All Blog Posts (3,147)

Do a quick internet search on vehicles vs. guardrails and your photo results will be…

The Sunday Preach



A December to Remember.



For several reasons, 'tragedy and loss' during the month of December always stings just a little deeper. In the line of work we are in, we know that all too well... we see 'tragedy' on a daily basis.  



Our beloved fire service is not immune either, with several line-of-duty deaths occurring during December. Most recently, a residential building fire that…

The fire occurs in a small, 540 sq. ft. Frame bungalow.  The alarm is sounded at 0630 hours on a Sunday morning.  As in the photo, there are vehicles parked on the “D” side of the structure. 

“Attack” has been assigned to the first due engine.  Your crew is assigned “Search”. 

Develop a search plan including entry point, where you will start and end up the search.  Also include search type and any other considerations.

View video at:   …

When the Sleigh Is Out the Rig Fills In

Have you ever noticed that if Santa is in a parade, being delivered to a public function or is just needing a ride around town, that it’s usually a fire engine filling in for the sleigh? Now I don’t get much snow where I live and sleighs are rarely seen. In fact the closest thing we have to a sleigh or even a sled is an…

C O U R A G E to C L O S E the G A P

As a follow up to the “Revenge of the Nerds” blog from November, I wanted to clarify my position because there have been some out there in the Social Media world that have been critical of the blog and many others that took offense to it. It was not written to offend anyone or to drive a wedge between the two sides. In the past there have been many one-sided comments made on current fire service culture. It’s…

Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property in a wintery municipality (hereinafter "the Fire House") a general lack of stirring by all firefighters and creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g. stocking, socks, bunker boots, etc., had been affixed…

Every organization has a culture. It is either created by design or default. Creating a culture of customer service does not happen by accident. Buying into the concept of layered leadership (the need for leaders throughout your entire organization) is especially important when it comes to customer service.

Helping others seems to be part of the DNA of most firefighters. Creating culture; however, goes beyond just being a good person. There has to be a clear and focused objective or…

Recently, I have been reading articles on this subject with much uneasiness.

In fact; I hesitate to call suicide a “subject”, because for many; suicide is real and has impacted them. It has reached out and grabbed them in some way. It is someone very close to them, someone they know or someone famous, whose career they have followed.

And, are loved ones LEFT to make “sense…

PUT A TAG ON IT

The Fire Service as a whole and we who are fortunate to be a part of it need triage. In our day to day we seem sometimes unwilling to exercise the same honest, thorough, open and sometimes painful assessment that we use in a mass casualty incident.

Whether in prevention, service delivery, leadership, training, team dynamics, morale, community assessment of…

It used to be that ventilating residential fires was pretty straightforward.  Even today, the process hasn’t changed, but the difficulties encountered while completing the task have multiplied.  Difficult roofs aren’t new; commercial flat roofs have long been a tough cookie to crack, with an infinite number of roof material combinations and challenges that pop up right in the middle of the cut.  With today’s engineering capabilities and ever-changing building construction technology,…

The fire service is rich in tradition, stories, pomp, and legacies - and it is legacy that brings me full circle to this cartoon. Some families can boast generations of service to a community, or having married into another fire service family to carry on a lineage that in some cases spans a century. Me? I’m the first of my family to hear and follow this noble calling, and…

Today I read the US Fire Administration’s report on the Worcester Fire from December 3^rd, 1999.  It’s a significant fire in terms of life lost and lessons learned.  I’ve read the report before and many others like it, but today something struck me.  It was the description at the front of the report on the condition of the Fire Department at the time of the incident.  I’ve never given too much thought to it before. In some LODD reports you can see obvious problems (now that we know…

Is your fire department or municipality’s server and computer system connected to the Internet?  If so, your computer system is probably being attacked by a hacker as you read this article.

Those hackers are seeking information on your department’s EMS responses, looking at patient records, payroll records, emails, and other proprietary and protected information, if released, may make your organization vulnerable to litigation from your patients or your employees. As…

We have a standard we must adhere to in this business…and that is simply to prepare those who wear the uniform and donn the PPE every single time the bell rings. Those who call 911 are looking to us…

Take a Moment

As I write and I travel to talk and teach across this great country, I am humbled and honored by the feedback and comments that I receive. The comments that always hit home for me are from people who comment that they felt as if we were sitting around the firehouse coffee table just having a chat.…

My buddy Eddie Buchanan (VA) continues to write about transitional attack and the good work the “da guys” (Steve K and Danny M) from UL and NIST have done. He has also discussed S.L.I.C.E.R.S. at length. While Eddie is calling for calm, I’d like step in, support and agree with him. This new found information (which some guys wrote about a long time ago too) is in fact another…

Enjoy family and friends, and be thankful for all who are in your life. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving, everybody!

Tankers are big, they are bulky, top heavy, and were never intended to be driven at a high rate of speed. However, when you mix adrenaline, inexperience, and complacency, these vital resources can become killers. 



I've attached a link to a Fire Engineering article from 1998 by Dale Perry that is a great learning and training resource. …

You have heard them all. Maybe you have even said some of these things. I am talking about fire service staples like the following:

• “Don’t worry, this is just a routine fire.”
• “All you have to do is put the wet stuff on the red stuff.”
• “Stay in until you can’t stay in anymore.”
• “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”…