All Blog Posts (3,147)

I stepped away from blogging back in April. The reason can be summed up in three words: my sister Dixie.

Dixie passed away on June 6^th of this year; less than two days after turning 62 years old. She had finally succumbed to a rare, dark and evil disease called Hashimoto’s Syndrome. From what I understand, it is connected to a chemical imbalance between the thyroid and the brain. What I witnessed was an insidious parasite that consumed an otherwise normal, adult female, who…

Here's my August Fire Engineering magazine editorial illustration. Yep, I'm sure many of you can relate!!

To buy a print of this illustration, visit:

http://artstudioseven.com/page-fire-ems-prints.htm

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Who needs rock stars when you have pipers? For over 150 years, pipers and drummers have been serving the fire service during parades, special events, conventions, retirements, ceremonies, and of course, funerals for our fallen. I still get chills when I hear bagpipes – anywhere, anytime, it never fails. There’s a swell of pride knowing that these are OUR rock…

Cabbies across the pond would make great Chauffeurs in the American Fire Service

Like the rest of the Country, I was watching the Summer Olympics and listened to an interview with a local resident of London explaining the ‘insiders’ way to navigate the city. She offered the normal tips of how to get around and what historic landmarks not to miss. None of that distracted me from typing away on my computer and completing other tasks in my office but one particular…

Many people roam the face of the planet just doing what they do to get by. Some wander aimlessly with no direction, no motivation or even ambition. Few get to realize their goals, their dreams - their passion.

Earlier I sat down to work on a program in development about fundamentals. The terminal objective is to answer, "What’s in it for me" in regards to the fire…

http://www.fireengineering.com/blogs/feblognetwork/billy-greenwood.html

While surfing the endless world wide web not long ago, I came across this video of a very challenging fire that some firefighters encountered.  The point of me posting this video is to make each of you think about your actions if you were first in.  How would you address the multiple challenges that show themselves in this video.  In both my career and volunteer departments we have the exact same structures and could have the exact same fire occur in our area.  This post is meant to cause…

Hollywood movie plots can be so far removed from reality that the viewer has to wonder which planet the protagonist and antagonist are actually playing out their epic conflicts. Mega-bombs, apocalyptic super viruses, shoot-outs were no one runs out of ammunition, or an insane high speed chase through congested city streets. All so extravagant in their role playing…

I've had a lot of requests for workout options that can be performed at the station with minimal equipment.  Here is an option I created for a firefighter/medic that has no equipment and only some stairs and a parking lot. This can be used as a cardio interval training workout day (for those following the 28-day Quickstart Program) and/or as a good workout to get the blood flowing.   Give it…

This article is inspired by a quick post I threw up on my Facebook page asking, "Is your Department Engine or Truck/Ladder Oriented?" Facebook- Backwards and Stupid. In that post I discussed many suburban departments tending to lean toward Engine work and leaving Truck work as an after thought. That's sort of where I am going with this post. In todays suburban fire departments and much of what is written about changing…

From time to time I get asked if I ever worry about inuring my hand or eyes fighting fires. My answer is always a swift and confident "no"! My explanation sometimes leaves people puzzled, but I try and explain that if I think about injury, injury will most certainly happen. It's much like an athlete who throws their body into stressful situations with little regard…

  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…

For some truly unfortunate reason there seems to have been a number of chaotic events in my state over the last few months. Wildfires, two Police LODDs and most recently the devastating mass murder and assault in an Aurora movie theater that left over 70 injured and 12 dead at the time of writing this.

Regarding the Aurora shooting specifically my neighbor asked me yesterday, “How can you even prepare for something like that?” I provided a stock answer of MCI drills, multi-agency…

Check out this month's Tap the Box Radio Show - Leadership Edge to Get Promoted.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fireengineeringtalkradio/2012/07/18/episode-318-tap-the-box

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I always loved sports. I played just about every sport I could and eventually settled in with basketball and baseball. The coaches I had were always preaching the fundamentals and basics explaining that as players, we had to master the basics to the point that things like dribbling and passing were second nature. When those basics were mastered we were able to ascend our skill sets to seeing an open player before he is open and making moves on the fly, avoiding the defender with moves…

While stumbling around the web the other day, I found this Fire Engineering cover from the June,1960 issue. The longer I studied this photo, the greater the sense of pride I felt for being a contributor to Fire Engineering. I began thinking about all the great men whose footsteps I now follow and the rich history and heritage of the fire service. This dramatic photo speaks volumes to me and humbles me as I begin to draw my next editorial illustration.



It…

Life safety is the most important task on the fireground. That term “Life Safety” is in the fire service’s mission statement and it is found in the mission statements of most career and volunteer departments as well. Most of us have probably heard that statement; “ Look out for #1!” and know that the # 1 we’re talking about is us the firefighter. We then look out for our partner or crew and then take care of the victims in the…

Our profession is comprised of three distinct elements, the department, the crew and the indiviual. All three must synchronize to get the best results. When walking into the firehouse or responding from home, if you are not bringing your personal best the hierarchy will fail to a have foundation for success. We all must play our own game.

During grammar school, I…

Last shift, during my free time I decided to start a new book I had heard was excellent titled "Fearless" and is written by Eric Blehm.  This book chronicles the life of SEAL team six operator Adam Brown.  This book is good on many different levels, but it tells the story of a passionate man with a huge heart and the love for a career.

To summarize the book very briefly, Adam started out as the kid in school who was driven, passionate about success and a knack for…