January 2014 Blog Posts (45)

When it comes to safety, sometimes we are no better than a group of chickens clucking, scratching, and scurrying about the barn yard! We say all the right things about safety, complain about the lack of safety, and will even criticize and chastise others when things go wrong - but are you courageous enough to stand up for what's right when the time comes? Have you ever…

This is the third post on making yourself an attractive prospect for promotion. These are just quick tips that I have had passed on to me and things that I look for as one who has been on intreview boards for promotional processes. This list in no way gaurantees a promotion nor does it contain everything you might want to consider. But, those that have used these and paid close attention have had good luck.

In the first post we provided a list of things for consideration when trying…

Fad diets and “miraculous” pills continue to be a huge market because people still want weight loss to be quick and a small amount of effort. Luckily, the market is getting smaller and people are becoming more aware on the issue thanks to the spread of information, but it has still not been a strong enough force to make the diet pill obsolete. Desiring to lose weight or make a lifestyle change is a fantastic thing, and can have a drastic impact on your life and your career as a firefighter.…

By Mark vonAppen

If you subscribe to this blog, it's no secret to you that I am a bit of a rogue at heart.  I am driven by passion,  I talk to myself,  I have a short fuze, I live for my family, and I live for the craft.  I…

"Often its not WHAT you say but HOW you say it"



Are we setting our new recruits for failure from the start? Think of the tone of voice used when instructing new firefighters? 



Obviously, the need for recruit discipline, attention, and movement with purpose on the training ground is strong and completely understood. However, a 'rush, rush, rush' & 'push, push, push'... during tactical parts may not be best…

It’s going to happen so you might as well get it out on the table now

I should admit I’ve never seen a complete episode of Rescue Me, ever. I’ve seen bits and pieces at the firehouse, but I have never intentionally sat down to see one episode from start to finish. I’m not much of a television person but I understand the gist of the show and its borderline…

I have read the many articles in various periodicals and online blogs about the new, super, almost 2 inch, 1 3/4 inch hose and wondered why not just use 2 inch hose?  The Wyocena Bureau of Fire, a small rural paid on call fire department has been doing that for over a decade now.  We don't use 1 3/4 inch hose or 2 1/2 inch hose at all.  We are a 1, 2, 3, 5 inch fire department.  The 1 inch is forestry hose, 2 inch is our handline, 3 inch is used for our apartment line, feeding FDCs,…

Every time the clock ticks past 12am on December 31^st, millions of people decide on resolutions to carry out for the New Year. More popular than ever are goals directed towards health and fitness. Due to this fact, gyms are usually packed for the first 2-3 weeks at the start of the year, and this may even be the busiest time for most commercial gyms. After the initial few weeks though, most people abandon their resolutions and fall back into similar patterns of…

There is a certain speech that I am getting tired of suffering through. I have heard it time and time again, and I'm sure there are scores of other "rogues" out there in the same position. The speech I am referring to is the one about not getting discouraged. Sound familiar?

I am going to throw up if I have to hear this again. Please understand that I realize the delivery of the speech is usually done with kind intentions. I'm not trying to kill the messenger. Here is what I…

Brrr....cold enough for you?

A great majority of the heating plants in multi-story residential homes are found in the basement. Think about this from 25 to Survive: Reducing Residential Injury and LODD...



~pg 113 "Picture yourself crawling into a giant barbecue, only we are the meat…

Do you know what you are talking about when you size up a fire? Too often we hear “fully involved” in the description from the first arriving company only to find out upon our arrival that it is a one or two room and contents fire. Some people don’t think this is a big deal but it is a huge deal. The words used to describe the situation set the…

Is your check engine light on?

      Many times before that annoying orange light on your dash goes off, your vehicle may give you warning signs that something is wrong. Sometimes it just pops up out of nowhere. You drive it to the nearest auto part store to check the code and await the damage, hoping that its something minor. With…

WHEN IT’S GO TIME

I was asked to write this account some time ago for the benefit of young people and I have honestly found it difficult to write. The difficulty in telling the story comes from my wish to teach and to make    IN THESE BOOTS about the learning and never about me. I’ll focus on that and share some of my random thoughts on go time.

Readiness in the Fire Service…

If you are in to fire porn, then there is an unlimited supply to be found on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook these days. I would surmise that if you have an ounce of fire service passion left in you, then you too are a fan of fire porn. Over the last several months, I have watched many videos of fires where the fire was located in the attic area and more obvious in the void spaces of the knee-walls.

As I always say, it is ridiculous that we reinvent how we deal with…

We have to distrust each other. It is our defense against betrayal. – Tennessee Williams

Much has been written about the motivations of firefighters.

Though there may be different reasons for why some choose to be full-time, while others are paid-on-call or volunteer; all firefighters CHOOSE to serve the public. The frequency of the…

SEARCHING FOR THE WIZARD

Sometimes in life we spend an inordinate amount of our time searching for the wizard; that something or someone in our life or our work that we hope will provide us with that something or that everything that we feel we need to go on, to be successful, to become a part of the team, to score, to win, to get home.

I think I can, I wish I had, I do…

We’re coming for you.

“The Mayday – Firefighter Down training for tomorrow is cancelled by the Captain, no reason given.”

Such was the similar message of April 14, 1912 when Captain Edward Smith of RMS Titanic cancelled the life boat drill. At 1140 PM that same day, Titanic struck an…

I was eating supper at work yesterday, reading a book at the same time, and as it does so often a random thought popped into my mind. In order to provide some context for what follows, this thought was inspired by several sources. First was the book "About Face" by Col. David Hackworth. If you haven't read it, do it soon. It is inspiring and thought provoking. My mindset is still reeling from that book. Number two was a blog from leatherhead109.com titled "Know What Your Doing: It's…