It is an honor to recommend Chief William Cirone for Florida’s 16th District Congressional Education Award. Chief Cirone has been a Wildland Firefighter since 1974 and has been teaching Wildland Firefighter courses since 1999. Firefighter students at Manatee Technical College (MTC) and Suncoast Technical College (STC) have benefitted from his expertise since 2015. He also volunteers his time doing training for the Florida Department of Forestry and for the Sarasota County Fire Department Burn Mitigation Team. He is sought after for his expertise by fire academies, and even US Military bases, across the country. Last year alone, he taught over 700 students, about half of them in Florida.

When Chief Cirone made his home in Bradenton in 2015, he came with the experience of a full career in New Jersey as a volunteer firefighter and wildland firefighter instructor at the federal, state, college, and local level and serving many roles including officer and chief. (The profession he was paid for was in law enforcement as an animal cruelty investigator.) He is also a fire photographer.

Chief Cirone, however, is not one to rest on his laurels. Since 1989, he has been working for the US Forest Service fighting wildland fires across the country whenever he is called, which is generally once or twice a year. For the past 14 years, he has been serving as a Federal Safety Officer for those fires—analyzing risks and determining how to best mitigate them. In 2023, he fought his 40th fire for the US Forest Service—the Texas Complex Fire. The largest, worst fire of his career was the Mustang Fire in Idaho in 2012; it burned 375,000 acres and didn’t go out until it snowed. In 2011, he fought the Impassable Bay Fire in the Ocala National Forest, in which two firefighters lost their lives.

Loss of life is not foreign to Chief Cirone. He was in the Holland Tunnel when the first tower was struck on 9/11. Some of his photos can be seen in the 9/11 Gallery in NYC and in a documentary called, The Flag.

Chief Cirone’s volunteer work extends beyond fighting fires and training students to do so. Being concerned about so many firefighters facing cancer, he, and his wife who is also a firefighter, brought the Cancer Dogs program to Manatee County in 2019, which benefited 500 firefighters and their families.

Outside of firefighting, Chief Cirone volunteered with the Humane Society to respond to Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, Ivan, Katrina, and Rita. When a hurricane threatens Manatee County, Chief Cirone handles the logistics for the county’s first-in, hurricane response teams who set up base at MTC’s East Campus.

Chief Cirone holds certifications as a Wildland Firefighter Instructor, Structural Fire Instructor, Emergency Vehicle Driving Instructor, and as Instructor of Fire Instructors.

When Chief Cirone is teaching—whether he’s teaching college students or seasoned professionals—his students benefit from his expertise and experience that stems not only from his 48 years as a Wildland Firefighter, but also from the fire he fought the year before or just the week before.

Staying current is crucial to Chief Cirone. Things are always changing, and rapidly—the tools and technology for fighting fires and mitigating risk changes. Even fires have been changing; they have become faster, larger, more intense, and more frequent. For him, staying fresh is the only way to truly teach anything.

He recounts some of his proudest moments being when former students had become his boss. He teaches his students that integrity is one of the most priceless character traits, and respect is earned. He shows them by how he gives of his time and energy that being there for others is one of the most important ways they can spend their lives.