Andy Lee to hang up fire hat after 37-year career at Florida Forest Service

EAST MANATEE -- Andy Lee might not be the fellow you would peg to carve out career as a forest ranger.

Born in New York 66 years ago to a mother who twice appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine, and a father who was a business troubleshooter, Lee defied the odds to thrive outdoors.

In a few months, he will wrap up a 37-year career with Florida Forest Service, all of it based in Manatee County. When not fighting fires, or talking to school children and others about how they, too, can prevent forest fires, Lee might be found at his favorite fishing spot on Evers Reservoir, or talking to novice anglers at Manatee Technical College.

Lee started his career with the Florida Forest Service, previously known as the Division of Forestry, in 1978, when the state provided fire protection for more than 70 percent of Manatee County, country that was mostly farm, ranch or wild. Many of today's fire districts had not been formed, or were newly organized then. The Braden River Volunteer Fire Department, the forerunner of East Manatee Fire Rescue District, was established in 1978.

As a result, the Florida Forest Service provided fire protection from Port Manatee to Duette, and responded to vehicle crashes and other emergencies, even though there were pockets of local fire service, such as in Parrish.

Those were the days before computers, GPS, and cell phones when the district in bad year might be managing 13 or 14 fires a day, all by fire tower, radio and written paperwork, he recalls.

Among the worst years for fires: 1977, 1981. 1985, 1989 and 1998.

Usually, those bad fire years were brought on by a combination of winter freezes that killed and dried foliage, prolonged drought and low humidity.

Nicknamed "Doc" by his friends for his eight years service as a Navy corpsman, or medic, one of Lee's closest calls came in 1981, when smoke was spotted in the Chin Road area of Parrish.

Lee went down a dirt road to check on the rapidly spreading fire, and his pumper unit went into a ditch. He was barely able to leap clear of the pumper before it was consumed by fire. It was the only time he ever lost a piece of heavy firefighting equipment, but probably not the only time he said his prayers.

"Fire is a monster. It can create its own wind," Lee said.

A good firefighter doesn't want to see fire break out. But when it does, a their adrenaline kicks in, and they are excited to join the fight, he said.

Lee's career has taken him all over Florida, notably during the wildfires of 1998, when the entire population of Flagler County was evacuated and stretches of Interstate 95 were closed. He has also fought fires in Montana, Oregon, Texas and elsewhere.

"We can respond anywhere in the country, and during a disaster, the Florida Forest Service can put 200 people in any part of the state in a day," he said.

Lee's 37-year career as a forest ranger is rare for its longevity. His firefighting partner Eugene Clark, who Lee calls the best tractor operator in the state, has the second-longest tenure in the district with more than 26 years.

As he nears retirement, Lee's thoughts turn to how he got into firefighting, and those who helped him along the way.

When he was discharged from the Navy, he came to Bradenton where his mother was living. He got a job at Christian Retreat as "chief cook and bottle washer", cooking for up to 1,500 people a day.

"I was slamming ham and pineapple slices into the convection oven as fast as I could," he said.

He also worked for a while on a grouper boat before getting a tip that the Forest Service was hiring.

Lee applied, and was selected from 36 applicants for the job that paid $8,000 a year.

"When they told me that I would be fighting wildfires it was kind of a shock but it didn't scare me," he said.

He immediately knew that being a forest ranger was what he wanted to do for the rest of his career, and credits people like Otis Howell, Larry Holder, Richard Tatum, Gene Buckner, Doug Voltolina and Phillip McLeod for showing him the ropes.

"These are the original firefighters who from the beginning taught me what I know. A great firefighter has courage, common sense and a love of the job," Lee said.

Turning to Eugene Clark, Lee said: "This is my partner for 25 years. We communicate like a banana and a grapefruit, but he's my friend. We have had some disagreements, but he is still my best friend as far as I am concerned. He is a good guy and the best tractor operator in the district, maybe the state, I don't know. He's better than I am. I am going to miss all that."

Clark said he will miss the camaraderie with his fellow ranger.

"We give each other a hard time. We joke, we laugh, sometimes we play practical jokes, but nothing mean. What I enjoy is just the mere fact that you never know what you're going to do each day. Getting out to the woods, tearing up the ground, that's best part of the job. I'm going to miss him," Clark said.

Duty Office Brett Steffen said it will be hard to replace Lee with his longevity and experience.

"He has been around forever. He has a lot of fire knowledge," Steffen said.

James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee reporter, can be contacted at 941-745-7053 or on Twitter@jajones1.

This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Andy Lee to hang up fire hat after 37-year career at Florida Forest Service ."