Firefighter Has Nearly 30 Years on the Job

Captain Brian Mintzer is closing in on his 30th year as a firefighter. He has a few months left before he retires and says he has had an exciting career working in Tampa.

Mintzer cites his dad, who was also a firefighter, as a primary influence for him coming to Tampa Fire Rescue. "I remember we'd just run to Station 11 if we got in trouble," said Mintzer.

Coincidentally, Mintzer and his dad went through the same first three stations to start their careers. They both started at Station 10 near Ybor City, then went to Station 18, just north of Hillsborough Avenue, and then to Station 11, just off I-275 near Waters Avenue.

Patch: Describe your most harrowing experience on the job.

Mintzer: Back in 2006 or 2007, were got a call out near Orient Road and 7th Avenue. Both places were burning at once, an LP filling station and the building next door, another gas station. Tanks were blowing up and hot metal was falling down like rain. I remember getting the call and them saying BLEVEs (This is an acronym for boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion — see note below) were blowing up, and I thought it was BS. It was not BS. They were going up everywhere. We were just hoping the big 30,000-gallon tank didn't go up or it would have taken all of B-shift, the Orient Road Jail and a whole lot more with it. There were a lot of scared firefighters there that day.

Patch: Describe your most rewarding experience.

Mintzer: We answered a house fire call, two people inside and we couldn't get the burglar bars open. It's the most frustrating thing when you see somebody that needs help and you can't get to them. We finally got the door open, I went in, did a right-hand search and found this guy. I got him out, went back in and did a left-hand search, found this woman. My partner, Dean, and I got her out, went back in again and Dean found another one in there. As we got the last one out, they finally got the hose hooked up, so I grabbed the hose and set to putting out the fire.

Patch: What do you do to unwind after a long shift?

Mintzer: I don't really do anything. I don't take my work home, I don't take my home to work. I think we unwind here at the station. We rag on each other constantly. That's stress relief.

Patch: What do you enjoy about working in New Tampa?

Mintzer: The run load is much easier here. We just don't get as many calls up here as we did down in the more urban areas; this is the suburbs out here.

Patch: If you were not working as a firefighter, what do you think you would have chosen as a career?

Mintzer: Military, probably Marines.

(Editor's note: According to fellow firefighter Lieutenant David Mendoza, a BLEVE, "is the most fiercesome thing you can face as a firefighter." Check this YouTube video to get an idea of what a small BLEVE exploding looks like.)