- January 29, 2025
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When Nicholas Nates decided to become a firefighter, he was searching for purpose.
He loved his job at the time — a big animal lover, Nates worked in a vet clinic. But he had a lot of friends in fire service that thought Nates fit the bill of a good fireman.
Fast forward seven years, and Nates is now a driver engineer with the Ormond Beach Fire Department, and one on the pipeline for promotion after scoring the best in his agency's officer test. But it's helping people in his community, he said, that drives him.
"It's cool to be able to help people that you just pas by every day, not knowing who these people are, and now you have a relationship with them because you're helping them get by," Nates said. "I'm very fortunate to get to do that part."
He always tries to get to the station about 30 minutes before his shift, enough time to have a cup of coffee and wait until the crews are awake.
"I was always told if you're on time, you're late," Nates said.
Since beginning his career in firefighting, Nates has become more aware of how much people rely of fire service, he said, from helping people who have fallen – he's a paramedic as well — to being the first on the scene when an ambulance is called.
Nates has obtained nearly all of his Urban Search and Rescue Technician courses and is also one of the department's Hazmat technicians. It's this dedication to professional growth that has made him an asset to OBFD, said previous Standing O nominee Capt. Hunter Ramirez. Nates, he added, "has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to excellence, a strong work ethic and a passion for the community as well as his team."
"He is someone who our new firefighters look up to and I am eager to see him continue to learn and grow in his role," Ramirez said.
Nates said Ramirez is one of the people that has made an impact on him in the department. So have Carrie Davis, Dale Kelly, Travis Taft, David Randall and others.
"I try to surround myself with people that I want to be like," Nates said.
Nicholas has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to excellence, a strong work ethic and a passion for the community as well as his team. His dedication to professional growth has made him a great asset to the department, whether organizing drills or mentoring less experienced personnel he has demonstrated a proactive mindset that has made him a great leader." — CAPT. HUNTER RAMIREZ, 2024 Standing O
Davis was his first officer when he got hired in Ormond Beach. He worked under her for four years, and those were some of his best years, he said.
Prior to OBFD, Nates worked for a different department, but left because he said he felt like he was "just a number." In Ormond, where he's lived since 1999, his fellow firefighters are what he loves most, he said.
"From the administration, the chiefs that we have, the officers, the drivers, the firefighters, there's not one person that wants to see you not succeed, and they will do anything they can to help you succeed," Nates said.
When he's not at work, Nates is usually at home spending time with his two black labs: Luke and Levi. Their faces are tattooed on his knees, each with a firefighting helmet, one with a shamrock for Davis, and the other labeled with Station 93, his favorite fire station.
Davis is hoping Nates will teach a class soon to instruct other firefighters on caring for animals involved in fires.
When it comes to mentoring, Nates said he always wants those coming after him to do better than he is doing now.
"I want them to pass me in things that I do," Nates said. "I'm still the future of the department, but they are just as much as I am, and the better we are as a group, the better we are together."
It's about coming in every day and trying to improve, he said.
"I always try to give more than what I take from the department, and I think if you do that, you can leave a better place," Nates said.
