Category

In the fire service there are a set of standards that we strive to achieve. Have you read them? We as fire officers should be very familiar with NFPA 1021, also known as the “Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications”. The intent of the standard is to...

Throughout the next few weeks I’ll be discussing five foods that firefighters MUST eat. You’ll see a lot of themes: these foods reduce cholesterol and ward off heart disease, help you achieve or maintain a healthy weight, improve immunity and fight off cancer. Cheerios aren’t the...

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”  (Jeremiah 29:13) Firefighters are often assigned to perform a primary search on the fire ground. The role of a primary search and its purpose to quickly search an area near the fire in hopes to find...

There will come a time in your life when you realize that all that you are, all that you have, and all that you have done becomes to feel meaningless. It is at the point where you notice a pattern of reaching goals, acquiring possessions, working for recognition, and it hits you...

Temperature In our introductory article we discussed weather as a whole but to understand how it affects us and our firefighting operations we need to break it into parts. So let’s shift gears a bit into how we measure weather. In the simplest terms, weather is literally all...

The Japanese word of “Kaizen” can be defined simply as seeking continuous improvement. Let’s examine how we can improve upon our level of customer service. Modern demands and expectations of the citizen customers require that we do a better job of planning for the...

The world of sugar comes to us in many forms. The meals we eat at the house or the snacks we sneak in at midnight between calls all contain some type of sugar; but what does it do to our body? Sugar is found in many forms; fructose in fruits, lactose in milk, and corn syrup which...

I have found an inner desire, a constant pull on my heart, which drives me. This desire comes from fulfilling our personal calling. If you feel called to be a firefighter then this article is for you. There came a point a few years ago where I lost my drive and passion for the...

Weather and Fire Operations What do firefighting and emergency response and weather have in common? A LOT! No matter where you perform your duties, the weather is quite often a factor in getting fires under control or at least contained. The purposes of my writings are quite...

Being a volunteer fire chief with a rather large response area (26 square miles); I am not only often first due on an alarm but also might be tasked with operating alone for some time before the “cavalry” shows up. Whether it be an EMS alarm, motor vehicle accident or structure...