People of Action
I’m not a lawyer but I do know a couple of the overriding legal theories that encompass the fire service and most other service industries; Misfeasance, Malfeasance and Nonfeasance. Misfeasance is...
View ArticleLives of Service
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. – Albert Einstein Last night 2 more Boston firefighters died. They died in the line of duty, protecting strangers. Many will say they are “Heroes”...
View ArticleBlanket Rules Vs Training
Firefighter Basics just finished our first of what promises to be many HOT classes as “Firefighter Basics”. One of the things we do is ask the students “How does your department do it? How does it...
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Is This the Dumbing Down of the Fire Service?
As I watch car commercials I am always struck by the new and better ways car manufacturers come up with to get us from point “A” to point “B”. All the bells and whistles add up to is more bells and...
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How to read and interact with a Fire Service Blog
Recently it seems that the online community has forgotten that it is a community. The Troll level is increasing quite a bit. Troll being “a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments...
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End of “Always Carry a Tool”
“Always carry a tool”, “Nobody shows up empty handed” These fire service nuggets of wisdom have been around for a long time. But just like other aspects of our job this too has been watered down to a...
View ArticleThe next big thing…or just another acronym?
I’ve been seeing a lot about SLICERS lately, so I had to check it out. I watched a couple instructional videos and they made me sad. Watching departments gobble the theory up hook, line and sinker and...
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The World is not on fire.
I recently watched a video of a politician trying to scare up support for his cause. He was saying “The world is on fire, and my opponent wants to make it worse”. He was trying to instill fear in the...
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Aggressive Destruction
This is not about breaking things, sorry, if that’s what you wanted you should probably leave now. When a word gets used too many times it loses it’s meaning, Semantic saturation. Semantic Saturation:...
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Words Matter
Ryan and I had the honor of sitting in on a UL/NIST class today on Fire Dynamics Research to Tactical Solutions. We appreciate the time and effort that was put into the class and the fireground...
View ArticleConstantly Try to Improve
There is a lot of change in the Casa De Anchorpoint recently. My wife is in nursing school and my oldest daughter has to pick between two really good high schools. Of course Firefighter Basics has some...
View ArticleFrom Rookie to One of the Guys
Guest post today from JD “Hey kid, you’re in MY chair!” 21 Years ago I was 10 minutes into my first day at the Fire Department and I already screwed up! One of the guys saw me nervously standing near...
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On Motivation and Quality
When you see a speaker talking about motivation why do you get motivated? Well if they are any good its contagious and you are open to it. If you weren’t open to it you wouldn’t be hearing them, right?...
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Opening Up, a team event.
When 2 hands, 2 tools is brought up I assume it means to carry a tool to work with and a company specific tool. Company specific means engines bring attack lines and trucks bring ladders. OK, so let’s...
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Custodial Duties
First off I need to thank Brandon for reminding me of this. This is going to sound bad, but stick it out. When recently asked how a firefighter can make changes in a fire department I gave a list of...
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The Company that Trains
The company that trains With the face of fire service changing every day fire departments are finding it hard to fit mandatory training into their schedules and budgets. This is shifting the...
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Laddering with Purpose Part 1: The Problem
What is it that prevents fire departments from throwing ground ladders or aerials? Why do ground ladders remain on the apparatus and aerials remain in their beds at fire calls? Why are RIT teams...
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Laddering with Purpose Part 2: Primary Laddering
In the first section we talked about the lack of laddering at fire scenes and the changes some departments have made to address the issue. Bringing ladders to a fire building is the first step in...
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Laddering with Purpose Part 3: Engine Support
We have identified a problem (ladders left on the apparatus) and an initial solution in the first chapter. In the second chapter we talked about some initial considerations for primary laddering and...
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In defense of the Senior man
Lately there seems to be a push against experience in favor of education in the fire service. This push isn’t new, but this wave is riding the coattails of the preliminary results of the first large...
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