Todays reality

 Today’s reality: OJ Kolodziej

In the fire service lately, there seems to be this feeling that lines have been drawn in the sand. What I mean by this statement is either you are going aggressive through the front door every time, or you are standing outside to reset it from the yard. 

The reality that all of us are missing is this, fire does not really care what side of the line you are standing on. Fire has and always will have the advantage over us, that is the truth and that is never going to change. 

Instead of fighting each other, that energy  should be focused on the best way to attack fire because it has the upper hand every time. The question I pose is how do we end this divide? One answer to this question is training and education. 

                                             (Photo Credit: Asst. Chief  Buddy Wilks)

A good training program is a start we have to take a long look at what we are up against and gear ourselves towards this. A realistic training program should focus on todays issue and that is, fires today have been proven to be hotter and faster, and our tactics have to change to reflect this.

 The training ground has to be realistic, educational, and open to every idea. Training is where we need to come together and build an environment of confidence not animosity.  If your training ground becomes toxic and you have a one way or the highway attitude then the training program is dead in the water.

When training all tactics have to be looked at. One size does not fit all in todays fire environment, the aggressive interior attack might work on one fire, but not on the next.  We have to be well rounded when it comes to our profession, if we chose sides and say I will only attack from the outside or chose the other side  and say I will only do interior attack and nothing else then you are selling yourself short.  

                                             (Photo credit: Asst. Chief Buddy Wilks)

Don’t limit yourself or your people to one side or the other, have adult conversations on the training ground build your recognition prime decision making skills.  When dealing with todays fire environment know what you are looking at when you arrive on scene, do your 360, develop your action plan quickly, then put it to work.