Jason Jefferies's Blog (4)

When tasked with forcing entry into an occupancy with multiple inward- swinging doors, such as a hotel or apartment building, fewer tools will maximize our efficacy at forcing doors than will the hydraulic forcible entry tool.  Firefighters who are blessed with a hydraulic forcible entry tool in their arsenal will quickly proclaim the benefits of utilizing such a valuable implement.  Not only does this particular tool make quick work of most inward- swinging doors, its use is very…

Now that I have your attention, it is time we speak about buckling up. Before your attention wanes because you think this is yet another fire service writer imploring you to wear your seatbelt, realize that I do not wish to speak of seat belts in this post. I do wholeheartedly agree with wearing a seat belt on the apparatus, but that is a subject for another day. Take a look at the photos below, and I want you to take in the stark difference between the two.…

“No passion so effectively robs the mind of its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.”  Edmund Burke

     Fear, as well as the synonymous emotions and actions that accompany it, has no place in the fire service.  For us to examine this powerful emotion, you must understand the type of fear that I am discussing.  We all have trivial fears, and these are not what I want to focus upon; fear of being late for roll call, fear of not getting a raise in the coming fiscal year,…

Unless you shut your trap, it's a voice that can easily be drowned out among the others at the firehouse.  Amid the cacophony of noise in the kitchen of the firehouse, I was privy to a conversation today with one of the most senior firefighters in my department.  Needless to say, it left an impact on me, not so much in what he said as how he said it.  His emotion, choice of words, patient manner, and friendly demeanor spoke volumes about his character.

In a department the size of mine…