District's spokeswoman to help teach, reach out

It was the promise of sunny skies that lured a 24-year-old Indiana University graduate to Southwest Florida.

It's a newly created position with the San Carlos Park Fire District that has Alexis Rothring settling in south Lee County for the long haul.

The Indiana native was chosen from 15 other applicants to become the first public information officer in the history of the San Carlos Park fire district, which has three stations that cover a jurisdiction of about 52 square miles.

"I'm looking forward to making a name for myself and making a name for this position," Rothring said. "I want to set the bar high."

Rothring, an Indiana native, moved to Fort Myers three months ago after completing a master's degree in applied health science at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

Rothring said she spent time as both an emergency medical technician and a teaching assistant before accepting the position with the San Carlos Park Fire District.

"I knew I just really wanted to work in education," she said. "That was my goal."

Implementing educational programming within the community and local schools will make up a bulk of her job description, Rothring said.

Alexis Rothring, 24, was chosen from among 15 applicants to become San Carlos Park fire district’s first public information officer. She starts work today.

"A lot of it will be moving from scratch," she said. "Some of it will be building on what they already had."

The other portion of the position will require Rothring to serve as spokeswoman for the fire district, a role that emerged as a dire need during the past two years because of the district's growth, said Mary Lou Garofalo, chair of the San Carlos Park Fire Board of Commissioners.

The amount of information that has flown from the station during the past two years, which included a record season of hurricanes, led the district to budget money for the new position nearly two years ago, Garofalo said.

"We put it off because it wasn't something that was really priority," Garofalo said. "But now it's gotten to the point where we really need someone."

Offering assistance and providing information in the wake of a natural disaster will be nothing new to Rothring, who became accustomed to tornadoes after growing up in Indiana.

"Hurricanes are definitely something I'm going to have to learn about," she said. "It'll be a little bit different. I'll just roll with the punches."

Rothring will begin training today at fire district headquarters on Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, starting off with an annual salary of $43,200.

Rothring said she took the position because she was inspired by the fire district's charitable endeavors in south Lee County, such as passing out toys to local kids during the Christmas season.

"They really have a great history of community service," Rothring said. "They just seem to love their community, and that's what I was looking for."