Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, firefighter, Mayday. The firefighters Mayday goes unheard, but who should have heard it. The answer to that question is Communications, IC, and the RIT. RIT teams must realize that they are a team of Accountability, and Safety Teams. Communications while being the RIT team is more than just communicating what you are […]

The crew of Firefighter Basics will be teaching a class entitled Suburban to Urban Fire Tactics at the SC Firefighters Conference June 10 in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Follow the link to learn how to register. www.scfirefighters.org

   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” […]