All Blog Posts (3,173)

By Chris Langlois

“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four, calling the tail a leg does not make it a leg”.- Abraham Lincoln.

            On the fireground, we are always gathering information. We need to know what is going on…

Last post we discussed the process of orientation for leadership development, which was essentially relying upon operational manuals or standard operating procedures as the foundation for leadership. While these documents may be necessary for building the knowledge for rank and position (remember leadership is not a given with rank!), it is not a process for developing leaders of people.  This process does more to build effective managers and not leaders who must motivate and cultivate…

As a late arriving officer there are some things that need to be done before just heading inside for the sake of heading inside. As I always mention, follow your departments guidelines and assignments.

In particular, as second due there are some things that I like to specifically do in concert with my assignment. If my assignment is water supply, I ensure that that task is successfully completed. In addition to my assignment, here is a list of additional tasks that I like to complete…

" Hey Chief, I just punched Firefighter Smith in the face because I didnt like the way he looked at me" Chief - "Ok, well try not to do it again". "Chief, I got caught driving DUI again and lost my License this time for 60 years" Chief - " Ok, well try and do better"  "Chief, although you received a medal for saving the whole town and everyone under the sun thinks you did an outstanding job, I think you are the worst because you didn't take my advice and let me do what I wanted to do at that…

Brown Card IC Training

How much training have your command officers actually received in commanding incidents? Oh yeah, don’t tell me they have completed the NIMS 100, 200 and 700 online. This is not to diminish the importance of NIMS training…

Are you whistling through the graveyard?

Click link below to see more of Paul's work or to buy prints:…

As I write this, I am deeply saddened and disappointed at the fact that what follows even needs to be written. 

We are firemen.  We are human.  Humans make mistakes, and firemen probably make more than the average human.  With that understanding, I want to address a problem that afflicts society as a whole, but has really affected my department and several other local departments significantly over the years. 

Drunk driving.

I loathe drunk…

One of the most challenging skills in extrication is the displacement of the various objects that may be "trapping" our patients. If we practice moving these objects (steering wheel in this example) in various directions, it greatly improves our "options" when the entrapment is not typical. Here we are moving a steering wheel/column towards the…

"We all thought that since nothing serious had happened before, nothing was going to happen this time out,"

AH-6 "Little Bird" heading out on October 3, 1993 mission. (Department of Defense photo)

"I can just remember Sgt. Eversman telling me, you know, “Moore, find…

Leadership Anosmia

When I read, almost daily, about failed leadership in the Fire Service I have to wonder how the troubled leaders came to be and how they expected to be successful with no apparent understanding of principled leadership. How do the failed leaders who make the headlines exist with such an obvious lack of leadership instinct, leadership senses, positive leadership abilities, planning skills, some…

It's hard to breath. Sweat stings my eyes until they blur and a bald head does nothing to stem the steady flow. I chose to be here. I live for this moment. My body begs to slow, to rest, to just quit. My heart says no. The family that surrounds me shares in my suffering. Their lungs burn too. Their muscles struggle to obey the message traveling down from the brain. Pain endured begets more pain but there is nowhere else we'd rather be.

"ONE MINUTE!" Moments later my mind computes the…

I come from a rural area as you all know and often times we don’t quite have the staffing for an attack and a RIT team until the next due arrives which can be anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, it just varies.

However I can recall fires where a RIT team deployed and helped the interior teams with their problems.

Many years ago there was a fire at a Limestone mine and the fire is in an underground basement of sorts it…

I couldn't resist a little pre-Halloween fun. Beware of the unexpected - especially during the bewitching month of October.





Click link below to see more of Paul's work or to buy prints:…

Service Leadership

In the world of constant bad news and the incredulous suffering at the hands of bureaucracy I witnessed a moment of hope yesterday. My friend Mike “Waldo” Reynolds (3^rd…

Most of you who know me know that I write about either a training concept or things that inspire me. This month I’m inspired. It comes right in time for Fire Prevention month. Sorry to scare off some of you with the FP words but keep reading anyway. 

On January 19, 2000, an arson fire took the lives of three college freshman and injured 58 others at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. I was a Chief in New Jersey at the time and colleagues of mine had been to the fire. It was…

If you notice, the title is not "The Training Officer" and your first thought is, what is the difference? Much. Your thinking of the old myth that an Instructor has to be certified from an accredited group such as IFSAC or ProBoard. But that myth is wrong and here is why. I myself, your blogger for the time being, is a Certified Fire Instructor from both Massachusetts and New Hampshire and I have the "Certs" to prove it but, does any of this make me a good or a better Instructor than anyone…

 We as Firefighters are trained to handle most anything that comes our way , and with that comes the added stress of handling our own family's needs , esp when your spouse becomes ill . The journey I have been on since last October of 2013 has been a whirlwind experience , going from having my spouse being they had Stage 4 Brain Cancer to the Operation to recovery  to treatments and the ups and downs of dealing and becoming the go to guy.

We really have no idea what are spouse's do…

As we start the week off, lets take today to review your departments MAYDAY policies. These tasks, procedures and policies need to be practiced and reinforced through training constantly. We sometimes put this off to one time a year or when the next…

The Sunday Preach



"Reflection"



~A few quotes from pg. 248 of the book "25 to Survive:  Reducing Residential Injury and LODD" tells a story of reflection, introspection, humility and refinement for personal and professional progress...



"We know that few firefighters or company officers have experienced the 'perfect fire'. In that scenario, every fireground task said and done is accomplished right on…

Mental therapy for me is sitting around with the men and women discussing the "job" and how we can effectively learn from each run and training scenario.  As with any incident, the most rewarding time for the Incident Commander, Company Officer, and Chief is when the "team" executes every play from the play caller. 

Training programs are essentially one of the most critical programs in any fire department.  Having a pro-active training plan can and will eliminate chaos on the fire…