Paul Combs's Blog (375)

Unlike our favorite Halloween monsters and ghouls, the Toxic Twins are very real, and very deadly! Sometimes they kill quickly using heart attacks as their form of malice, other times they kill slowly in the form of cancer and respiratory illnesses. They are invisible, silent and odorless - and indiscriminate!

Are you wearing your SCBA during overhaul and…

I have never been very good at math, but even a cartoonist can solve this equation: ((EGO + PRIDE) x BRAVADO) - MAYDAY TRAINING = TROUBLE!!!



Don't get me wrong, I am all for aggressive tactics and training to keep yourself out of trouble. Understanding building construction, fire behavior, the laws of gravity upon a structure being…

Working two months in advance for Fire Engineering magazine can be a bit tricky with timely material like the cartoon above - especially when the material is so emotionally charged. Funny thing is, working that far in advance I sometimes forget what I've submitted - hey, I'm getting older!! However, when I received my copies of Fire Engineering in the mail today, it…

We will never, ever forget you!

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Click image for larger view.

Humor is a powerful drug! We use it on a daily basis without even knowing it, and it's a medicine with healing and regenerative effects. At times, the things we talk and joke about in the fire service would seem crass and inappropriate to the general public, but it performs the job of defusing stressful situations in a way that can't…

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When I was a kid, I would see a fireman and instantly see a person of authority and respect. Not being raised in a fire service family, that respect came from their uniform and job - not to mention that BIG red truck! As a matter of fact, when I was four, our home burned one winter evening and I remember a fireman coming over to console my parents and even…

Look-out folks, the 9/11 predators are out in force!!! They are selling everything from "commemorative" ball caps to stickers, patches, posters, helmets, t-shirts, t-shirts, t-shirts, and t-shirts! Some say they're selling these items for a charitable donation (and that's fine) - but please check their true intentions before buying. Verify the charity, if you can. I…

...and sometimes I just feel the need to be silly!!  I do find it humorous to walk the streets of Indianapolis during FDIC and see the sea of hulking SUV's lining the parking lanes and garages. I'm just glad the Hummer craze didn't catch on in the fire service - oy!

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If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then this technology intrenched generation of youth is from the center of Pluto! Old-school thinking and marketing will be the death knell of today's fire service, especially in the volunteer sector with we don't learn to be creative in our recruiting methods.

How is your department coping with these…

The kind and gentle approach doesn't work any more - so perhaps the current day Smokey needs an image adjustment! This is just a suggestion, of course:)

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If you carry a cell phone these days, you carry a camera and video recorder, too. Technology has made life recordable, anywhere, anytime, even when it's inconvenient or inappropriate! Take a moment to notice bystanders on your next MVA or structure fire; my guess is you'll see plenty of cell phones out recording our every move. This is the technological world we live…

Check out my interview at this past FDIC. Link below...

FDIC Interview

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I just spent the most incredible week drawing and talking with our Nation's finest! Nope, not fire service personnel, but Sailors and Marines in San Diego. I was honored to take part in a Navy sponsored NCS/USO trip where we visited the USS Peleliu (an aircraft carrier), Naval Fleet Weather Center, Military Hospitals and VA wards, and participated in a panel…