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Tool #3 – Ground Ladders Remember, the RIT toolbox is built on situational awareness. This situational awareness gives us some insight into where and how firefighters are operating inside of a structure. Using this information gives us the opportunity to better understand...

Tool #2 – The Irons The irons are a combination of a flathead axe and a Halligan bar which are carried/married together. This combination has been around the fire service for nearly sixty years and is tried and true. (A sledge hammer or PIG tool can be carried with the...

Disclosure There are numerous acronyms associated with teams designated for the rescue of a firefighter in distress.  It doesn’t matter if we call it RIT, RIC, or FAST, there are some tools that are essential to the team’s operations.  In this series, we are going to discuss five...

Webbing is one of the most important tools we can have as a firefighter with it’s limitless uses. The ingenuity firefighters have always amazes me especially when it comes to webbing. We are going to discuss  only 7 of the ways firefighters use webbing.  The most common...

Mostly thought of as a piece of equipment that the truck company utilizes, “The Can” is a formidable piece of equipment in the hands of a well-trained firefighter. Every engine I have ever come across has one tucked away in a cabinet somewhere.  Sadly, it rarely comes...

The ordinary “door chock” is an essential tool that should be carried by all firefighters regardless of whether they respond as an engine or truck company. They are often overlooked as a great tool, probably because they are so simple, but as we will examine here in...

We have heard countless times that the fires we encounter today are unlike the ones we responded to years ago. That being said, we need to evaluate the way we go into these fires as well as the tools we bring along. Let’s take a look at what the engine officer should bring...

There seems to be a lot of confusion and opinions on when and how to use the radio and how long to stay on the radio. No matter when or why you are using the radio it must always be pithy. Pithy meaning: Brief, concise and forcefully expressive;  succinct, compact, to the point....

Before We Respond We have touched on some of the personal tools for the truckie and now I want to focus a little on the tools the truck driver or engineer can use to make life and work a little easier. As the saying goes, these are my tools; there are many like it, but these are...

In part 1 we looked at some of the reasons and decisions you should consider when deciding to promote to the position of engineer/driver/operator. We also began a look into what you will encounter when preparing for the process itself. Today we will continue to look at some...