Established- 1999

   

In 1999 several members of Orange County Fire and Rescue got together during Biketoberfest and started talking about forming a motorcycle club. They had looked into other clubs, but were not happy with them due to the many rules or being brand specific. During this meeting, Joe Chez, who had a background in the Wolf Pack MC, got up to go to the bathroom and was immediately voted chapter President while he was gone. Mike Eller was voted the first Vice President. Our Fire and Iron name came from our profession. We’re firefighters, hence the “Fire” part and “Iron” comes from the tools we carry into a fire. The first members of the club invited other firefighters from different departments to join them, bringing the total membership to 20-25 members from various central Florida fire depts. The first patch for the club was a 3 piece patch that was orange, with black lettering, and a maltese cross in the center. Dues started off at $25 a month, with all the money going to charities and there was a meeting once every month. The first official charity ride for the newly formed club was the Annie Russel home ride in January of 2000. In the spring of 2000, Mike “Caveman” Moss joined the club. At the time he felt there was a problem with who could become a member because it was limited to paid firefighters, volunteer firefighters were not allowed to join. He had been an Orange County volunteer for 10 years and still wanted to ride with some of his friends that were volunteers. Soon after he joined the patch for the club was revised to the patch we wear now. It was designed by Mike Eller with the rockers being designed by Caveman. By late fall of 2000 the club had begun to fall apart. Members were starting to lose interest due to all the charity rides they were expected to do and by December it had completely come apart with no one riding.  At the same time the Orange County Sheriffs Dept was putting on a Christmas toy run. Mike Moss thought it would be great to have a bunch of firefighters there to support their brothers with a badge and got the word out about the toy run among the seperated members of Fire and Iron. The club had 17 members show up on that cold December day in Orlando. Right after the ride Mike Moss was approached about becoming the new president, and agreed. One of the first changes was allowing more than just paid firefighters to become members. The first ride with the new President was in January of 2001. Mike set up a ride from Styr Crazy, a bike shop where he knew the owner, to Cocoa Village. Thirty two riders showed up that day to enjoy the ride with only one mishap when a member of Orlando FD hit some loose gravel and laid his bike down breaking his ankle. At the meeting following the ride, Mike stated that if he stayed President, he would double the size of the club and start another chapter someday. He did remain the president and by the spring of 2001 the second chapter of Fire and Iron, known as Stations, started in Volusia County, Station #2. The first charity ride under Caveman in 2001 rose close to $7000 for a firefighter in Ocoee FL, whose daughter needed a kidney transplant. The club grew from that two chapter club to where it is now, over 80 stations later. The one remaining factor among many is that Mike Moss is still running the show. He is no longer the president of Fire and Iron Chapter 1, Orange County FL. Presently he sits at the top of the heap as Fire and Iron’s National President, and thanks to him, and many other of our members, the club continues to grow.