For Gainesville Fire Rescue employees, their jobs are about helping those in need whether they face a fire or a torrential downpour.
Last Tuesday four firefighters were returning to the station at around 2 p.m. when they saw a woman in the middle of Buckman Road on the UF campus whose motorized wheelchair had shorted out, leaving her stranded in the rain.
Acting Lt. Jeff Schuhmacher, driver John Cicio and fellow firefighters Joseph Gonzalez and James Brown immediately blocked traffic to help. They gave her a raincoat to protect her from the storm and led her to a nearby building for shelter, according to a GFR press release.
The men and a UF police officer called a Gainesville Regional Transit System supervisor to arrange a ride home for her.
The woman’s wheelchair was heavy and inoperable, so the firefighters followed her to her house and helped her get inside and into a working wheelchair.
“Gainesville Fire Rescue provides all levels of service, emergency and non-emergency,” Lt. Keith Saunders said. “If you’ve got an emergency, you want Gainesville Fire Rescue. If you are in the middle of the street, you call Gainesville Fire Rescue.”
The fire department did not disclose the name of the woman who was helped out of respect for her privacy.
