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It was about 1000 hrs and Rescue 11 was returning station 11 on West Waters Avenue. As they were pulling into the station Firefighter Jerrod Bogush saw what looked like an old book sitting on the windshield of his Captain's personal vehicle. Bogush went outside to the parking area to investigate and discovered a piece of Tampa fire history had been placed on the vehicle. A Tampa fire log book, dated 1909-1911 was just sitting there. Bogush took the book into the station and gave it to Captain Steve Dean.
Inside the book is page upon page of handwritten fire reports from more than a century ago. There is information of fires large and small, details about which fire equipment and crews responded, what happened at the fire, who owned the property, and how much damage was caused. Captain Dean and Firefighter Bogush, along with the rest of the crew at Station 11 C-shift, have no idea who the secret Santa was that left this piece of history for them to discover but they quickly came to appreciate its worth. The book is now with Fire Chief Nick Locicero and it will soon be handed over to the Tampa Fire Museum (TFM).
Long time retirees along with some longtime fire museum Board members were shown photos of the logbook. None had ever before seen such a document.
Once in the possession of TFM the book will be restored and then shared with City of Tampa archives for digitizing. The book will then be placed in a case for TFM visitors to appreciate. The digitized pages will be placed on a device that will let visitors to TFM scroll through and see the contents of this unique book.
Many thanks to the secret Santa who got this book to a place where it can be restored and preserved. If you have any items of Tampa Fire history that you believe the museum should consider placing on display please contact TFM directly by phone at (813) 964-6862 or email tampafiremuseum@gmail.com
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