“The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.” Joseph Stalin

After recently reading Dan Ariely’s book, Predictably Irrational, and his use of this quote, I pondered if this quote from the feared Communist leader Joseph Stalin could help reduce our line of duty deaths and the answer is YES! While Stalin’s quote was most likely intended for more sinister purposes it does…

Training Tip:  The Sunday Paper

Lt. Brad French

            Sundays in the firehouse at my department are the best days of the week:  Sunday brunch, football, and some down time from the hustle and bustle of all the other “business” days.  However, remember that to truly be effective as a company, every day (even Sunday) should be a training day.  At least for a…

Penciling is for Drawing a Nozzle Fully Open

When recruit firefighters are told one thing and then shown something different they end up applying what they were…

Transmission Tuesday:



Ever see this face in the crowd when discussing MAYDAY events and when to call one?



~What's your departments verbiage of when to call a MAYDAY?

~What do you use as your "MAYDAY" parameters?



ARE THEY THE SAME, SIMILAR or WAY DIFFERENT?



My department uses "IOUMMPL" or remembered as "I Owe You My Miserably Pathetic Life.



I - Imminent…

Leading Without Rank

Joseph L. Kitchen, Fire Chief – Bath Township (Lima, Ohio)

Shiny collar brass, gleaming white helmet, command vehicle, right front passenger seat, forty hour week. Do any of these make…

How do you run your 2 1/2" lines?

What types of nozzles?

Pre-connect or static?

Length?

What is your preference and why?

This is a valuable weapon when deployed correctly. However, some are of the opinion that it's just to big and heavy to use for an initial attack or with just one person. What are your experiences with handling the big line?…

We all know that getting water on the fire as quickly as possible is the best way to avoid bad situations. We also know that some of the best in the business have been confronted with situations beyond their control even after doing all the right things and were forced to make very tough decisions for survival.

Our, (Engine House Training, LLC), class is not an excuse for a lack of training in fundamental…

The Sunday Preach:



'Everyday is your Superbowl'



"We have no such luxury of scheduling either our fires or where in the home these fires will occur. We may go to two in one day, one this week, or one in a year. Whenever a fire happens, we must be ready. For firefighters, every day is potentially game day, and we must be ready to play." (…