How often do we give our fire service saws a soup to nuts inspection and cleaning? I’m sure that there are people reading this with a wide range of answers; once a week or after every use that saw gets completely disassembled, inspected and cleaned, some might say we send it out to a shop […]

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 […]

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 […]

In the above photo most would acknowledge it is training or drilling, but it is the latter word that is killing us. Undoubtedly someone will experience butthurt and say that it doesn’t matter what you call it, but I’m saying it does. The fire service is getting younger by the day, and in a lot […]

http://www.deltafire.ca/Gallery/Misc%202007/Images/House%20Fire.jpg     The concept of running into a burning building is not a new one to most firefighters.  Of course, depending on your department’s SOPs, manpower, staffing, etc, things will be different.  This article discusses the critical decision of “Go” or “No-Go” when first pulling up to a structure that is on fire.  This […]

There seems to be a lot of discussion surrounding Positive Pressure Ventilation again. When and When not to use a Fan ( Blower ) well Before we get into all of that let's look at a few other things. 1. Just because you have watched Youtube videos or your neighborig FD's have one or some […]

I was told to write about ladders again, and I will, but first I have a Pre-plan Challenge for you.

This is the first of hopefully many follow-ups to the Boston Ladder Culture article. After the Aerial or main ladder there are only 2 ladders we concern ourselves with on the truck; the 35′ and the 50′. The rest of the ladders; 40′, 28, 24, roof, pencil, Baby Bangor, Little Giant are almost all considered […]

Why does Boston throw so many ladders?   Mainly because it’s better to have them and not need them. If you ask around Boston Fire you will get 4 common answers.  Most likely after they ask you why a firefighter would even ask a question like that. 1. Why not? 2. It’s a good practice 3. […]