All Blog Posts (3,173)

By Mark vonAppen

"Our standard of performance on defense is to get 11 men to the football on every play," my father would say as he stood before his players to begin the season.  "We have a standard to uphold, and each one of…

I usually take a few minutes on Sunday to get a strategic look at things.  I evaluate the work of the previous week and look at priorities, goals and challenges for the week ahead.  The Sunday after FDIC is a whopper!  So much happens in a compressed time, and I don’t want to miss or lose any of the great opportunities that I was lucky enough to be exposed to or experience.  Here’s a few of the highlights from my week at FDIC:

There is no civil…

One of the great things about the fire service is that we are large in numbers. When you meet someone who is also a firefighter, there's an instant bond and conversation can easily flow. Regardless of how different your departments may be, you still have a lot in common with that person.

I have been fortunate enough to attend FDIC the last 2 years and experience the massive opportunities to talk with other firefighters and do some networking. The classes are great at FDIC, but a lot…

This Hump Day SOS is in honor of Lieutenant Gregory Pickard who posthumously received the Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award today at the Fire Department Instructors Conference.

Courage and Valor are traits are not learned through training. They are not automatically bestowed upon…

Recalling Cowboy

The red phone rang at the fire station with orders from the Fire Chief’s office. A tractor trailer had overturned on interstate 95 and cattle had escaped and were running on the highway and throughout the nearby neighborhoods. The State Police had requested that Lewis “Cowboy” Tunstall respond to round up the cattle.

Cowboy Tunstall was a Lieutenant in our department. He was a farrier…

As many are preparing to make their way to FDIC or are already there, it is important to understand what our roles are as fire service instructors and leaders. Yes, you are both, whether you are an officer or not if you are helping to make the fire service better, you are a leader and instructor at some level.

I was using my knife the other day and it needed to be sharpened. I have an old stone that has sharpened knives for many years.  When you learn how to use that stone and are…

Sunday started out like most other Sundays.

I got up, went to my Room of Reflection and when I was through reflecting, I flushed and proceeded to wash my hands thoroughly with warm water and soap.…

HERE WE GO!!!   It is that time of year again where 30,000 plus like minded progressive brothers converge in Indianapolis.  The trek for many is an annual pilgrimmage. Meeting up with old friends or making new connections within our industry.  The best part of the journey is the stories. All of us have a story to tell.  For most of us FDIC is an opportunity to…

In just a few days I like many of my fire service brothers will be heading to the greatest fire service conference on the planet FDIC!

While there we will take classes, walk around the exhibit floors, network, and enjoy the brotherhood that is hanging out with 40,000 like minded people.

The one other thing people will be doing is searching. Searching for that tid bit, that trick, that “secret of the fire service” .

Well I have figured it out! No it’s not RECEO,…

Next week, I, along with over 30,000 firefighters will make the annual journey to Indianapolis to “re-charge our batteries”.  We do this by surrounding ourselves with like-minded, passionate people and by learning from some of the greatest minds in the fire service.  An entire year of policy, politics and being around certain PEOPLE can be emotionally draining.  What if all of those things were actually in place in order to keep us sharp?  A story I recently heard makes a great case for…

With the excitement of heading to Indianapolis and participating in the best fire training event on the planet, I thought I'd post a little pre-FDIC (potty) humor.



NEVER stop training!

See you in Indy!

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

Lately I have started to notice an increase of the word “employee” when describing a firefighter. I have heard it in casual conversations about evaluations, physical assessments, management etc. Why do we use this term? I know we are all employees of an organization in the eyes of council members and politicians, but shouldn’t we be more than just employees? If we refer to Merriam-Webster we see that an employee is defined as: “a person who works for another person or for a company for wages…

Brothers and Sisters – I am giving up my words with this post to those who know how to write them – and write them well. Sarah Gura, Chief Kenny, and Lt. Olson have agreed to co-conspire with this post regarding our mentality of invincibility. Please read…

THE AMAZING FIREMAN

Dear Firefighters,

This is a longer…

It would appear that I got a few of you in trouble last year with this cartoon;)



FDIC is the greatest fire training event on the planet, and I look forward to this week every year! Great friends, great classes, and great brotherhood!



Oh, and pipers... lots of…

As I head up to Indy today I’m reminded of 100,000’s of firefighters who become “unmotivated” by departmental climates of politics, charlatans, bureaucracies and just down right lameness. It seems the more you push for professionalism, competence and brotherhood the more disappointed you are the fakers who…

Despite the Boston tragedy, the fireground was once again the exception to where the most victims died.

The following information is a breakdown of the details of…

It can’t happen here! Words I’m sure have been spoken before, and words I’m sure were regretted later. In an age where a 24-hour news cycle chronicles every event where people die, and a culture that needs instant gratification and “attention”, the perfect storm exists where first-responders are being attack in ever more frequency. Some deadly, most are not, but all…