All Blog Posts (3,145)

When the zero visibility crap hits the hot and smokey fan, it's your training that makes all the difference between life and death, success and failure. Technology is great, but there is NO substitute for knowing the basics in any fire service discipline, strategy, or skill. Train, train, train, and then train some more!!!…

Got Stickers?

The following is a post with several insights and references on fire behavior, especially today’s fire behavior.  It’s not about guts or glory, but a priceless discussion on what the fire is doing in the buildings we are entering.

David Walsh (Program Chair for the Dutchess Community College Fire Science program) summarizes a short article below that appeared in the 2011 2nd issue of …

This past weekend we at Engine House Training, LLC had the distinct honor to interview and just talk with some of the leaders of the fire service at the 31st annual Missouri Winter Fire School. We were able to sit down with Billy Goldfeder, Dave Dodson, Forrest Reeder, Doug Cline and John Norman. To say the least, it was a great time. Click on the photo below to hear all of the podcasts. We also sat down with some of the great firefighters that attended. Challenge coins were flashed with two…

Hey guys, check out this new website I launched:

www.firefightingdynamics.com

FirefightingDynamics.com is aimed at providing members of the fire service with state of the art, unique, and best of all, free training material. Through the use of modern technology and research, the crew at FirefightingDynamics.com is excited to provide life saving information to firefighters across the United States and the…

This post is from Lt Jason Deptula (Vermilion Twp. FD).

I’m sure we all practice RIT procedures in some fashion, here’s a twist to keep your crews focused on their situational awareness.  Send your attack team through an…

I'm not here yet, but will be someday:) Once a firefighter, always a firefighter!!!



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Check out this video.  Heavy fire from the top floor.  Pre-arrival and post arrival footage.  What would you do?  What do you of their tactics?  Give us the report and your RECEO VS considerations.  Surf's up!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO!

Thanks and Be Safe!

You can go to the many fire service-related outlets or social media sites every day and read comments left by firefighters as to why they love being firefighters.

The first book that I read on this subject was Dennis Smith’s “Firefighters”. It was a series of interviews that described in the firefighters’ own words on why they loved what they did. It was released in 1988 in hardcover.

More recently (2008), Rick Lasky released his “Pride and Ownership: A Firefighter’s Love for…

Here is a quick look at a building that offers more than one considering in regards to construction characteristics. The building in the photos is currently a resale shop. This building has been a tack shop, lawn equipment, sold boats and trailers. If you look hard at the front, it has been added onto.

The right side of the building was the original and the left was…

What would do you do for this heavily involved attached garage fire?  Does the split-level layout change your strategies/tactics?  Give us the report and your RECEO VS considerations.  Have fun!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO!

There is a saying that states, " With knowledge, comes power." History is an important part of that knowledge. Recently, I attended a class on the history of the fire service. And with the exception of the instructors assembled, everyone in that class had 5 or less years of experience. I represented the dinosaurs with 30+ years. A portion of that class involved us watching a…

I had some running around to do before the FOOLS meeting last week.  I suppose because I was running from place to place, I didn’t think about what I was doing, just getting things done.  I didn't really think about it until yesterday as I was writing a condolence card to the family of Captain Walter C. Sumner of the Cranesville Volunteer Fire Department in Pennsylvania. Captain…

We have all heard and been taught to do a 360 of the structure during a working fire.

There is some debate, but this is becoming common practice and there are several things to look for.

The picture is a bulk head for a basement. We have always been taught and trained to look for and create a secondary means of egress for upper floors. Well, it’s no different for basements.

When you make entry, especially if the fire has not been isolated, make sure that either you open…

Every now and then, I have to remind myself that I have been blogging for a long time.

My first article went up at Firehouse.com during the early days of the MembersZone feature. Back then, you could sign up for free, but if you paid, you could get content that wasn’t available with the free membership. That first article was posted in the “Volunteer’s Corner”.

From there, I went to the IACOJ website, where I posted several blogs in the “ChiefReason” section.

The Board…

This is a firefighter or victim rescue company drill that intimidates some, but once you break it down and train, it can be done quickly with just a few firefighters.  The scenario simulates a heavy victim inside the window where rescuers cannot lift the victim out the window.  The high-anchor point with a modified 2:1 provides extra lifting power.

The set-up can be done quickly with one firefighter if needed.  You will need an extension ladder, a life safety rope (100′ will do), and…

Hang in there, my Brothers and Sisters in the north - Spring is just around the corner!!!

www.artstudioseven.com

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Two phrases heard frequently in the Fire Service, "We will never" and "We have always", are ignorant statements and are just not true. In a profession that constantly encounters new situations, why do we speak in absolutes?

In the previous post, I discussed Training Warning Flags. The first posed question was, Does your training staff (Training Officers, Instructors, and Senior Firefighters) feel responsible for the performance of their students?

This is such an…

We have had two pumps through our shop, in 2011, that the pump housings were totally eaten away causing a failure of the pump. It first appeared to be bad water systems or operator error, however when the second showed up, we begin noticing the the intake strainers were being replaced more often that usual. Both apparatus have polytanks.

A third apparatus from 2010 that had a pump failure, had the same damage as the two new pumps. The 2010 repair, originally had a steel tank, but it…