Escambia County Fire Rescue announced that Captain Joel Richardson has been named the 2022 Instructor of the Year by the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association. The Florida Rapid Intervention Training Operations Group, a training organization instructing the FFCA since 2012, has been recognized for the award alongside Captain Richardson. Richardson joined ECFR in October 2009. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2012 and to captain in September 2022. Since then, ECFR said he has served as the Training/Safety Captain for ECFR in the training division. He has been a member of the Florida RIT Operations Group since its inception in 2012 and ECFR said he has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to training and mentoring firefighters in Escambia County and the state of Florida.