Bilingual WCFR Lieutenant Brings Hispanic Heritage to the Firehouse
Walton County Fire Rescue, the agency that answers fire and medical calls in Freeport and across the county, has a newly promoted lieutenant who can reach frightened families in two languages. Tristen Martins, the son of a Cuban mother and a Brazilian father, grew up surrounded by Hispanic culture and says the Spanish he learned at home helps people feel understood during emergencies.
Much of Martins’ childhood was spent with his grandparents, who came to Florida from Cuba by boat and tried to make a life here as best they could. The small rituals of their household are how he remembers them now. “Every time I think back about my grandparents’ house, it’s always the cafecito in the morning and the Cuban bread,” Martins told WJHG. “God, I love and miss Cuban bread. You can’t get that anywhere up here.”
Those routines follow him into the firehouse, where he makes cafecito for whoever is on shift. “It brings me pride in my heritage to just walk into a station and, as soon as they hear the whipping of the sugar and the coffee, oh, man, they come running,” he said. The lessons of his upbringing reach home, too. Martins grew up in a household where the man was the provider, and he told WJHG he wants to give his wife and daughter the life they deserve.
His love for firefighting started at age nine, but family comes ahead of the badge. “First and foremost, I am a husband. I am a father, and I never jeopardize the time that I give to my daughter for more overtime,” he said. His wife, Zaira, said watching him serve is emotional. “I feel immense pride when I see him making something of his life, making something that’s of value to the community and everybody around him, not just his family,” she told WJHG. “I’m so proud of the man that I’ve chosen for my family.”
On emergency calls, the second language is more than a courtesy. “There’s always going to be a Spanish-only-speaking family that we walk into their house, and they’re unfamiliar and scared, and you being present and just giving them that peace of mind that they’re not alone is going to make an enormous impact,” Martins said. For a Freeport household whose first language isn’t English, a responder who can meet them in their own words can turn a frightening emergency into one they can understand.
Martins, recently promoted to lieutenant, said Hispanic Heritage Month honors the hard journey his family took to get here. “We’re firefighters, police officers, whatever it may be. It’s just important to show up and say, hey, we do add value to this community,” he said.
Originally reported by WJHG.
Image: WJHG.
