April 2015 Blog Posts (33)

Up until 1995, the term accountability system seemed like it would be a passing fad, much like spandex, big hair, and beta tapes. However, on February 14^th, 1995, a tragic event killing 3 local firefighters seemed to change the way we thought about accountability. From there, the local fire services and the nation’s fire service worked to change the way we had been thinking. To this day, a lot of departments keep accountability to the forefront. And now there are quite a few…

When specking a new rig, most departments have a regular list of equipment that goes on each apparatus.  The engine is no different.  The first compartment, affectionately called the “Engineer Compartment”, is usually outfitted with a hydrant wrench, , reducers, spare nozzles, male to male, female-to-female adaptors a gate valves and a few other items.  The piece missing is the 1.5” female to 2.5” male adaptor.  I’ve worked for several departments and never had one on any rig.  After playing…

Don’t Open That Nozzle Kid U’L Kill Everyone Inside

From the time I was cutting my teeth in recruit training, circa 1985, I was told NEVER to flow water from the outside of a structure because, “You…

You are sound asleep when dispatch notifies you of an MVC with multiple trapped. From the radio traffic, you can tell that it is going to be a good one. The on scene report relays that you have two vehicles involved in a head on collision with both drivers heavily trapped, both vehicles…

Post-9/11 and the global financial crisis, the field of risk management in terms of the financial sector has boomed and transformed from an unknown niche to an in-demand specialty. Saving people’s money, however, only remains possible when there’s people to have said money; saving people is just as needed. With a Master of Science in Public Safety Administration (MSPSA), you can take…

Fire has long fascinated humanity. One of the first stories we’re told in grade school is how man’s discovery of fire allowed our species to survive and become the exceptionally advanced group we are today. But this love affair with fire has flickered out some in the…

The web was set ablaze when two George Mason University engineering students discovered that sound could be used to extinguish fires. The myriad ways to stifle one of nature’s most compelling forces has fascinated humans as much as causing them has, and new developments shine light on the complex and necessary field dedicated to creating these solutions. Viet Tran and Seth…

The fire services attorneys (Varone, Murphy, Pinsky and Comstock) had the pleasure of presenting legal lectures at FDIC and were live on Blog Talk Radio with our usual legal banter discussing those important issues facing the fire service and some discussion related to avoiding legal jeopardy. In the 25 minutes of the presentation, the attorneys discussed the use of Drones and the…

The fire service is no stranger to outside of the box thinking. Here is a simple why you can displace a pedal with seat belt webbing and spreaders. Every vehicle has some webbing it, it's called seat belts. Cut out a seat belt and then snake it around the pedal. Tie the seat belt into a loop that extends around 6 inches outside of the rocker panel. Use the spreaders and the seat belt loop to displace the pedal and pull it outwards.

Make sure the loop extends out past…

When firefighters hear the term “air management” they often think of the ways they were taught to maximize their working time while on air in an IDLH environment. They picture consumption courses, spaghetti drills, and all the fun things from recruit school and other trainings that aided them in prolonging their operational time while wearing their SCBA. They think about skip breathing and various techniques taught by others to help get the last breath possible out of that bottle. Those are…

When I purchased my tickets to FDIC last fall I had no idea what to expect. I knew I was going to Indianapolis and taking some classes. I knew that I would be doing my radio show on Monday afternoon (which you were probably listening to or are going to download). Other than that I really didn’t know what else was going to be headed my way. Tammie and I landed on Thursday night and spent the next three days seeing the sites and enjoying some time away. On Sunday afternoon, I walked into the…

How many of us practice “catching” a hydrant or dropping supply line at the end of a driveway before we drive up to the actual scene and start getting ready to fight fire? More often than not, the first due engine company pulls up, drops the attack lines and begins the process of setting up for the attack before water supply is really…

                                                                                                      Courtesy: glengoschfitness.com

A short while back, I posted a blog called The Undeniable Truth that…

        Growing up, probably like most of you, I used to play a lot of sports, although by the time I got to high school I realized that I wasn’t very good at most of them. Nonetheless, throughout high school I was on the wrestling team - all 112 pounds of me. Doing some quick math I figured that I spent about 175 hours on the mat during the high school season. In the summer I dabbled in…

Well, another election is over.

Here in Illinois, fire district board of trustees members for those fire districts that elect their boards are elected on the odd numbered years known as Consolidated Elections.

Yesterday, April 7, 2015, I was again re-elected to a 6-year term as our fire district’s board member.

Campaigning for office is a very…

It's that time of year again. Time to greet old friends, meet new ones, learn from the best instructors on the planet, and see what new innovations the fire industry has to offer. Yep, it's FDIC time!



I look forward to this week all year and can't wait to get the show rolling.



However, FDIC has a nightlife too - so, have fun, be safe, be professional,…

As most of you know by now, our friend and major contributor to the American Fire Service has left us. Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn Gaines (retired Chief from Fairfax County,VA) passed away on Sunday, April 12, 2015.

 I met Glenn when he was still active in Fairfax. He and Burt Phelps were my instructors when I took my first 6 day class at the National Fire Academy 25 years…

First and foremost this if my first blog post for fireengineering.com . I am excited to share my insights and thoughts. It is my full intention to be here at…

              I was watching an Agricultural show the other morning and they were talking about the severe drought that California farmers are facing.  A farmer who was interviewed stated that California is saying they have to limit their water usage but still expect the same output of crop and payment of bills that come along with it.  After the interview, the host of the show said something that I found very interesting and fitting into our world.  He said: If the California…