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For an “Unsung Hero,” they sure are singing his praises at TECO and the Propeller Club of Tampa

From left to right, at 10th Annual Maritime Industry Night Celebration & Awards Banquet: Bill Smotherman, Larry Stevenson, Doug Ball, Lars Amundsen, Terry Booth, Kenji Plennert and Chris Chambers. Not pictured, but recognized by Amundsen for their help fighting the fire that night: Tom Brady, David Montgomery, Robert Williams, Tim Phillips, Ray Alba, Andrew Williams, Jim Cooley, Joe Proctor and Ricky Greene.
From left to right, at 10th Annual Maritime Industry Night Celebration & Awards Banquet: Bill Smotherman, Larry Stevenson, Doug Ball, Lars Amundsen, Terry Booth, Kenji Plennert and Chris Chambers. Not pictured, but who, in Amundsen’s words, share the Unsung Hero honor for their help fighting the fire that night: Tom Brady, David Montgomery, Robert Williams, Tim Phillips, Ray Alba, Andrew Williams, Jim Cooley, Joe Proctor and Ricky Greene.

Lars Amundsen isn’t a firefighter – you could say he just plays one in real life. Technically he’s a stevedore operations supervisor with Tampa Electric. But on a frigid night earlier this year, a blaze at Big Bend Power Station tested the courage under pressure and commitment to safety of Amundsen and about 10 of the men he works alongside.

“It started with a motor on a conveyor belt,” he said. “I was just leaving a vessel that had discharged its coal and was headed to the breakroom and heard Andrew (Williams, fuel equipment operator) on the intercom saying ‘I think we got a fire.’”

Amundsen and others rushed to the scene, where a group of team members was trying to control the flames with a hose. But the fire was on the higher of two stacked conveyor belts – with material falling from the one on top and onto the one below – and the lower belt was blocking the stream of water from the hose.

Amundsen knew he had to do something more.

“You freeze up for a second in a situation like that,” he said. “It’s think-think-think – what am I gonna do? But just like that, you start to work through the pandemonium.”

As Generation Supervisor Tom Brady directed Hillsborough County fire crews to the scene, Amundsen climbed up to a platform over the burning conveyor belt for a better angle to fight the flames. With him was Bobby Drew, a contractor with Southeastern Construction. Another contractor with Southeastern, Anthony Young, helped them set up a hose.

“The fire continued for about 20 minutes,” said Amundsen, drenched by this point in water from the hose in the 30-degree January night. “Everybody was doing their part.”

The fire crews arrived. Amundsen stayed in place, training the hose on the fire as the blaze eventually fell under control. And the night’s emergency finally subsided.

Big Bend Power Station, site of numerous emissions reductions that have had a significant positive impact on Tampa Bay area air quality.
Big Bend Power Station, site of numerous emissions reductions that have had a significant positive impact on Tampa Bay area air quality.

But the focus on it – and the commitment to safety and achievement with a sense of urgency from Amundsen, team members and contractors – wasn’t over. A few weeks later, Kenji Plennert, manager of Solid Fuel Delivery & Byproducts Operations, asked Amundsen, Amundsen’s wife and others to join him at the Propeller Club-Tampa Port Authority’s 2016 10th Annual Maritime Industry Night Celebration & Awards Banquet at the World Trade Center Tampa Bay. Unbeknownst to Amundsen, Chris Chambers – coalfield technical security specialist at Big Bend Power Station and Propeller Club board member – had secretly nominated him for the club’s “Unsung Hero” award.

“Lars stepped up during this emergency and helped lead the way to extinguish the fire,” Plennert said. “His commitment and dedication helped to minimize damage to this critical piece of equipment at Big Bend Station.”

As Amundsen, his wife and others enjoyed the Feb. 23 event, he was shocked to learn that he was the club’s “Unsung Hero” of the year for his firefighting bravery.

Amundsen was quick to share the honor, citing the efforts of those on his team.

“They all helped extinguish a fire that possibly could have done a lot of damage and loss of productivity,” Amundsen said. “The Unsung Hero award goes to all these men as well, in my book. The job takes a lot of people to get it done in normal times – and I wouldn’t want to face an emergency like that with any other group of people.”

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