All Blog Posts (3,176)

When you walk out of the station for the last time, what will remain...Leaving a Legacy-Heads Up Firefighting

THE DUTY TO LEAD - PART ONE

The duty of being an effective leader in today’s fire department is not an easy one. Notice that I referred to it as a duty, and not a task. When you accept your position as a company officer, you inherently assume the duty of leading the men and women under your command in a variety of environments.…

A few blogs to check out, and why we bother with this blogging nonsense...Spreading the Word

Many organizations across the country have scaled back their automatic fire alarm response over the past 5 years. Many fire departments are simply having a single engine respond to fire alarm calls, while others have cut back the response to an engine and a truck. For the sake of this article, we will not address Department of Insurance standards or the changing of these standard to allow for the reduction in responding assets.

Why cut back the…

Politicians and administrators can take funding, pay, positions and pensions, but we own our pride, purpose and the public's trust.



The tide of political disrespect, blame and distrust of public servants only seems to ebb when flags are lowered, badges draped and processions pass through their towns.



The supreme sacrifices we sometimes make leave our children, our spouses and our homes empty so that you may…

The 2013 "Making Yourself Hard to Kill" fall conference will be held October 25-26 in Philadelphia, PA. Registration is now open, and there are discounts for those who register early so get on it! http://headsupfirefighting.blogspot.com/2013/07/leadership-under-fire-fall-conference.html…

How many of you have been on fires where your first lines off the rig are not working? Its like your wasting your time with these hoses because your not getting anywhere. THE FIRE IS NOT GOING OUT.

I recall one I was on. The crew I was supervising was slinging the water yet it was not working at all. I took the pipe from them and noticed that it was at like 30gpm's. Now the attic was rolling, the roof was nearly gone, the 2nd floor was free burning I mean it was going. The…

Join us for a FREE 8 hour class put on by Nick Martin from Traditions Training LLC on August 10th in Simpsonville, SC. More details to come! Traditions Training FREE Class!!!! 

As a recap from last months blog, I continued to encourage readers to be more critical in thought, when identifying the real issues associated with low performing fire grounds, firefighter injuries and line-of-duty deaths. I alluded to the fact, that it has become much easier for leaders to take the easy way out and blindly use scientific research to make far-reaching assumptions in how to improve their performance, finally finding a hope of getting their people under control. By failing to…

No words...

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Life is an adventure, do not know where you embark on an interesting journey and where you disembark off the same, and more when you're somebody different.

I'm Latino and increasingly proud of it, I was in different academies, met many people, great mentors, mediocre officers, great classmates and some other crazy but we were all a brotherhood in order.

I was called to be part of a select group of instructors who embarked on a new adventure, yeap,  a…

The internet, is a great tool. In-fact, if you're reading this, you're most likely on the internet right now. But, for every good thing the internet is used for in the fire service, their is certainly just as many negative things. One topic that comes to mind is the amount of valuable, basic, hands-on experience our newer firefighters receive. Due to the…

I could say many things about this cartoon and my personal experiences, but I am going to give this space up for a friend who is following the noble calling of helping firefighters save ourselves, so we may continue to save others. Sarah Gura and I found each other online, and I must say from my perspective, it was like fate stepping in to say "Hey, it's time to…

I am fortunate enough to have been enjoying a week at the beach. The weather has been great and the fishing has been wonderful. It has been a needed time to recharge the system. I even had my best friend say she would marry me on this trip. It has been a great week. It is always at the time you least expect it that an event will occur, creating an inspiration for a new post.

Today, I was relaxing in the beach house when my fiancé called to say that something was on fire a…

Are you 100% in the game, or do you rabble on the sidelines? Spectators-Heads Up Firefighting

Risk Management as we use it today refers to programs that help us evaluate what we do and how we do it. We put in to place certain control measures in order for us to operate within particular safety parameters. These parameters help to insure that we injure and kill less people while working. We use controls, the first of which is  “administrative” controls, which consists of standard operating guidelines or procedures, training requirements, safe practices, rules regulations, fire code…

Geometry, Physics and Chemistry

I really asked me when I was in high school, why the heck I would serve these materials in my life of adult. Who knew that today not only use these materials but many more, such as: math, calculus, and others to help firefighters battle the monster that the fire is.

There are some methods today to fight the fire, one of them is indirectly, That means applying in hot…

Fire Rescue Athletes (firefighters, EMTs and paramedics) must be physically ready to act. The job entails lifting heavy objects (or people), climbing up stairs, dragging hoseline, hoisting ladders, along with other physically taxing movements. It is evident that in order to effectively do our jobs we must have a strong, balanced body. Workouts and especially exercises must then match the demands of the job and prepare the body for such stress.…