December 2010 Blog Posts (14)

Yes, these are all real life head-lines inspired from this past year! As if public relations wasn't hard enough, we invite this mayhem into our lives and firehouses with our own actions. Trust me, after years in the news industry I can tell you that a head-line speaks volumes towards public perception (after all, who reads or listens to the story, right?).…

According to the Buffalo News:

Three Buffalo firefighters fell through the floor of a burning vacant house in the city's East Delavan-Fillmore section Wednesday night, and

two of them were injured and taken to the hospital, fire officials

reported.

The injuries in the blaze at 145 Mohican Ave. were described by fire officials at the scene as "non-life-threatening." The

nature of the fire is being described as…

Apparently, it has become our mission as grandparents to provide our grandson with the Christmas season’s hottest toy.

Many of you will remember the great Zhu-Zhu shortage of…

Dedicated with utmost respect to Chicago FD, Firefighters Edward Stringer and Corey Ankum, their families and friends.

It’s Christmas Day and there is an empty chair.

It might be a favorite chair in the family room. It might be the chair at one end of…

Did you feel that this morning?

Don’t by coy.

The tones dropped and you didn’t make the call. Before the first truck could announce “in service”, you were already fabricating your excuse.

But, we know what’s going on, don’t we?

That adrenaline rush that once propelled us to “firefighter of the year” is only a gooey mess of poor descriptions of what is now poor performance.

There was a time not so long ago that you felt like your little village needed…

Hello to all, we just got a Pierce Lyfe Pulley sytem and been looking some ideas on how others are using it. The Pierce book does use it at 500# anchor back to the turn table and 250# anchor away from the truck. My question is why does that have an affect on anything? In the past on other areials we would use the top fly section (without the escape tip) to rig mostly a change of direction. Does the same principle apply to them as well? I do know using the top fly instead of the escape…

Leaders: Why should we expect to retain the quality people we have if we don't give them a reason to stay? Your people are your most valued asset - train them, motivate them, and give them the gift of fulfillment that only the fire service can give! If not, then don't be surprised when…

Is a broken promise nothing more than a lie?

I believe that it is, even when you factor in “intent”.

When you make a promise, it is not your intent to break it, but it has the same end result as a lie when you fail to deliver on a promise.

To the person to whom the promise was made, it feels like a lie. It’s the same feeling of betrayal, isn’t it?

What about the motivation for the promise?

Was there ever the intent of…

Some training partners and I recently had the opportunity and honor to travel to rural Missouri to help with some safety and survival training. It was a one day event on a Saturday and the department and area that we were in is staffed solely with volunteers. We realized very quickly that these men and women were eager and a little anxious at the same time about this series of drills.

My background in the fire service started in a volunteer department and I am still very involved with…

Note: Chief Mark Wessel of Keokuk, IA Fire Department is to the left. I am to the right.

December, 1999 delivered a major blow to our brotherhood of firefighters.…