April 2014 Blog Posts (48)

In just a few days I like many of my fire service brothers will be heading to the greatest fire service conference on the planet FDIC!

While there we will take classes, walk around the exhibit floors, network, and enjoy the brotherhood that is hanging out with 40,000 like minded people.

The one other thing people will be doing is searching. Searching for that tid bit, that trick, that “secret of the fire service” .

Well I have figured it out! No it’s not RECEO,…

Next week, I, along with over 30,000 firefighters will make the annual journey to Indianapolis to “re-charge our batteries”.  We do this by surrounding ourselves with like-minded, passionate people and by learning from some of the greatest minds in the fire service.  An entire year of policy, politics and being around certain PEOPLE can be emotionally draining.  What if all of those things were actually in place in order to keep us sharp?  A story I recently heard makes a great case for…

With the excitement of heading to Indianapolis and participating in the best fire training event on the planet, I thought I'd post a little pre-FDIC (potty) humor.



NEVER stop training!

See you in Indy!

Click link below to see more of Paul's work or to buy prints:…

Lately I have started to notice an increase of the word “employee” when describing a firefighter. I have heard it in casual conversations about evaluations, physical assessments, management etc. Why do we use this term? I know we are all employees of an organization in the eyes of council members and politicians, but shouldn’t we be more than just employees? If we refer to Merriam-Webster we see that an employee is defined as: “a person who works for another person or for a company for wages…

Brothers and Sisters – I am giving up my words with this post to those who know how to write them – and write them well. Sarah Gura, Chief Kenny, and Lt. Olson have agreed to co-conspire with this post regarding our mentality of invincibility. Please read…

THE AMAZING FIREMAN

Dear Firefighters,

This is a longer…

It would appear that I got a few of you in trouble last year with this cartoon;)



FDIC is the greatest fire training event on the planet, and I look forward to this week every year! Great friends, great classes, and great brotherhood!



Oh, and pipers... lots of…

As I head up to Indy today I’m reminded of 100,000’s of firefighters who become “unmotivated” by departmental climates of politics, charlatans, bureaucracies and just down right lameness. It seems the more you push for professionalism, competence and brotherhood the more disappointed you are the fakers who…

Despite the Boston tragedy, the fireground was once again the exception to where the most victims died.

The following information is a breakdown of the details of…