Crime & Safety
Meet Tampa Fire Rescue’s John Nicolette
New Tampa Patch sat down for a chat with this local hero.
Works at: Station 21, 18902 Green Pine Boulevard
Joined: 1984
Hometown: Tampa
Patch: What made you become a firefighter?
Nicolette: A friend of my dad’s was a firefighter, and I like the lifestyle. No one job gives you the ability to be in touch with reality. We see the good with bad, the happy with the sad.
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Patch: Is there a single most memorable moment that you have experienced on the job?
Nicolette: I was at the Ybor fire. I remember where I was when 9/11 happened. I was at Station 1, downtown headquarters.
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Patch: What do you like to do in your leisure time?
Nicolette: I’m a cattle rancher in San Antonio. I’ve had the ranch for 20 years. One thousand-acre ranch with 200 head of cattle. I truly do this job because I love it.
Patch: I hear you have family in Tampa Fire Rescue.
Nicolette: My brother and my son are both firefighters. My son was the youngest firefighter ever hired by Tampa Fire Rescue.
Patch: What do you enjoy about working in New Tampa?
Nicolette: When people in New Tampa call, they need you.