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 allowed to stand around like yard gnomes, not being proactive? And on that same vein if 2 in 2 out is […]

Search- The first thing I want you to notice is I did not include rescue, that will come later . It was not until an article written by Michael Briclaut in the Fire Engineering, that I realize I was one of those guys who did not understand that search and rescue where not lumped together as […]

We live in a glorious age of information – the internet has provided unlimited access to a vast wealth of knowledge. Never in the history of man has one been able to gather information as efficiently as we are able today. But most people take this for granted. We ignore information we don’t agree with […]

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 application examples that were given. These help to bridge the gap between the “Scientific Lab Stuff” and the real […]

Everytime I turn around it feels like I’m being told to change. I’ve been told my thought process is outdated, my tactics are obsolete and, even worse, that I am dangerous. A lot of change in the fire service is driven by NIST/UL research. A lot of beneficial information has come out of that research, […]

Building Construction When you look at these two buildings what do you know about there construction? Have you studied and or experienced the issues that come associated with these types of construction? What are the types of structures you respond to in your area? Some taught me years ago now, its not how the buildings […]

The drill below are typical drills that happen almost everyday in the fire service. Focusing on the Drill at hand, is it effective? Does this drill bring forth realistic expectations? In what situations do we layout all of our equipment including SCBA and get dressed? I have a few answers in my head, but I […]

As I am privileged to travel across the country like I do, I see, hear, and read a lot of the same thing as it pertains to the fire service. Quite often I hear the phrase ” We gotta get back to the basics”. Now my question is to all of you. Why did you […]

Thanks or the response we received on checking you SCBA when arriving for shift. We received several notes of encouragement asking us for more so we will work to get it done. The First thing we are going to share is arriving for duty. This fits no matter if your paid or volunteer. If you […]

To say I am pissed is an understatement, and the very reason I started a blog. It was to vent my feelings and share information that I felt may be relevant to help other firefighters go home. Just as any firefighter I can get my tractor cranking and go on a tangent and be wrong, […]