Ray McCormack's Blog (7)

A Ransom Note To The American Fire Service IF yoU CoMplY witH theSE S A F E T Y DeMAndS wE will LowER The NUMber of LODDss S SEAT BELTS WEAR EM A ACCIDENTS AVOID EM F FITNESS GET IT E ERRORS END EM T TRAIN EVERYDAY Y YOU MAKE IT WORK tHe CloCk has StaRtED tHE NeXt MovE is yoUrs we wiLL be WATCHinG As found on thehousewatch.com Continue

The Start Water group just posted its 50th topic. I would like to thank the members of the Start Water group for their thoughts, insights, and time. The amount of topics and responses by the Start Water members is outstanding and in a class by itself. To all those who have not joined our group so far, don't worry there's still time to discover firefighting. Continue

I keep reading how departments insist on using 13/4 lines for Standpipe operations. Usually the set up includes a gated Wye, so a second line can also be stretched to supplement the lower GPM's. How many departments have ever trained on a tandem attack. If anyone is interested in learning more about how to do this leave your information on the comment page. A video on this topic will be available early next year. Sincerely, Ray McCormack Continue

Pause then laugh!

This is not a debate on smooth bore vs. fog nor is it a male - female thing. It seems sometimes that the fire service can be broken down into two distinct camps. Some of the more popular Smooth Bore vs. Fog, Paid vs.Volunteer and PPV vs. VES.

Maybe there is another - Extinguishment vs. Failure

Extinguishment is at the heart of what we do. No other organization does what we do. Ask any firefighter how they felt putting out the fire and you will find the t

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Fire companies using outdated equiptment and being taught outdated training methods is common in the American fire service and it cuts across all departments types and sizes. I have listened to firefighters talk about being unable to affect change within their company or department. These are not style issues. These firefighters are presenting factual data and willing to test their tools against what is currently in use. They are rebuffed at eve

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I wish to thank the members of The Start Water Group for their fanatstic responses and questions. We curently have over a dozen topics to respond to. We have been able to strike a balance between real world concerns and academy training, appealing to both line firefighters and instructors. That balance I believe is exactly what this site should be about. All of the topics in the Start Water Group are relevant and timely. Please keep the responses comming. Remember we all do the same job.

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There are still some fire service myths floating around out there I see. Firefighters operating under unsafe SOP's or none at all. Hard to believe. Staffing is always an issue. Having one firefighter per truck is not staffing it's a driver. Chiefs need to worry more about the fire floor than the apparataus floor.There are all levels of instruction and instructors out there. Get the reasons why we do something from the instructor not just the teaching points. Continue