December 2013 Blog Posts (26)

Never, ever lose your rookie enthusiasm and passion for the greatest calling in the world. Approach each day like a wide-eyed child who wants to soak in every experience and can never learn or do too much. Personally, I never want to look back on my career and say “I wish I would have done more”.



Do, love, share, enjoy, and experience - it all goes by so…

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So much attention is given to the "vacant structure" being the killer of firefighters when  decisions are the culprit in most cases. Some LODD's are just an unfortunate association with the risk of the profession. We cannot eliminate ALL risk without eliminating the job itself. Many of these fatal decisions were made long before the fire that led to the tragedy…

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This is just a short post on staying sharp and keeping your edge. We all hear, and probably say, the word routine eventhough we know and understand that very little of what we do IS routine.



It can appear to be routine, but once we dig into the skill, task, or incident, that word no longer applies.



So, in the following picture, we could argue that this fire and building would be "routine." We would pull hose and deploy tactics that we "routinely" drill and train… Continue

Ever onward.  

Here is the next simulation.  This is of a victorian house.  It is approximately 4000 sq. ft. (not including the third floor).   

There are six bedrooms. The fire occurs at 0630 hours on a saturday morning.  What you see in the video is what you get.  

You are on your department riding your apparatus and are assigned Search by Command.  An engine company has arrived before you and is stretching a line to the front door.

1) What type of…

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Rope Rescue in Gates

By Lou Comenale

Illustrations and Equipment  Photos by Lou Comenale

On Scene Photos by John Spaulding

There has always been some questioning of the purpose of spending thousands of dollars in rope rescue equipment.  The Gates Fire District really doesn’t have the topography that would warrant a rope rescue incident, we do have some vertical embankments along the Erie Canal that makes…

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A place at the table

Some years ago, I worked on a family farm. The people I worked for treated me like a part of their family, even though I was only distantly related by marriage. Every morning before sunrise everyone would meet at the farm house and enjoy a large breakfast. The same applied during hunting season.

When my personal life came on a very rough time, I remember not wanting the family to feel uncomfortable or to put them in a bad predicament with my presence in…

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