Lieutenant Carlos Velázquez Sánchez the Fire Education Director, leading the Community Relations Section hosted us at MFD's Construction and Maintenance Division, located on 1st and Virginia. The Maintenance building also holds offices for his team and storage for the mobile Survive Alive house.
LT. Velazquez welcomed us and in a quick tour of the building shared some history of the building along with a bunch of unique facts from distant eras of fire fighting. For example, in all fire houses that used to have horses you'll find a 90 degree bend in the staircases to the upper level. This was to stop the horses from sneaking upstairs to munch on the hay. We also learned that fire houses used to have tall towers where they string up their long hoses to dry over hot coals. In more recent years, all of these towers have been cut in half to make them easier to maintain.
If you're interested in seeing pictures of what this building with it's full towers looked like AND learn more about the maintenance division of the Milwaukee Fire Department, check out this fantastic Urban Spelunking article by Bobby Tanzilo at OnMilwaukee.com.
As much as I wanted to learn about the history of the building and fire department, I was eager to learn more about Carlos and his role with MFD. Carlos shared his story with us -
Carlos grew up in Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and New York. But it was on a school field trip in Puerto Rico, where Carlos first became fascinated with Fire Fighters.
“The first time that I learned to appreciate fire fighters was when I was in elementary school... those field trips you get to do when you’re at the fire station. Back in that time you were still allowed to slide down the pole with the firefighter behind you. I remember going to a fire station on a school field trip and going down the pole, and these guys, they looked so massive at the time… I was just in awe that these people were so brave and so present.”
Carlos started his career as a teacher - but was called to become a firefighter after 911.
“I came to Milwaukee at the beginning of my Junior Year of High School and I finished my high school at South Division high school and got a full scholarship to go to MSOE. I started volunteering right away [at South Division high school], helping the seniors filling out applications for financial aid and for college. Then after a few years at MSOE I had enough credits to start working as a para professional, and then I continued teaching [at South Division] for 11 years. From 1996 - 2007.”
“What made me really consider becoming a fire fighter was 911. I remember exactly where I was, I was inside the classroom with my students, when the first tower was hit and everything came out on the PA, and we turned on the TV’s. Then we saw the second plane impact the second twin tower, and it was just so surreal. I loved my years teaching at south division, I loved the staff, I loved my students, but I felt like I needed to do something more.”
“...In 2002 I applied for the fire department. Unfortunately…the city had put the hiring process on hold for 5 years, and that’s why on August 13th of 2007 we started at the training academy… and I’ve been a fire fighter ever since.”
Carlos’s work in education was recognized and utilized by the department but after a while Carlos decided to return to the field. In 2022 Velazquez was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to work the Survive Alive house. Then in 2024 Carlos received a promotion to oversee the community relations division.
“I love what we do in the field, it’s so gratifying to know that you made a difference in what could potentially be the worst time of somebody’s life…Best feeling in the world, no paycheck can compare with that. But it’s so hard to see it over, and over, and over, all the bad things that can happen, all the things that we deal with. I have always valued Education, and I figured if I could go to the proactive side, and through education and training minimize the chances of these people getting into emergencies, not only helps them but it helps us. We don’t have to go inside of as many burning buildings, we don't have to endure seeing so many people dead or so many tragedies. I love it, but it’s an acquired skill, that’s why I say that (my team) is hand picked. These are people that share my passion.”
Working in outreach and education Carlos and his team get to interact with the public to try to prevent the disasters that the Milwaukee Fire Department handles every day. When asked about fire safety and issues of safe housing, he understands the broad scope and complexities of these issues -- with an aging housing stock and various economic challenges burdening many neighborhoods. However, he also sees and encourages the simple actions that we can all take to prevent fires in our own homes.
“The poverty and the economics of the city, in certain areas... the segregation that we have. Where you can go to one block, and then you go to the next block and the difference is so noticeable. There are a lot of little components that are making this housing crisis be what it is right now in Milwaukee.
There is the absentee landlord. The landlords that all they see is are dollar signs and they don’t treat their tenants as human beings. Some of these apartment buildings and apartment houses are in such horrible conditions that they should be condemned. The landlords do not care about lead paint chips falling off with kids inside the house, or not having smoke alarms, or having gas appliances without a carbon monoxide detector….
On top of that we have a lot of old houses. And not necessarily houses, but apartment buildings that have been grandfathered in, to not having sprinkler systems. When we have a building that has a sprinkler system… by the time we get there, most of the time, the fire is already out. The only thing that we have to do is send in a younger firefighter with goggles…to stop the sprinkler. But when you don’t have a sprinkler system -- well you have seen it on the news, the devastation and the loss of lives. Everything.
It’s a race against time. Our houses are older. The wood is drier, the wiring is older, the houses that a lot of us live in were built when there weren’t as many appliances needed. So you were lucky if you had an outlet per room. But now we have 17 things that we want to connect to that outlet. We are living too fast. We put the piece of ham in the oven and that takes 5 hours, so we leave the cooking unattended and we go pick up the kids from camp or school. A lot of fires are preventable, but a lot of people are missing the point. They’re living so fast that they’re just walking right by and they don’t see it if it hits them in the face.”
The experience of chatting with Carlos was an illustration of how one passionate person can really influence a whole city. He spoke about his belief in the power of small positive actions inspiring others to do good in their communities, and it seems like Carlos lives this mantra every day with his work at the Milwaukee Fire Department. Stay tuned for more posts about our conversation with Carlos and others from the Milwaukee Fire Department with behind the scenes information and practical advice to keep your home safe.