CERT leader to run for fire board
Beach resident Al Agathen has officially thrown his hat into the ring for the Fort Myers Beach Board of Fire Commissioners. The Community Emergency Response Team leader is running for Seat #3 -which is currently being held by current FMB Commission Chairperson Carol Morris- at the fire board elections on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Agathen, a retired fire fighter and emergency medical technician, has additional, extensive background training in fire control as a training officer, a fire engineer, a CPR instructor as well as more than four years of leadership for the Beach’s voluntary community first responder unit.
“I didn’t like the position that we have fire commissioners who don’t know the inner workings of the department,” said Agathen on the reason he is running.
Agathen moved down to the Beach in 2005 and quickly became involved in CERT, a group trained in first aid, CPR, AED (automated external defibrillator), search and rescue, triage and fire extinguisher operations. He graduated from CERT’s inaugural class on Fort Myers Beach along with 30 other members including notable Beach residents Bill Van Duzer, Ted Reckwerdt, Joanne Semmer, Betty Goodacre, Ceel Sphuler and Roxie Smith.
“I am not for laying off fire fighters,” said Agathen. “I think that anything that we can do to trim a budget within the department and keep these guys working is one of my goals. These guys down here are among the best who I have ever served with in my career.”
Agathen said he attends meetings between management and union to get a full understanding of it. He also attends public budget meetings and commission meetings.
“I would like to walk into (the position I am seeking) with as much knowledge as I can get,” said Agathen. “My stand is to be fair and unbiased to tax payers, the union people and the management. A lot of times you have conflicts between the union and management. There are also issues with taxpayers in watching the millage rate and equipment necessities.”
The CERT leader has challenged Morris’ knowledge on fire control service during public comment at fire board meetings. He disputes her questioning on why every fire fighter on the Beach has been dispatched to certain fires and other fire departments have been called in to man the stations.
“I have nothing bad to say about my opponent except she was not current on all aspects of running a fire department,” said Agathen. “At one public comment, I said, ‘Madam commissioner, do you realize that a vertical travel fire is the most deadly in the fire industry. What’s wrong with having backup?’ It’s questions like that which really irk me because that’s what the fire department is for.”
Three seats are up for grabs with the end of terms for FMB Board of Fire Commissioners Joe Schmid, Reckwerdt and Morris. According to Agathen, Reckwerdt is not planning on seeking re-election.
“I would like to bring the experience and background I have to the Board of Fire Commissioners,” said Agathen. “I have a good repoire (rapport) with the fire fighters on the Beach. I also have been afforded a privilege to ride with the guys.”
Agathen has yet to officially campaign, but is expected to raise funds for advertising later on.
Background on the CERT leader
Agathen, who is from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, served on two different fire departments in Wisconsin. He joined his first fire department in 1966 in the Village of Butler, Wisconsin -a suburb of Milwaukee. He rode with the Chicago Fire department for his training and became a fire fighter and emergency medical technician.
“In those days, I was trained as an engineer also,” he said. “I ran the pumps on the trucks and drove the trucks as well as other things. I was called a multi-tasker because when an alarm came in and there wasn’t a driver there, I would do the driving. If there was a medical situation or a fire, I was trained as an EMT and a fire fighter.”
Agathen then served on the Menomonee Falls Fire Department in Menomonee Falls, which is 20 miles northwest of Milwaukee. He became a training officer in that new station in the rural area of Wisconsin.
After retiring from the fire department, Agathen installed fire protection equipment used in restaurants for fire suppression and installed fire alarms in office buildings. A retired CPR instructor from Wisconsin and a current CPR instructor in Florida who now teaches the courses for the local fire department, he also has attended aircraft fire fighting school and has training in arson investigation.
“I took every course that was available to me,” he said. “I just thought it was a great idea to do so. Now, I have these certificates on the wall that don’t mean much to me, but it was fun at the time.”
The CERT leader said he moved down to Fort Myers Beach in the spring of 2005 when he fell in love with the area after helping a friend with a purchased home on the Beach a few months before Hurricane Charley and afterwards to help fix the same home.
“I asked my wife if she wanted to get out of snow country,” he said. “Just months after I was down here, I joined CERT. In May of 2006, Chief (Mike) Becker asked me if I would like to take over the leadership of CERT. At that time we had 31 members, now we have 102 members.
Agathen is shy to take credit for the increase in membership.
“Some people say it is to my credit, but I say it’s the members’ credit,” he said. “I look forward to being the leader of CERT. The more I got into it, the more I have signed up for education for it. I’ve taken online courses in evacuation and incident command. I’m also trained as a Point of Distribution operator for food and supplies after a hurricane.
Late last year, Agathen and Becker began training Explorer Post 1100, a youth group under the direction of the FMB Fire Control.
“The fire service is in my blood,” said Agathen. “In my retirement, I find my CERT duties fulfill my needs.”
Agathen does have other experience with administrative duties.
“I was secretary at one fire department for a while,” he said. “I was also on a committee which purchased fire equipment, trucks and rescue squad safety gear and on another committee which oversaw the construction of a fire station for the other department. I have an extensive background of what’s going on here as well.”
The start of CERT on the Beach
In 2005, Beach Fire Chief Mike Becker, then a shift commander for the fire department, decided to begin CERT after conferring with Dan and Joanne Shamp and other members of the Public Safety Task Force.
“We thought this program would benefit the Beach,” Becker said back in November of 2009. “We got some people involved and started exploring the things that needed to be done. We got organized and made it happen.”
After reading Agathen’s resume which included work as a paramedic, a fireman and a volunteer, Becker decided to approach him about running the program. The program has seen a substantial jump in membership since Agathen took over more than four years ago.
“How many communities have an Al Agathen?” said Becker at the time. “He’s just a huge asset. It’s neat because he gets to have a second life in the fire department after 25 years as a fire fighter.”
If Agathen is elected to the fire board, he says he will remain CERT leader but says he has members of the group who would help “take a load off of him” if needed.
“I have a very good assistant team leader in Alan Vacks, a retired Pittsburgh fire fighter, who would probably step forward and do more,” he said. “I’ll probably still run it, but run it more as a CEO does.”