Sanders hurdles roadblocks on the way to becoming TFD chief

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer

When City Manager Reese Goad announced late last month that Eugene Sanders would be the next chief of Tallahassee Fire Department, a lot of folks celebrated.

Sanders was at the front of the line, as the promotion left him feeling a little bit of redemption. For most of his four years after completing courses at the Fire Academy he’d heard he “wasn’t good enough.”

Many of the individuals he was counting on to give him a good recommendation didn’t, he said.

“They didn’t think I had the capability to come in and move through the organization and represent those who look like me,” said Sanders, 51.

His promotion means hope for any young person growing up on Tallahassee’s Southside, he said. Sanders is a Rickards High School graduate who overcame the challenges of growing up in a community without much opportunities.

“I am the American story,” Sanders said, “especially for those coming from the Southside.

“Every opportunity I get to motive someone young, I tell them if I can do it you can. It’s all about persevering. Never give up. When someone puts roadblocks, you find a way to work around that roadblock.”

It is the same advice that Sanders, who has been married to Valencia for 23 years, gives to their three children.

Sanders will officially take over on May 20, replacing Jerome Gaines. Both men became close immediately after Gaines took over as chief a little more than nine years ago.

Gaines recalled how he responded when his wife asked his impression of the personnel after a week on the job. Sanders stood out.

“There is one guy that I see in the office that I see his potential and I said I hope he would give me a chance as I implement this (reorganization) plan,” Gaines recalled telling his wife. “I said, if he stays he will be the person that I will mentor to replace me.”

 Over the years, Gaines gave the responsibility of running the department to Sanders, a Deputy Chief of Operations before his promotion.

“The reason I’m comfortable with leaving is I’ve seen in my nine years what he is capable of,” Gaines said. “So much so that when I leave town I would leave him in-charge. I told him the decisions you make are your decisions. I want you to get the feel of what it’s like the make those decisions and what comes along with those decisions. I trusted him and he never failed me.”

On his way to the top job Sanders has held down several responsible positions. He didn’t see any of that early on, though.

Attending Tallahassee Community College right after high school was on Sander’s radar until a family member convincingly suggested that he tried the Tallahassee Fire Department.

That meant completing training at an academy. At age 19, Sanders began second-guessing his decision.

He ended up locking down a government job as a courier. It was on one of those runs that Sanders decided his first career choice was what he should be pursuing.

The day he came upon an accident on Gaines Street, noticing how fire department personnel worked to keep a victim stabilized was sufficient. He recalled noticing a sense of commitment by the emergency workers.

“That could have been me,” Sanders thought.

What he saw was enough for him to return to the Fire Academy to complete training. He followed that by taking and passing an EMT course in Taylor County.

In 1992, Sanders joined the reserves, a group that was essentially a talent pool for the fire department. Sanders would spend four years waiting to hear his name to be called.

Instead he found “there were road blocks on every turn,” he said. 

Sanders became a fulltime employee with TFD in 1997, according to information in a  city release about his hire. During his rise after serving as a volunteer fire fighter, he became Driver/Operator, Lieutenant, Captain, Battalion Chief, Division Chief and Deputy Chief.

 Some of his day-to-day responsibilities includes being coordinator for the State Homeland Security Grant Program, while being the Region 2 Coordinator for the Statewide Emergency Response Plan.

Sanders is succeeding as a firefighter because he was built for the job of helping others, said his older brother, Wendell. 

“Well, you know when you help the least of these God will bless you,” Wendell said. “If anybody really needs help Gene steps right in there and do it.

“I’m very proud of Gene; his accomplishment. Gene always had a positive attitude. He beat the odds. Gene could have went the other way, but he didn’t.”

He seemingly was too persistent and “laser focused,” as he puts it.

“If you don’t give up and you keep pushing and you take advantage of every opportunity that is provided you can accomplish great things,” Sanders said. “My story is a kid that faced the obstacle to be given fulltime employment now once given an opportunity came in as a firefighter and went through every rank and made it to the top.”