Before I get started, I'm not a safety Nazi.  I'm not a KSO (Keyboard Safety Officer).  And I probably violate more safety regulations than I should.  But when I'm unsafe, I wear my Personal Protective Equipment.  When I am acting safely, I wear my PPE.  That sounds like a double standard I agree.  But […]

  Undoubtedly this post will take a lot of heat from the jumpseat heroes who " Just Gotta Get in There ". It appears that while firefighters are working very diligently in keeping the " Culture of Extinguishment " Alive, we continue to encounter another problem. On our Fire Ground today agencies are getting smarter […]

Describe your incident operations 1. Size- Up 2. Building Construction 3. Smoke reading 4. Line selection Layout your incident operations.

  Everyone has new years resolutions.  I don't.  I take personal inventory pretty frequently, usually when I have a change in my life or I when someone I know does.  Today I'll share my lessons for last year and how they motivate me for this year.  I'll try to be brief.     Last year was a big year […]

With the changes in the fire service being brought about through social media, NFPA (The world's leading advocate of fire prevention and public safety) has announced a new certification; NFPA 1521E. This standard will be known as the E-Safety Officer (ESO), Keyboard Safety Chief (KSC) or the Internet Old Salty Jake (Let Me Tell Ya […]

I’m going to dip into the “We Search” subject for just 1 article, I hope. We search, yes it sounds good and it’s catchy. But HOW do we search? I would venture a guess the phrase “We Search” is an overstatement. It’s probably more like “We stumble around, call out and hope for the best” […]

Many firefighters just don’t appreciate learning opportunities or recognize when learning opportunities present themselves. Recently, I thought about several examples I witnessed during “rookie schools” around the country. Rookie school, or Basic Fire School, is where you are taught “The Basics” and are expected to learn “The Basics” before applying them on the job. A […]

When arriving on the fire ground it is essential to know your role. In this new series we will place pictures up and Audio up when possible that will aid in helping you make the correct fire ground decision, based off the Pre- arrival radio traffic and the wind shield view when you arrive.