October 2015 Blog Posts (47)

Fitness testing – a necessary Good?

Back in 2009, I was 45, had served 22 years as an Operational Firefighter, and was (JUST) passing the one mandatory fitness test a year to stay employed.

This was a bleep test, and I needed to hit 8.0 to pass it, but could look…

When I finished Firefighter I, I thought I knew it all.  After all, I had been around firehouses since I was a kid.  I was a fire explorer and I lived and breathed the fire service.

I continued on with classes.  At that time it was more to pad my resume than “really” learn stuff.  Not to say I didn’t learn new things, but I thought I knew everything I needed to know.

Sadly in retrospect,…

On the heels of the somber occasion today at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial, where 87 firefighters and fire officers names were added to the monument in Emmitsburg Maryland, we pause and reflect, in their honor and sacrifice. 



While we must never forget their sacrifices, we must also make a commitment to better ourselves in so much that their sacrifice is not in vain. Whether that may be a personal commitment to fitness, a…

How can one become a good firefighter? What is a good firefighter? If someone wants to be a good firefighter do they have to go take a bunch of rescue technician classes, become a smoke diver, or a hazmat specialist? I think if one wants to become a good well rounded firefighter; then they need to master the basics.

In my opinion you need two things to be really good on the fire ground and they are common sense and knowing the basics of whatever it is you do. If it’s at the…

Gaining the Readership Edge is not about spending time with your nose in the latest trade journal. Sure they all offer great information, with many great writers who have invested lots of time and effort putting pen to paper to educate others. No what we are talking about in Gaining the Readership Edge is the ability to take that book knowledge and applying it to the real-world.

We all know that in competitive sports, second place is the first loser.  Athletes (amateur or…

     Have you ever been questioned by an elected official, fire board member, or the general public about what you do and how you do it? Does this sound familiar in any way…”Why do you need four firefighters on every fire truck?...Where does all that money in your budget go? Why do you need this expensive equipment, apparatus, facility, station, etc? Or, how about this one, “I called 911 for an ambulance and a fire truck with a bunch of firefighters showed up…

By: Joe Pronesti

While watching a recent replay of a FDIC webcast Lt. Ray McCormack of the FDNY was emphasizing the need to “dig deep” into NISOH reports and I paraphrase here, utilize them in your department’s structure and response. I immediately recalled a fire my department experienced recently that should be considered as a close call and how if my department as a whole would have heeded McCormack’s advice how we may not of gotten as close as we did to a potentially serious…