History
Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus (BMFA) is a large presence in the Fire Truck equipment market space. In fact, BMFA is the largest seller of used fire trucks in the country. The business was founded by James Wessel, who is still active in the day to day operations. One of Mr. Wessel’s passions is the fire industry and being a help to support fire departments nationwide. With that passion, he has built a very successful company that sells over 500 trucks annually.
BMFAs business model is three fold: buying and reselling Fire Trucks, providing a space for Fire Departments to list surplus trucks for re-sell and providing routine and other service on a department's trucks.
More important than Mr. Wessel’s passion for the fire industry is his passion for serving God through his life. It is that desire that influences how BMFA operates. Honesty, integrity, excellence and gratitude are the qualities that drive all the company’s actions and they are stated in the company's mission statement and core values:
“We want to be excellent in every aspect of buying, selling and fixing used fire trucks.”
Integrity
Service
Excellence
Gratitude
Most of BMFA’s clients are volunteer fire departments. The volunteer firefighter is a unique person in modern day America. These dedicated people give a significant portion of their time to better their community. It is the goal of BMFA to treat these persons and their organizations with the highest integrity helping them purchase the best equipment within their budget.
Expectations
The mission and values are the foundation and they drive how BMFA operates including what will be demonstrated by leadership and expected by all employees. The expected core behaviors are:
Punctuality, being on time at all times
Reliability, executing with consistency every assigned job function
Accountability, being accountable for all actions and behaviors
Ownership, seeing that all tasks are seen through to completion
Elevate customer concerns quickly
Caring for your own, demonstrating to all co-workers genuine concern for their wellbeing
Culture
Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus sits on 43 picturesque acres in rural Alabama. The landscape is tranquil but it only takes a short visit to the campus to realize that the pace of work is anything but slow. The employees at BMFA work hard and do so from the time they step on campus to the time they drive away. At any giving point while walking through the buildings you will see people focused on their tasks, you might hear all out laughter as team members share life adventures but you always witness people committed to and enjoying their jobs.
BMFA is all about fire trucks and in doing so is about being a resource to Fire Departments of all sizes and through that business model caring for its employees.