January 2014 Blog Posts (60)

It is in great sadness, that we as a Brotherhood, post the 1st Line Of Duty Death for 2014 from the United States Fire Administration. Fellow Brother Firefighter Cosmo Paris has made the ultimate sacrifice in love for their fellow man. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and our Brothers & Sisters with the Cliffside Park Fire Department.

Cosmo…

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…

Many years ago, a young firefighter was chastised by his officer-me-for attacking an interior fire from an exterior position, based on the belief that the hose stream would push the fire throughout the structure and create an environment that was untenable for any potential victims. Personal experience and observation had led to this conclusion that a handline directed on a fire could, in fact, help to advance that fire to yet uninvolved portions of the building.

Today, some…

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…

The Fire occurs at 0630 Hours on a Sunday morning.  The building is wood platform construction with a truss roof assembly.  The exterior load bearing walls are wood frame. The floors are constructed of a joist system with 2x10 joists supporting the floors.  The exterior has a brick veneer. All interior wall assemblies are drywall (sheetrock) on wood studs. There is no built-in fire protection system. Individual units have battery operated smoke detectors.  

This is a one section…

By Mark vonAppen

This will be the year that the rogues come home.

Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth. Our professional…

Here is something that a Senior Firefighter sent to a group of up and coming new hires.  Enjoy.

Being the new guy has its place and if you are truly green and have never touched a piece of hose before, it's time to keep your head down, eyes up and ears perked for any and every bit of information that comes your way.  Be a sponge.  There will be plenty of information and it could be quite a rollercoaster ride for a while.  That being said you also need to take note of what…

We all know that everyone deals with grief differently.  In the fire service, we all deal with more than our share of tragic events.  Many cope by detaching from the ‘reality’ of the event.  We treat the event as a daily occurrence on the job, equating it to someone with an ‘office job’ completing a report.  We pride ourselves in our ability to do it all,…

You have to make a few resolutions when the new year comes around. You can't go wrong with directing efforts towards mastering the basics of stretching hose…