will respond if the primary responding station is out of service (mechanical issues, training, etc.) or already on another call.

      If you’re that obsessed with what addresses and why, download any of the many apps to listen to dispatch or buy a scanner. (Not all jurisdictions are available.)

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