Richard Riley's Page

Are You A “Truck Driver” Or Do You Just Drive the Truck?

By: Ricky Riley

From: Art Of Firemanship Winter 2017

It’s shift change at your firehouse, or maybe you’ve come in to drive for a couple hours at the volunteer house. You grab your gear and head to the rig you’ve been assigned to drive and throw your gear in the compartment.…

The Option of a Front Suction

By: Ricky Riley

Being from and working in the Metro - Washington DC area for most of my life, I thought that front suctions were a standard option on all fire apparatus. Who in their right mind would not want one of these on their rig?  It makes life so…

Getting The Job Done

On more than one occasion, I have heard firefighters complain about SOP’s, specifically how they can’t be written for every situation and or you are putting us in a box.  This could not be further from the truth.  What we are doing, is establishing a game plan for specific incidents and the operational concerns that they pose. In recent years, dedication to getting the…

When we talk about ladder towers, there is always the discussion of the ability of them to place their basket on the ground to do the patented sidewalk sweep. On most units especially rear mounted towers this can be a very long distance from the side of the rig. On some units they may have to extend out 60’ just to be able to touch the ground and…

 In almost every class that Traditions Training presents, we play the audio from Lancaster City, PA. of the MAYDAY by Lt. Andre Kelley of Engine 3. We use this as a training tool and to make firefighters aware of this near tragedy as it played out that fateful night. We expect all of our students to learn from the incident, study the incident and to better themselves and…

A fire on January 19, 2015 for the Harrisburg, PA. Bureau of Fire demonstrated some excellent teaching points for Drivers or Chauffeurs of Tower Ladders. The fire in the 300 Blk. of N. Front Street involved the top floor of a four story mixed occupancy structure. The first due truck was Tower 1 from the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire, the Driver positioned the rig with a perfect spot.…

In reviewing all the procedures and policies related to Mayday incidents, we have to remember the actual call itself from the trapped or lost firefighter. Does your department have a standard information set that needs to be transmitted out to the Incident Commander or the dispatch center. This is a crucial script that needs to be practiced by your crew members during weekly…

As we start the week off, lets take today to review your departments MAYDAY policies. These tasks, procedures and policies need to be practiced and reinforced through training constantly. We sometimes put this off to one time a year or when the next monthly…