Lou Comenale's Page

Ever smell a smell or hear a song and it brings you back to an old memory?  The smell of linseed oil always brings me back to my grandfather’s cottage shed.  My grandfather was a carpenter by trade and a volunteer firefighter.  His relied on his tools to put food on his family’s table for decades.  Long after retirement the tools all hanging in that shed he built, still looked like they came off the shelf at the hardware store.  He took pride in his work and it…

To stretch or not to stretch....

A call for a structure fire comes in, whether it be the odor of smoke sight unknown or a bedroom fire, what action does the first engine in take upon arrival?  With the latter scenario its easy to answer, stretch in and put the fire out, but what about the other possible scene? This is where the question comes in, do we or don't we stretch?  Always follow whatever your department’s SOP/SOG’s state, but what happens when a department leaves it…

Previously in my fire service career I took a college course on Dr. Francis Brannigan’s book Building Construction for the Fire Service. As a Company Officer, I feel it never hurts to gain new information, so I recently took a class on Lightweight Construction.  

One of the first slides in the new course quoted Dr. Brannigan’s book “the building is your enemy, know your enemy” the course continued with another quote, “...buildings constructed with lightweight wood…

Tradition. Pride. Dedication. Self-sacrifice.  These are some of the reasons we embark on a career, volunteer or paid, in the fire service.  If your department holds these values essential, then I applaud you.  I have unfortunately experienced first hand, by seasoned members, an absence of ownership, lack of mentoring, and general disregard toward the enthusiasm of the upcoming generation.  

Sadly this occurs at any level in the fire service.  For example a senior member or…