Dumpster Fire Call Brings 2020 To Symbolic End For Brevard County

VIERA, FLA — As the final hours of 2020 wound down last week and Americans looked forward to finally turning the page on what had been an unprecedented year of pain, suffering and a bit of everything in between, firefighters in Brevard County dealt with what turned out to be a very appropriate final call to close out the year.

At about 11:40 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Brevard County Fire and Rescue was called to the area of Stadium Parkway and Rosemount Drive in Viera, where they encountered a small dumpster fire outside a local restaurant, Fire Chief Mark Schollmeyer told Patch in an email Tuesday.

Firefighters from Station 48 extinguished the blaze quickly, Schollmeyer said, and by the time they had finished dealing with the fire and packed the hose back onto the truck, fireworks appeared in the night skies as New Year’s revelers welcomed in the start of 2021.

Brevard County Fire and Rescue posted photos on the small dumpster fire as well as a photo of firefighters posing in front of the dumpster once the fire had been extinguished on its social media platforms including the hashtags #DumpsterFire and “Goodbye 2020.”

“The last fire of the year for BCFR and Station 48 kind of sums up 2020,” the post read.

With no injuries or damage to report from the scene, Schollmeyer found the final fire call of 2020 very apropos of what the previous nine months across the country had produced.

“A dumpster fire signaling the end of a year that has been labeled by some as a dumpster fire is probably the best example of irony that I can think of,” the chief wrote to Patch. “So many Americans have seen 2020 as one of the most stressful in recent years with politics and the pandemic in the forefront, it was great to be able to provide a little comedic relief with a simple (social media) post.”

The social media post finished with the words: “Wishing for a better and prosperous 2021 for Brevard County.”

Hear, hear!