Featured Blog Posts – June 2014 Archive (5)

As much as we’d like to think that the fire service is heralded as being public servants, all too often the fire service receives a black eye in the news. Often the media is quick to report the mistakes made by some. If its not the local media outlet, social media will be sure to catch up and highlight some negative thing that occurred or appeared to have occurred! Rarely do we see positive stories such as the one that prompted this blog.

What have you done this week that…

I recently had the distinct honor to present at the Alberta Fire Chiefs Conference in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. My experiences with our Canadian Brothers and Sisters the last two years has been simply awesome! The hospitality is second to none and everyone is always very friendly and they certainly don't skimp on the food!

But, that's not really what impressed me this year. I was asked to present two tracks for their conference; a three hour officer development class and a…

Proving once again that vacant and abandoned are just words

Chicago, 8 June 2014

One person is dead and another in critical condition after being rescued from a fire in the 900 block of North Lawndale. Firefighters found a burned man during the primary search and were told…

As I prepare for another weekend of travel teaching Tactical Extrication, I am already thinking of how much I will miss my wife and two young children. While traveling, this feeling arrives like clockwork. Then I had an epiphany. My thoughts instantly went to our troops and their families. I am leaving for a couple days to teach something that I am very passionate about, as…

        For the past handful of years, through ongoing fire dynamics research, we've been deconstructing the fireground. This Fireground Genome Project has undoubtedly led us to a much better understanding of fire dynamics and the fireground. An untoward effect of this research is that the fire service is seemingly devolving into a bipartisan system. We can all sense the division. A schism has formed and too many firefighters are spewing their polarizing rhetoric…