All Blog Posts (3,146)

What do you do in your free time? Pick up a fire service magazine, grab an instructional book, or pick up a seldom used tool and learn, and teach those who may not know.



Our time is always in demand - use it wisely.

Take care and ALWAYS make a…

I remember being a young, volunteer firefighter and learning as much as I could from whoever would share.  Being in a small, mostly rural department, and with no social media--only the monthly trade journals---I depended on the more senior guys around me to pass on what they had learned and I always assumed that they knew what they were talking about.

It didn't matter what the topic was, I seemed to always come away with something I didn't know before hand.  The one thing that I can…

This is the letter that I submitted to several people regarding some recent topics and recommendations.  This is not an issue about cowboys and cowards.  It needs to be about educated, honest fire service leaders who understand that we do not have a duty to die, but we absolutely have a duty to act.  This is not a flash in the pan reaction, but a written response that was formulated over several months of painstaking self analysis to ensure that I was not reacting to something that simply…

I have a photo of a young boy around the age of six or seven years old dressed in a fire fighter outfit he got for Christmas, axe ready to slay the dragon.  As a young boy, he would walk past the fire station in his neighborhood and dream of being a firefighter; not a fire fighter in the bigger, more populous cities, but a firefighter at…

                     The fire service can move at lightning fast speed one minute and other times the clock can move at a turtle’s pace... …

The local fire engine that sparkles in parades and is a standout among the community.  People depend on it when they dial 911 to come and fix their emergency.

The community doesn't care what age the apparatus is as long it performs in their emergency. A good fire apparatus preventive maintenance program improves longevity of the apparatus and ensures operational readiness of the equipment before you hit the streets enroute to the incident scene.

Though if you…

A few times a week, I get phone calls or emails from people trying to find out why they have yet to be promoted or hired (if from the outside applying for a position). Either they failed the recent promotional exam or they did not score high enough to get promoted and they seem to want to blame everyone but themselves for their misfortune. Most of the time, when people ask my advice, they usually start off with something to the effect of "what more do I need to obtain in the way of…

Protect the steps.

One of the most important lessons I learned from my first Captain was to protect the steps.

Whether we went upstairs to get a burning mattress in a brick apartment, or to perform search and fire attack in a two story house, Captain Mac would never allow a staff meeting…

This is a wing-type nursing home.  The center or hub of the home contains the nurses stations, kitchen and dining hall, recreation area, offices and the like.  The wings contain the rooms for the residents.  Apparently,  there was a malfunction with the built-in automatic fire protection system.

This fire occurs in one of the wings.  This wing contains 12 rooms with two residents in each room. This particular wing contains all non-ambulatory residents.

The fire occurs at 0630…

Another year, same ol' champ!

Here's a great post by John Hofman regarding firefighters and heart disease.…

As progressive, engaged and enthusiastic firefighters, we all took classes, trained hard and created an image of the way we would be when we got promoted. We would do this and we would do that, damn the consequences and those we might piss off. But, when we got there, it may not have all gone as planned. Hmmm.....did you ever wonder why?

I have seen this happen over the years and it has happened to me during my first years as a young company officer and later on as a chief officer,…

For kids, a snowy forecast is cheerfully received as a sign that tomorrow will be an easy day.  No school, watch some movies, have mom bake some cookies.  In the fire service, some make similar assumptions - no drill today, chief won't be by on rounds, just show up to nap and run some calls.  WRONG.

Across the country, some firefighters deal with snow more than…

Technology is great and it allows us to operate with speeds only imagined just a decade ago. It also make us somewhat vulnerable as we rely on it and become a little complacent in the fundamental basics. For many, GPS and Google maps = not learning territory, TICs = not training on room orientation and wall…

Leadership is about your character. Character is one of the ingredients that make up your personality.  Your actions, your attitude, and your behavior define your character. These are simple but powerful words (actions, attitude, behavior).  If you need to simplify this even more, focus on your attitude.  You may not be able to help it if you’re having a bad day or if you don’t like doing a particular thing, but changing your attitude changes everything.

Personality vs.…

What is your definition and characteristics of a good firefighter?

Most of you know I am pretty windy and can talk on about any subject but this one has been on my mind lately. So I have pondered on it for several days , we all know firefighters are caring, compassionate, selflessness, and normally an all-around good person , but there is more to it than just those words .…

In March of 2011, I posted Maple City Sorrow on the anniversary of the death of…

As firefighters in suburbia, we now live in a world of EMS incidents, fire prevention, and busy work.  At times, it can be disheartening to those of us who live vicariously through the lives of the big city guys.  We dream of days spent in bunker gear, getting dirty, and going to fires.  ::  Station alert tones sounding  ::  “Respond for an illness…”  Instead, we run shifts on the medic unit.

I work for a department that protects a city and township of around 60,000 residents, 32…

With the recent snowstorms that have blanketed the country, the fire service needs to take a look up before we commit to an interior or exterior fire operation. The type of structural materials, design and condition all play a big part on whether that snow loaded roof is going to be a problem.  I…

FIRE DEPARTMENT AUTO SALES

My friend told me the story of his visit to a local auto dealership. He was considering purchasing a new pickup truck and a larger flatbed truck for his growing business.

He chose to visit this dealership based partly on the large amount of television and radio…