Books

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Matt Thomson on August 19, 2008 at 8:12pm

I read that one a little while ago. It's a great book on leadership skills that can be applied to any industry. I got a lot out of it and will probably re-read it in a few months.

I'm reading Chief Smith's "Building Construction for the Fire Service" now. It's a great book and very easy to read. If anyone is interested in discussing the questions in each chapter check for a thread in the building construction group.

Permalink Reply by Adam Arkins on August 23, 2008 at 4:11pm

"To Sleep With the Angels", didn't really change any ops for us, but this is a truly powerful book. It is based on a elementary school fire in Chicago that killed 92 kids and the many heroics performed by the Chicago Fire Dept..

Permalink Reply by Chris Fleming on August 27, 2008 at 11:17am

Matt,
I have to get a copy of Chief Smith's book. I took a class on building construction from him a number of years ago and it was great. I read Brannigan's book every few years to brush up on proper terminology and construction methods that I don't encounter often. Salka's book is fantastic as well. I've read it numerous times as kind of a workbook to evaluate where I'm at and where I want to go with my leadership development. Other books that had an impact were Leo Stapleton's books that are a great read but also have nuggets of wisdom in them that make them as educational as they are entertaining. "Mental Aspects of Performance", by Dennis Compton was great for figuring out how we think and how to make your self a better performer no matter what the challenge. Other books that kind of "Recharge" me in the face of "Muttdom" are Harry Ahern's books (particularly "Fire Factory") and Dennis Smith's "Report from Engine Co. 82".

Permalink Reply by Tom Londo on August 31, 2008 at 8:53am

Thanks for the postings. I will look into some of these books. Stay Safe.

Londo

Permalink Reply by Matt Thomson on September 1, 2008 at 6:24pm

Chris,
Shoot me an IM or email once you get Chief Smith's book. I'd love to start a discussion group using the questions from the back of each chapter.

-Matt

Permalink Reply by Marques Bush on September 21, 2008 at 6:44pm

Some of the books that were suggested to me that I have read have been Vince Dunn Safety and Survival on the Fireground, Collapse of Burning Buildings By Vince Dunn, Fire Officers Handbook of Tactics by John Norman, Pride and Ownership by Rick Lasky, and non FD books Who Moved My Cheese By Dr.Spencer Johnson. Thanks Jay and Mo.

Permalink Reply by Tim Berczik on October 5, 2008 at 10:27pm

I have read Tom Downey's "The Last Men Out" book twice. I have had lent it out to several members on my crew. It is probably one of the best books referencing Rescue Companies that I have ever read? Can anyone suggest more books along this line?

Permalink Reply by Chris Fleming on October 6, 2008 at 2:55pm

Tim,
There is a book out called "Rescue Men" about some guys in one of the Rescue companies in The Boston F.D. I haven't read it, but I've heard it's good. Ray Downey's book "The Rescue Company" is pretty good, but more of a text book than a collection of stories. I've read "Last man Out", too. It was a great book.

Permalink Reply by Tim Berczik on October 8, 2008 at 4:04pm

Thanks. I have not read 'Rescue Men" yet. I will have to grab a copy. I see Coleman finally came out with a second edition of his first book.

Permalink Reply by Bobby Halton on October 21, 2008 at 10:18am

Tom, I am writing a book currently called "The Diliberate Firefighter" I have attached hte reading list I have used in the first five chapters. They are all very interesting books although somewhat diverse.

Bobby Halton’s Reading list for the Deliberate Firefighter


• Normal Accidents Living with High-risk Technologies by Charles Perrrow

• Decision-Making: Risk Management, Systems Thinking and Situation Awareness by Alan McLucas

• Quality leadership, Standards of Leadership Behavior by D*** Leatherman PhD

• Decision-making Harvard Business Essentials subject adviser Alan J. Rowe

• Critical Mass by Philip Ball

• Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales

• The Field Guide to Human Error Investigations by Sidney Dekker

• 10 Questions about Human Error by Sidney WA Decker

• Inviting Disaster, Lessons from the Edge of Technology by James R. Chiles

• The Moral Compass by William J. Bennett

• Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goldman

• The Structure of Awareness by D.W. Gottschalk

• Just Culture by Sidney Dekker

• Last Breath, The Limits of Adventure by Peter Stark

• Leadership and Self-deception by The Arbinger Institute

• Complexity, The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos by M. Mitchell Waldrop

• Sources of Power by Gary Klein

• Intuition at Work by Gary Klein

• Leadership by Rudolph Giuliani

• It's Your Ship by Michael Abrashoff

• The ASTD Handbook of Training Design and Delivery

• Principles of Fire Behavior by James G. Quintiere

• Words that Work by Dr. Frank Luntz

• Rickover by the Naval Institute press

• A Plague on Your Houses by Dr. Deborah Wallace

• Fighting Fire in the Age of Plastics by Dr. Deborah Wallace

• Stoic Warriors, The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind by Sherman

• The Drunkard's Walk, How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Moldinow

Permalink Reply by Chris Fleming on October 22, 2008 at 10:48am

Bobby,
Thanks for the reading list. This will help me make my Christmas list! Some of the books on the list have been recommended to me before by other folks and I have had trouble finding them (I'm old school, I go into actual bookstores). Do I have to get these on-line, or am I looking in the wrong areas? I usually check out the business section or the sociology section for some of the more generic titles on leadership or human error analysis, etc. The books by Dr. Wallace sound really interesting, are they things that can be found in a book store or are they academic papers? Good luck with "The Deliberate Firefighter" and I look forward to its release.
Chris

Permalink Reply by Bobby Halton on October 22, 2008 at 10:58am

Chris,

I find the best way to locate most of books that I buy is by using Amazon.com. For books by Dr. Deborah Wallace you are going to need to look in the used book section, as the book is no longer in print. It was written in 1990 and it's probably the most important book that was ever written for the American fire service, unfortunately it was largely ignored. The book outlines several very important fires that the fire service by and large took no notice of.
Bobby

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