Mike France's Blog (9)

 We as Firefighters are trained to handle most anything that comes our way , and with that comes the added stress of handling our own family's needs , esp when your spouse becomes ill . The journey I have been on since last October of 2013 has been a whirlwind experience , going from having my spouse being they had Stage 4 Brain Cancer to the Operation to recovery  to treatments and the ups and downs of dealing and becoming the go to guy.

We really have no idea what are spouse's do…

               Seeing that the Cold Water Challenge is out there and I have been called out Twice and completed , It's Time for a new CHALLENGE and this is one that we all can do ;

              I'm calling out all those Brothers and Sisters to step up and Mentor one New Firefighter in the Their Department .. The Goal is to Pass on our Knowledge to them to make them a better Firefighter and a Better Brother .

             The only reward is this Satisfaction knowing that we are…

  Lately , it's been hard for me to talk shop , but while standing at my Sister's Wake , a few days ago , something had struck me , and that was how much of an Influence she had been as an educator for over 33 years . Watching and listening to her former students and…

       As I now sit in the Back Corner of the Training Room , and watch , I'm coming to realize that there are 2 things missing from our Beloved Volunteer Fire Service , Training and Communication , As a Past Chief , I now relaize that once you leave Office you become a Nobody.I found it a harsh reality the next day , and becoming one of the "guys " is even tougher , you really do not fit in and when you offer advice it's frowned upon .

        Training is the number 1 key in our…

       Tradition is a very big part of the Fire Service, Next to Training and Fighting Fires it's a Key element that defines us as to who we are. From the day we walk in as a Probationary Firefighter to day we Retire or Leave a office that we have held , Tradition is there, Its  A Right of Passage .

      Tradition can best defined as a Ritual, belief or object passed down within a Society, also a baiscal character of a society meaningful clothes [ i.e Uniforms , and such] . The…

   Why is a very profound word , esp. in our line of work. Today we are seeing this word being used quite a lot , not only by our younger Firefighters , but our older firefighters as well. years ago we did we didn't ask Why, we did as we were told , we did the job that was required by us, did we ask Why? , of course we did , but not out load , because we knew that an order was given and followed it .

  In today's Fire Service , you hear Why , asked quite alot , at least 5 times a day…

  Over the last year I have met several FF's via the social netwrok  and there are a few that i have formed unique friendships with. To my amazement , it's not that i have never fought fires with Female firefighters , because I have within my own dept.and they are outstanding , but there are some that I formed a social friendship with are very unique in their own different ways.All hail from different parts of the United States ,

  The first one , is not a Firefighter althought she is…

      As I had stated in a prevoius blog, The best thing that I had ever done was to join the "FOOLS", thanks in part to my good Friend Jeff Schwering , even thou Jeff and i have never met face to face , we've formed a great friendship , bouncing Ideas off each other, discussing the everyday rants we face as Officers  and just being there when we needed to blow off…

             As a person who has been in the Fire Service for more than 25 years , i have seen some things that we used to do and Now we do not do many of those things . The days of "WE" are growing very short ,it is now all about "ME", i'm reminded of a Former Chief of mine always correcting me , saying there is no "I" in "WE" and boy was he ever so right , but the funny thing was he never practiced what he preached me.

            I was the guy that sat back and said "I'l never wear…