Today is  going to be about becoming a better version of yourself because you have to want it. If you're going to do it and it really starts with an end goal.

Where do you want to see yourself? Then you have to create the daily disciplines or habits and keep repeating them and then you're going to get closer and closer. Just like working out, you can't go to the gym one day and be as fit as you want to be. You can't go read one book and just be done with it. You can't go to one fire…

Brothers and Sisters,

What a perfect day to sit down at the keyboard and write about this year. It’s December 7, Pearl Harbor day. Thank you all veterans for what you’ve done for our country.

As most of you know, I battled prostate cancer this year (surgery in March) and am very happy to report the blood tests are coming back clean. Like the folks who lived in Pearl Harbor and persevered through the attack and never saw it coming. I was back in the O.R. three times since March…

Chit-chat; shoot the breeze; gab; flap; chew the fat; gossip; blab. You think you know how to talk. Besides, you do it all day. On the radio, to colleagues, to the media, to your kids, and your spouse/partners. Sure, you talk. But, are you really saying anything?

Martin Heidegger coined the conversing that you and I engage in regularly as “idle talk”. That is, speech which brings about little change or benefit. Talking idly is what we do best. We make small talk about the weather…

The number 2 issue on the poll was:

2.CHANGE a Technique or Task:That’s NOT how I learned it and we DONT do that way here (your New way ... the modern way Your showing us)…!

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Most Dangerous Phrase: We’ve Always Done It That Way.

The real issue here is a person is being required to change instead of wanting to change.

Our job is to be competent in our skills.

When change comes about, guess what?

We don’t see…

The Modified Minuteman Load

The minute man load is a popular hose load used on many apparatus across America, and it happens to be my favorite load of all the options I’ve seen. I feel as if the minute man load, in whichever configuration you have it loaded, is more versatile than other popular loads. This is of…

Being a firefighter isn’t like other jobs. Where mistakes in other professions might mean a person gets their meal cold, their paperclips late or the wrong shoes, when mistakes happen in firefighting the problems can be a lot more serious. There are, after all, lives on the line. For that reason, it’s important that you make sure that you learn quickly and learn…

The number 1 poll response was:

Negativity- Holding a bad attitude and spreading it to younger members of the department.

What to do?

Misery loves company. This is an unfortunate truth. 

First things first though. Why does this person have a bad attitude?

The bad attitude came from a frustration.

A frustation in how somethings was done or is currently being done.

The person feels helpless and feels as though they have no control over the…

Dealing with criticism and rumors, has this ever happened to you? I can tell you right now, it's happened to me. Odds are if you put yourself out there for anything, try to make an impact with anything, you've experienced this. So if this is gonna happen when we put ourselves out there, how can we best deal with it? Well, that's what I'm gonna talk to you guys about today.

At times, we're a firehouse full of typically alpha males, there's some alpha females, and sometimes these…

Sticks and Stones/Axes and Halligans. Firefighters have the means to put a serious hurt on somebody, but we use our tools instead for good. Our words, on the other hand, are wielded, at least by some, with much less regard for the human damage they can inflict. The internet has proven itself fertile ground for zingers and put-downs, allowing a well-timed and -phrased comment to create a virtual worldwide chain-reaction of effects, which can be amusing and/or hurtful, depending upon the…

This piece of equipment is one of the most important pieces of equipment in your tools for standpipe operations. It is second only to your hose and nozzles.  It's selection and use it just as important as hose and nozzle selection. Unfortunately, it is one of the most overlooked and least understood pieces as well.

By placing this inline gauge on the standpipe outlet you are in essence moving the engine's pump panel to the floor below the fire.   As a nozzle man, can you…

On October 27th, my youngest son (center) joined the ranks of the Hartford Fire Department, as did his brother ten years prior, and as I did back in 1988.  I had 8 weeks of training and the rest was ON THE JOB as they used to say!  My youngest just endured 16 weeks of comprehensive training, testing, and certification to become the best trained, prepared, and ready to work firefighter that the modern fire service has to offer.  We have come a long way in this endeavor to protect and serve,…

I stirred up more than a little controversy recently when I questioned the feasibility of increasing our effectiveness by decreasing our caution (See "Worth Dying For?!" at http://community.fireengineering.com/profiles/blog/show?xg_source=activity&id=1219672%3ABlogPost%3A641725).  Many who contacted me were supportive and encouraging, with some describing…

What is culture? Basically, the customary beliefs or social norms of a group. This is why some fire department's culture can be the same as others or different. You can walk through doors, and just there's something different. A lot of times, it comes down to the culture. It's what they consider is routine. This is normal. This is how we always act.

 I've got a couple of different stories that I've read about, and they've really just dawned on me for this. They're about rescue or…

The Sunday Preach:

...Clear, Concise and Consistent

We give much of our training on 'tactical' issues. Be it hose stretches, laddering, forcible entry, search... but when was the last class or training that you received on radio usage. Whether you are talking on the apparatus radio's to give on scene reports or on a portable radio giving a status report after taking a lap, the message has to come through clear, concise and be consistent with policy, procedure…

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!



STAY FIRED UP, and stay safe out there!

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The 3 hours is something I live by and try an do every day. I talk about the 3 hours in every class I teach, every person I mentor, and every periscope I do. I have even mentioned it on several podcasts such as the Firefighter Training Podcast with Chief Peter Lamb specifically in this episode…