by David Ball
Staff Writer
“I am tired. I get tired alot,” said Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Eng. Jesse Modican outside Station 13 in San Marco.
“But it’s all about time managment,” he added. “It’s about not trying to do too much, and when you are doing something, make sure it’s constructive.”
Wise words any good worker could follow, although Modican has likely redefined “time managment” by using his days off from Jacksonville Fire and Rescue to serve as fire chief for the towns of Micanopy and Hawthorne near Gainesville.
He also rides with an ambulance service in Marion County, runs his own private medical training, CPR and first aide instruction business and even volunteers occasionally to teach at the State Fire College in Ocala.
This is in addition to another very important job – being a husband and father to four children. “I’m home almost every weeknight and every weekend,” he said. “That’s my wife’s time. I don’t mess with that time.”
Although Modican is the only Jacksonville firefighter to also serve as chief for two other stations, he is far from the only employee to find work outside his department. Modican’s fellow firefighters at Station 13 work as contractors, electricians and in other trades.
Jacksonville Division Chief of Rescue Charles Moreland said the department doesn’t limit what firefighters do during their 48 hours off, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their 24 hours on.
“Because they do have two days to recoup from a 24-hour workload, it’s nice for them to have some sort of trade they enjoy doing away from being a firefighter,” said Moreland, who added he still has never heard of a firefighter like Modican involved in so many rescue-related businesses.
“I know of many people that have many different roles within their departments, and I call it multitasking,” he said. “I know of no one that is responsible for two separate departments as a chief, though.”
Modican, a native of Reddick who now lives in Ocala, started his career at the Micanopy department. He soon got a job with Marion County Fire and Rescue and then with Jacksonville, while still working at Micanopy.
“I’ve always been a two- or three-job kind of guy,” said Modican, as he paused to take a call from someone trying to find a used engine for the Hawthorne station.
Modican moved up the ranks to assistant chief at Micanopy, and when the chief recently resigned, he was appointed by the city commission.
“I had wanted to see things done a little differently,” he said. “My idea was to get us to the next level and increase patient care and training.”
Micanopy firefighter Capt. Richard McCoy said Modican is accomplishing on all fronts.
“When he wants to work towards something, he’ll keep driving at it until he gets a good result,” said McCoy. “We’ve advanced pretty far with new equipment, a new truck, and he’s trying to push to be (advanced life support certified) within a year.”
Although Micanopy is only a 1-square-mile town just south of Gainesville, the station of 20 firefighters serves a 52-square-mile section of Alachua County that includes an 8-mile stretch of I-75 known as the “Bermuda Triangle.”
“It’s well-known for it’s big, bad vehicle accidents,” said Modican. “Don’t know why it happens. It’s freak stuff. There will be only one tree off the interstate, and somebody will hit it.”
Modican’s improvements will allow his department to respond in critical situations requiring advanced medical support, sometimes saving as much as 15 minutes from the time it would take another department to respond. “That could be life and death,” he said.
His work got the attention of city officials in Hawthorne, who a little more than a week ago tapped Modican to set up the town’s first fire and rescue department.
Modican has about a $400,000 budget split between the stations, and he shares equipment and staff between them.
“The idea is one department at two stations,” he said. “It’s an efficient way to handle these small towns.”
Efficiency is a part of Modican’s life and the only way he can handle the 12- to 14-hour days he puts in each week. Modican turns 40 next year, but he only sees more work to be done in each of his business ventures.
“Every now and then I take a step back, re-group and take a deep breath,” he said. “Then I re-adjust my schedule and get back to work.”