All Blog Posts (3,147)

There is a lot of derisive talk these days about appropriate aggressive tactics and when to use them… or not to use them… and quite a few people are making a name for themselves preaching the extremes on both sides of the banter. “Believe and act the way I do or you’re a coward,” or “science and risk aversion is the only true way of the fire…

There are plenty leaders standing alone on the proverbial organizational island. It has been said time and time again “the higher up the food chain we ascend, the lonelier we may become.” Why is this so? Perhaps we may have lost sight of how vital our values and principles transcend any leadership style. Let’s…

I have deferred my blog page this month to a good friend with a great message. I mentioned Rob (not by name) in Journal Entry #45 “Cancer.” He’s the chief that put off his cardiac testing and went to play golf because he was told there is a 10% chance of a false positive so he couldn’t possibly be sick! He’s in great shape! Well, here’s the real story. I thank…

In the early years of the American fire service there was a surprising number of cities across the country with their own unique version of fire hose thread. Over time, most smaller municipalities have converted to a more universal thread like NH or NPSH. Many larger cities have held onto their threads due to the incredible cost associated with an across the board conversion of all hose, appliances, adapters, and fire systems.

One local example of this in my area is Oklahoma City.…

     One of the key components of any crew, team or organization is having a group of people who believe in the same thing. An organization that knows what it truly believes in, and brings together people who believe what the organization believes, can be extremely effective in accomplishing the mission of the organization. Shared identified core values, such as courage, duty, honor, or integrity, give the organization and everyone who is a part of it a benchmark…

  Credibility may be one of the hardest things to build during a career, simply because it takes time and consistency. You do not build your credibility overnight, it is something that is built over years of consistently applying the same morals, values, and ethics to every decision you make, whether on the fire ground or on an emergency scene. One may ask themselves what steps can I take to begin developing my credibility and get started on the road to being a great leader? In this…

The Sunday Preach:

It's bigger than you are...

"When you decide to become a member of any fire department, you are making a large commitment. As the often-quoted New York City Chief of Department Edward F. Croker (1899–1911) stated during his tenure, “When a man becomes a fireman his greatest act of bravery has been accomplished. What he does after that is all in the line of work.” 

The current opioid epidemic has significantly increased the call volume for departments responding to citizens suffering from drug overdoses. Not a shift goes by without a call to assist someone suffering from an overdose.

When I was a street paramedic, we would receive calls from the public to assist individuals overdosing with alcohol, mushrooms, Freon, airplane glue, Benadryl and cough syrup containing…

Cobwebs, Cowards and Cowboys

“If you never saddled up and entered the arena, your opinion about cowboys lacks matter and merit.” I said that.

I had the privilege recently to hear all of the details of what I consider to be a difficult grab. It was shared first-hand with me because I am…

                As I sat at the hospital awaiting the birth of my daughter, a conversation that I had with a coworker in the previous days came to mind.  The conversation revolved around what are you doing do train your replacement.    Over the prior few days that conversation took my thought path is several directions.  

                First of all, the usual connotation of training your replacement is normally reserved for training those who are next in line to assume your job…

As part of their benefits package, most companies offer their employees a specified number of days off for holidays, vacation, personal days, and sick time. In the event of an illness or injury that requires extended time off, hopefully, the employer offers the employee the chance to take an unpaid leave of absence to recuperate. Most employers, including entities that employ firefighters, recognize that circumstances…

Synopsis: Most of you know that internships and on-the-job training are part of the college curriculum. Here’s how you can get your fire engineering experience.

Most fire engineering internships occur at the end of the college curriculum, which means that students must be prepared to find their working positions one or two semesters before…

I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to talk about the obligation of the company officer. Today I wanted to reinforce the importance of keeping your eyes on the line. The line in our fire service is often times used in reference to the street, the station, the everyday operations that we are involved in. You may have heard phrases such as: I can’t wait to get back on the line. Meaning, I can’t wait to get back to my station and go to work.

Many company officers have…

By: John Spera

Being trusted that you can do your job when it counts is more important than being liked.

As firefighters, the responsibility before us is great, as we are given automatic trust the day we take the oath. It’s a trust…

I suppose this post could be considered a part-2 to my cartoon published last week regarding apathetic leaders pushing loyal people out the door. This week I want to discuss firefighters who are in a leadership role who constantly belittle, berate, and abuse newer firefighters - you know, the lifeblood and future of the fire service. Perhaps…

     Many excellent articles are written and classes presented that include valuable size up information from the perspective of the chief or company officer.  However, while much of this material is directly transferable to the firefighter, few would argue that the firefighter maintains a different physical and mental perspective during incident response and operations.  The size up process holds just as much significance for members literally "on the line" as it does for supervisors and…

An extremely dangerous drug is on the street is affecting first responders including EMS, police and firefighters making a dangerous job all that more dangerous. This is not related to the prescription strength medication if taken in the wrong dose or administered erroneously creates its own danger.

A recent event in New Jersey involved a police detective searching a home and found a bag of white powder. The officer removed a scoop of powder for testing. When he was…

June Fire Engineering magazine editorial illustration.



STAY FIRED UP, and train!



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