December 2013 Blog Posts (40)

Since its inception, the fire service has continually redefined its knowledge base to respond and mitigate any call for service. The fire service is very different from any other public or private agency. We do not have one specialty. We never say, “Sorry you have to call someone else,” when someone dials 911 and asks for help. We respond and solve the problem regardless of what type of event it may be.

Think back to when the haz-mat push hit the fire service. If you told a…

Fire Service Members New Year’s Resolutions

From Rookies to Chiefs I have listed some resolutions for us to work on this year:

• Train to be technically and tactically proficient on alarms, as an individual member and as a team. Train until it becomes habit.

   

• Train with the nearest firehouse or department in your area. Set up some guidelines and procedures for alarms. The importance of this is having a coordinated…

Some people dread the thought of speaking to large groups of small children.  Their wiggling bodies and wandering minds are hard to reign in.  Most successful teachers have come to grips with the fact that their job consists of ‘knowledge imparter’ and ‘entertainer’ in equal parts.  Given that fact, there are many factors to consider as you prepare your presentation.…

Next week many people across this country will make a new years resolution.

 Many gyms will have new customers, the candy isle at the local grocery store will be avoided and the “diet” sections will be buzzing. Many firehouse meals will not look the same as they do this week. 

 As a firefighter you may or may not…

In most departments this would be considered a suspicious package. The lack of trust between the headquarters staff and line members is one thing that will prevent progress and bog down the grandest of plans. The reception of these packages are not usually in the form of gifts however, any delivery from the chain of command will be accepted or rejected based on the previous…

It is in great sadness, that we as a Brotherhood, post the 100th Line Of Duty Death for 2013 from the United States Fire Administration. Fellow Brother Firefighter & Fire Police Lieutenant David Lidke has made the ultimate sacrifice in love for their fellow man. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and our Brothers & Sisters with the Hightstown Engine Company #1.

David…

I believe firefighters can be placed into 3 categories in terms of engagement and leadership.  Generally speaking: 

• 25% believe in (or pretend to believe in) current leadership staff…

Yes, yes, I know... this is just wrong. But I couldn't help my twisted self:)

Have a safe and blessed Christmas, everybody.

A tale of 'two-stories'



O' to the door, pesky thing... creaking, slamming, perhaps pinching a finger or two at times. It's just a hunk of wood over an opening, or is it? 



Now more than ever, we need to pay attention to the presence, absence and have control of the doors we come across. …

I receive a lot of emails over the course of a week. Among the onslaught of solicitations and wealthy foreigners who want to share their wealth if I'll just give them my bank account info are legitimate questions about art. The question I receive most often is "how do you come up with those crazy characters?".…

It is in great sadness, that we as a Brotherhood, post the 99th Line Of Duty Death for 2013 from the United States Fire Administration. Fellow Brother Firefighter Joshua Smith has made the ultimate sacrifice in love for their fellow man. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and our Brothers & Sisters with both his departments, Swift Creek Rural Fire Department & Cary Fire Department.…

It is in great sadness, that we as a Brotherhood, post the 98th Line Of Duty Death for 2013 from the United States Fire Administration. Fellow Brother Firefighter & Fire Chief John Wyman Sr. has made the ultimate sacrifice in love for their fellow man. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and our Brothers & Sisters with the Jefferson Volunteer Fire Department.

John J.…

It is in great sadness, that we as a Brotherhood, post the 97th Line Of Duty Death for 2013 from the United States Fire Administration. Fellow Brother Firefighter Joshua Smith has made the ultimate sacrifice in love for their fellow man. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and our Brothers & Sisters with the LaCrosse Volunteer Fire Department.

Joshua T. Smith…

It is in great sadness, that we as a Brotherhood, post the 96th Line Of Duty Death for 2013 from the United States Fire Administration. Fellow Brother Firefighter & Lieutenant Jeff Little has made the ultimate sacrifice in love for their fellow man. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and our Brothers & Sisters with the Waycross Fire Department.

Jeff Little…

It is in great sadness, that we as a Brotherhood, post the 95th Line Of Duty Death for 2013 from the United States Fire Administration. Fellow Brother Firefighter Terry Richard Guss Sr. has made the ultimate sacrifice in love for their fellow man. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and our Brothers & Sisters with the South Zanesville Fire Department.

Terry Richard "D***"…

ModelCityFirefighter.com’s newest article of Blowin’ Smoke features Kevin Shea, a retired firefighter from FDNY. We are very excited about this Blowin’ Smoke article and grateful for the opportunity to interview Shea on the site. I had the pleasure of meeting him earlier this year in Chicago. He is about as humble as they come and is a wealth of knowledge. We hope you enjoy the interview.

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If only there was a way to "sell" it

Each and every single firefighter death is a loss not only to those directly connected with the victim but also in this vanilla brotherhood fire service across the nation. Each one should, as rightly expected, be properly mourned and remembered and when applicable have lessons from the tragedy distributed to the rest of us so…

Why the Quint Works for us; The Driver

By Lou Comenale and Justin Ientilluci

A couple of posts ago we wrote how the Quint works for our department.  That really was a quick overview of our operations and training using the Quint.  If we were to dive deeper into our operations using the Quint we have to look at each position.  Many people could make an argument for the officer sitting shotgun being the most important personnel on…