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Please take the time to read the article in the link. While so many cities and government agencies are slashing public safety, this city is doing the exact opposite.
Council considers budget cuts to find money for public safety staff
Stay safe and pass this on to others, especially if they are a politician with tough decisions to make.
I have had this discussion several times with fellow fire service professionals. It is something that is also asked of me in a more indirect manner by friends and family when talking about my job. The fire service professional usually has one answer and my family and friends are shocked that there aren’t any standards.
Personally, I believe that there needs to be, at least at the state level, a system that requires continuing education and minimum job performance evaluations. I have heard that the last thing the fire service needs is more unfunded mandates required by non-firefighting personnel. To that comment, I agree. However, it cannot be overlooked that we are in a time and era of firefighting like we have never seen before. We have all heard someone say that “this ain’t your father’s fire service anymore.”
I have been a paramedic for 17 years and I am required to acquire a certain number of continuing education units over a five year period. In addition, the CEU’s must be in particular categories and areas in order to keep me a well rounded educated paramedic. It works and it is expected by the public. After all, do you want a medic that is keeping up with the profession or one that got his license and then never did another thing in his career working on you or your family?
Well, that is exactly what we have in the fire service. We have what I believe is a majority of our peers getting “in” and never doing anything extra. I know firefighters who are more interested in their side jobs and hobbies than they are in the profession in which so many depend on his skills. I have heard one say that he has no desire to go get any extra training or to read the trade publications because he “just isn’t that in to it.” WTF!
I have seen guys fight and fight to get into the academy. They spend ten weeks learning very basic information that must be continually expanded on and re-learned over years to become proficient. Then they get hired and never do another thing in their career. This leave us open for scrutiny and makes the fire service a dangerous place.
Although I am not a big fan of making government a part of the fire service as we know it, I am fearful that if we don’t fix some of our own problems they will fix them for us. Part of the fix should include requiring recertification, fitness testing and job performance evaluations. Now before some of you have a complete seizure, hear me out.
First, there should a required number of CEU’s that must be obtained in each discipline over a predetermined amount of time. For example, you have to get formal training in ventilation, forcible entry, etc, every three years. Yes, your employment would depend on it, just like my medic license. I want to know that the person crawling down the hall is up to date with our SCBA techniques and rescue drills in the event that something goes bad.
As I said before, I don’t think that this should be regulated by a national standard so much as state oversight. The reason I say this, as much as I would like to see a national standard, is that each state is unique in its needs. If you are a firefighter in California you will need more extensive training in wildland than someone in Missouri. The examples are endless, so I believe each state should meet minimum national requirements and then can adapt their own program.
I think we only hurt ourselves when we don’t train and encourage measurable professional development. We owe it to the people we protect and to our peers and to our families to be highly trained and educated professionals. The only way to be “professional” is to continually train and learn about our profession.
First, let thank you all for the comments. There are no right or wrong answers, just great thoughts and ideas for us to all think about and learn from. Now, the rest of the story.
The rest of the story.
There is nothing earth shattering here, but I learned two valuable lessons on this fire.
When we pulled up on this fire, the first arriving engines were all two man cabs. We didn’t have jump seats in any of our trucks at the time. I did some digging and found out that this fire was in 1997.
The drive was narrow and we got hung up in the ditch, blocking the drive right off the bat. Luckily we had multiple trucks rolling at the dispatch and we had adequate personnel.
The first crew stretched a 1 3/4 inch line in through the side B door in the kitchen and advanced up the stairs. The first floor had no smoke or fire at this time. It became apparent fairly quickly that the initial attack was not making any progress.
We advanced a second line, a 2 1/2 inch stretch up the same stairs and made a very fast knock down. The importance of this is that we did this with less than 1000 gallons of water. Why do I stress this?
I have had debates about using large lines when water supplies are limited or late in developing. When asked about using a larger line the response is that they would not use one because they will run out of water too fast. My rebuttal is always that they may just get enough gpm on the fire to put it out before you run out of water. That is exactly what we did. Oh, and two guys handled the hose!
So, lesson 1 is big fire equals big water. If the fire is advanced enough that you will run out of water, it wont make any difference what size your line is. But, the larger line will put out more fire in that short amount of time.
While we were up stairs fighting fire, there was a crew in the living room doing some work. They had started salvage operations in the unaffected part of the house. Understand that we didn’t need extensive ventilation and we had adequate manpower. But, they stacked and covered everything in the living room and did the same in other rooms that were appropriate.
This ended up paying off big with the homeowner. As happy as they were about us putting out their fire, they were just as happy, or even more so, that we protected what had not been damaged by fire but would have been by the water. When they were interviewed by the paper they went on and on about our efforts to protect all of their property.
So, lesson number 2 is to take the time to perform salvage operations if manpower and conditions permit. It is something that is too often overlooked.
By the way, there was no basement here, but all of you are correct in assuming this until you know for sure. All of the responses were great and I really appreciate the time that you took to share.
Stay safe and be careful.
What size line would you take?
This was a fire I was on one night over ten years ago. It was a great learning fire and the tactics had to be changed for a successful stop.
I can tell you that a great deal went right this night and there were things that happened away from the fire that paid huge dividends.
If you are the first arriving unit and officer, explain where your going and what your doing. I’ll give you a little information to help you along.
-This is in a rural area, no hydrants.
-The house is old. Old newspaper and straw were found in the walls during overhaul.
-We had plenty of manpower.
-On side B there is a door that leads to the kitchen and the stairs go up from the kitchen on that side, just so you know.
I would like to see a great deal of feedback on this one. Please let me know what operations would be going on away from the fire. After I get enough comments, I will post what we did and why it worked.
As always, thanks for your continued support and use this however you want for your training purposes.
Stay safe and be careful out there.
When I presented at FDIC I had a few evaluations that were disappointed in the lack of “solutions” to some of the issues that I present. The following is some of what did not get covered at FDIC due to limited time. For those that might have been in the above category at FDIC 2010, I had 1 hour 45 minutes to fit a 4 hour class.
So, I hope this addresses some of those concerns. It does not address all of them, but hits the point of Crisis Leadership. However, I believe that you can apply much of what is in this submission to most situations, just slightly modified.
Thanks for reading and please pass on any ideas or methods that you have used that have been successful.
As always, stay safe and keep hydrated in this heat.
When I teach my class “A Firefighter’s Own Worst Enemy” I discuss behaviors and actions that are detrimental to the person, his fellow firefighters, the officers and the organization. One of the biggest factors in this equation is leadership.
We toss that word around in the fire service all of the time, yet, I am not so sure many know what it really means to be a leader. We have all seen the promotion happen and the new officer expects to be a leader but has never had any real leadership training and hasn’t practiced leadership prior to the promotion. Leadership is more than just bossing people around and making decisions about what the daily schedule is going to be. It is even more than telling your folks what to do on the fire ground.
There are many aspects of leadership, but today we are going to talk about leadership during rough times. I’m going to focus on crisis leadership and how it relates to how we cultivate our people in the fire house and on the fire ground. We have to prepare them to make decisions. Let’s face it, you are not always going to be there to guide them, so we have to set them up to succeed.
As was mentioned in the above paragraph, we have to practice leadership. It doesn’t just show up and is not obtainable for everyone. Sure, there are characteristics and methods that you can copy and learn from other leaders, but the fact is that you have to create some of your own style based on the people you are leading and the goals of the organization. One of the most important parts of our profession is preparing our people for battle.
Firefighters must make split-second decisions that result in life or death consequences. In some circumstances what we do and the decisions we make could determine whether or not someone lives or dies. It could be the people that we protect or us. We have to instill in our firefighters and officers the ability to make those decisions and the education and training to make the correct decisions.
When we speak of crisis leadership, we are talking about decisions during an emergency. Sure, a crisis could happen in the firehouse, but for this article, I am speaking of fire ground decision making. That is where we are getting injured and killed and where some of our decisions are most important. But, the molding of good leaders will carry over into the firehouse, making the company and organization better.
When you are a company officer, you have to lead by example and your expectations must be made clear. It is not a matter of coming in and telling everyone that you are in charge and that they must listen to you. It is a matter of you coming in and showing that you are in charge and the leader by your actions. You present yourself the way you want your firefighters to present themselves. You convey a positive attitude and you don’t complain about everything that is wrong with the place or the job. Additionally, you train and work hard and you put great effort into improvement and you’re cool under pressure.
If you want your people to be calm and collected during times of crisis, take a look at the leader and that will tell you if the crew is or isn’t. During crisis moments, the leader must set a direction that is clear and concise. The initial decisions are crucial and will dictate how the rest of the incident goes. The leader will evaluate the situation at hand and determine what tactics to take, what resources will be needed and will already be thinking of a backup plan.
If things start to go bad, the good leader doesn’t get flustered and will not stick to failed plan just because he is worried about how he will be judged. He understands that plans don’t always work, even when based on good information. Changing a course of action, even in the fire house, when something is not working is a true sign of a leader. It isn’t so much admitting that you are wrong, but that you can adapt and change the course of action to get to the desired outcome. This teaches them to make decisions and not to be afraid of being wrong.
With these leadership skills we are obligated to pass along to our people the decision making skills that are necessary to be effective during a crisis. By doing this, we ensure their progress as a firefighter and future officer, but we also ensure that when you are not there, they are confident enough to make tough decisions without retribution. This is crucial and will be discussed more in a future article.
If a leader is truly a leader, he will be able to get buy-in or commitment of his decisions. This is not based on his authority for rank necessarily, but rather on the trust he has built over time. As he has made decisions with his team, they have learned that his decisions are based on the overall good of the company and not self-motivated. This type of commitment is important for the leader to have during times of crisis. Typically it results in clear communication and a common goal between the leader and the crew.
The ultimate result is a crisis situation that goes smoothly and is successfully mitigated. That is what it’s all about anyway, right? In addition, you are showing your team members how to be leaders and not telling them how. Remember, leadership is not something that you get or have and then that’s it. Leadership is a dynamic process by which you are able to continually motivate people to do the things that they want to do very well along with getting them to do the things they don’t want to do even better. If they trust your purpose of your motivations, they will continue to operate as a well oiled machine while at the same time making you look very good.
What do you see that makes you say, Hmmmm?
Take a look at this picture and tell me what you see?
It isn’t the operations, necessarily, that I want you to see here.
This is why the officer/s need to be aware and not get tunnel vision.
Too many times I have seen new and veteran officers take the nozzle from the back stepper and go barreling in without any regard for what is going on around him. His days on the nozzle are over for the most part. His job now is to see the conditions and to take a look at the big picture.
So, what do you see?
Stay safe and be careful out there.
When I first saw this picture one particular characteristic caught my attention.
In my area, and I am sure it is the same in many other jurisdictions, people are trying to do more with what they have.
We are finding more families living together and they must make some accomodations for those added individuals. What I am referring to is the garage being converted into living space.
I understand that this is not unusual and the practice can make a really nice family room or large master bedroom. The difference we have been seeing is that they still look like garages from the outside. When’s the last time you searched the garage as part of your primary search?
Just be aware and consider this on your next fire. This also is a reason you need to stay familiar with your area. And, the next time your on a “routine” residential fire, you might just want to check the garage.
Stay safe and be careful.
With the fire service and others taking this day and weekend to remember the Charleston 9, along with other high profile LODD, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to look at how we can specifically apply the recommendations that were listed in the report on the Charleston Super Sofa Fire.
I am going to do this just one at a time and I will likely take several weeks to cover them all. It is very likely that some will intermingle with others, and will be covered together.
Today I want to look at pre-incident planning. For me, this starts with when the building is being built. In reality, it is a combination of both, during construction and visits and regular intervals.
conduct pre-incident planning inspections of buildings within their jurisdictions to facilitate development of safe fireground strategies and tactics
Light weight, engineered floor joists.
Today, we stopped in on a new restaurant. As you can see from the photo it is all light weight, engineered construction.
The comment was made that we need not enter this building if it burns. Well, in an ideal world that is correct.
The fact is is that we just don’t know what we will be tasked with doing if this building catches fire. We can’t predict what time of day or who will or will not be in it. What we can do, however, is know what this building is made of and the hazards associated with those materials and products of construction.
We also must be prudent in our tactics when arriving, like lifting ceiling tiles before we get too far in the building, looking for fire running above us.
This visit provided some great information aside from the type of construction and those hazards associated with them. First, the building is completely sprinklered. That is a plus. We located the FDC and the nearest hydrant. Both good things.
Concealed spaces over the booths.
We found that this concealed space had sprinklers dropped down to the ceiling level, but none were in the space or immediately above it. An easy place for fire to spread quickly.
As we discussed earlier in the post, most would say we don’t need to enter this building. In theory I agree, but we never know what we are facing when we arrive.
Something that we learned was that there is an area on the east side of this building, Side D, that is built with dimensional lumber and is sprinklered as well. The roof construction is not truss and the walls are all dimensional studs. What can we take away from this?
Side D construction was different than the rest of the building.
We discussed that if there needed to be an attempt to make entry, it would be best to try to take a stand from this area. It is not part of the rest of the roof system and will likely hold up a little longer with the dimensional lumber.
Another idea was that RIT would be staged near this entrance if there would happen to be interior crews making a rescue or knocking down what was perceived as a small fire. They know that there is a straight shot to the middle of the building through a more secure type of construction.
With all that being said, accessibility to the building needs to be looked at; where will multiple units be staged? Where will you place ladders and are there overhead dangers?
It is important to look at all of these factors to make a good decision based on prior knowledge. We also understand that Plan A doesn’t always work so have a Plan B ready based on the planning you did on the building.
There are many other components about pre-incident planning that I didn’t mention, but hopefully you get the point. Get out and visit these sites. Be involved and have discussions about how you would perform at a fire here.
Above all, don’t let the lives lost at any LODD be lives lost in vain. Learn from their mistakes, but don’t be critical, we have all screwed up and been lucky enough to get away with it. Be constructive and train on the recommendations so that you don’t repeat history.
Stay safe and please, never forget those lost in the line of duty. We owe them our promise to train hard and to learn from them.
Please visit this site regularly.
Over the next days and weeks you may see this banner on many of the blog sites that you visit to get your emergency services fix.
We have been asked to support this initiative to bring honor to those that have fallen and for the families that have been left without their loved ones.
Starting this Friday, there will be a feature of one of the 105 fallen firefighters that will be honored and remembered at this years memorial service. Dave Statter writes, “The feature will include a link to something else that is new this year, a virtual version of the Remembrance Banner. The Remembrance Banner is normally available for family and friends to sign while in Emmitsburg for Memorial Weekend. Now there is a way for those who can’t make the trip to be a part of the tribute.”
Please take the time to visit this site and to tell your friends and co-workers about the tribute. We must never forget these brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Thanks and stay safe. Never forget.
This post comes on the heels of some discussion and training scenarios that we had at work. We have had the lapel microphones for our radios for a few years now, but it was a bit of a joke. Depending on who you relieved in the morning depended on whether the lapel mic was on that particular radio or not.
I had some Captains that hated them and would take them off as soon as they got on the truck and others did the exact opposite. Which, in turn happened with everyone else on the truck and we lost mics and so on an so on.
I personally like the lapel mics for the simple reason that you can get to it and get your “voice” closer to the mic when geared up and on air. Once you place your radio in a pocket and put your SCBA on, it can be almost impossible to get it out and talk on it.
Of course the argument from our dissenters is that the mic cord gets tangled up and it is a pain in the butt when you don’t need it. It is also difficult to re-clip the mic onto your coat or SCBA with gloves on.
I maintain that you have a better chance getting to the mic if you get into trouble as compared to the radio in a pocket.
What is the rest of the country and world doing?
Let us know your opinions and experiences.
Stay safe and thanks for reading.
How are you assigned? Or are you?
This is more of a poll question that I would really like a lot of input on.
How are you assigned?
Do you run separate engine, truck and rescue companies?
Do you run with predetermined assignments based on your arrival order?
Are your people assigned tasks by seating?
Or, do you arrive and wait for an assignment from the IC?
These questions came up in a recent conversation with several people on multiple occasions. I am really interested to know how the rest of the country is doing “it” and what trends are being followed.
This is especially interesting with the unfortunate budget cuts and reductions in staffing in some jurisdictions.
Let us know what is going on out there, we really look forward to your feedback.
Check out this article by Lance Peeples from the Webster Groves Fire Department in St. Louis County. I know Lance very well and he is a great fire service leader and carries the torch for increased training on the basics and for firefighter safety.
Tell Lance how much you like his article on his Fire Engineering page and give feed back about it. I know he would appreciate it.
Photo by Lance Peeples from Fire Engineering.
What do you notice that could be crucial to your decisions?
We have recently had discussions about size up, so I thought this would be a good picture to post.
If you are the officer pulling up on this one and nobody is out front, what are some immediate “red flags?”
I know this one is easy, but it just drives the point home.
What if this was a vacant house and you noted the same conditions and “red flags?” Would it change how you approach this fire?
What would be your tactics and how much would you risk as the first arriving officer?
Let’s talk fire!
Stay safe and keep training.
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure to and honor to be a guest on Firefighter Netcast hosted by Rhett Fleitz of The Fire Critic and John Mitchell from Fire Daily. It truly was a great experience and I want to thank John and Rhett (the most interesting man in the world!) for the opportunity.
The two of them were great hosts and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I just hope I met their expectations and the ratings didn’t drop too bad.
Anyway, if you haven’t taken a look and a listen to what John and Rhett are doing, you are missing out. They are having conversations with guests from all spectrums of the fire service. This is going to set the standard for fire service podcasts, in my opinion.
I after three weeks, I just now listened to the webcast that I did with John and Rhett. I had a great deal of trepidation to listen to myself. I had no hesitations in doing the show, but I don’t like to listen to myself, it just seems weird. To my surprise, John edited the show in a manner that was first class and actually made me sound okay. Not great and you may have a different opinion, but it was tolerable.
A Firefighter’s Own Worst Enemy-Firefighter Netcast
I am providing you the link to the show and please go back and listen to all of their past shows. You can also catch Art Chief Reason with his new show, The Voice of Reason, which debuted last week and was a huge success. Stay tuned because Tiger Schmittendorf will debut his new show, too. And, to make it real easy, you can catch them on iTunes Podcasts and download to your iPod or iPhone.
I have met all of these guys with the exception of Chief Art, and they are all first class. I have talked to Art and he doesn’t lack in the area of class. Here is the thing; tune in to when these shows are live. Get on the chat rooms and call in. These guests and the hosts want your input, suggestions and questions. This is here for you, the firefighter and emergency worker. These people are here to provide you with information and they really care about what you need and the questions that you have.
So, check them out and thanks for all of the support thus far. Give us feedback and feel free to send in your ideas and suggestions. If you have material you want to have posted, send it in and we’ll get it up with credit to you.
As always, take care and stay safe out there.
Last night I had the pleasure to listen to and get in on a discussion on Art Chief Reason’s new FirefighterNetcast radio show. The show was fantastic and the content was interesting and stimulating. However, the topic that came up that really got my attention was when he and Dave dove into the subject of risk vs. benefit and safety vs. extinguishment. I know, I know, this has been beaten with a sledge hammer over our collective heads for the last year or so. But, I just can’t figure one thing out; when did it become okay to perform different risk analysis and size-ups for assumed different buildings?
Now listen, I understand that if a vacant building is leaning and crumbling you have to take a different approach, but overall, your first 90 seconds should be very similar, if not the same, on every a call. I don’t buy into the segregation of calls and how you look at them in theoretical terms. I think that this is a crash course for failure. Oh, and I get that a commercial building is different from a residential building, but the basics are the same.
Before you start slamming me on this, hear me out. We are taught as company officers to size-up a call and/or building as soon as we get the dispatch. We should be familiar with our area and resources that are or are not backing us up. We should be more than competent at basic size-up skills and ideally get a look at three sides of the building before we ever get off the apparatus. We can determine within seconds and relay to our back stepper what size line to pull and give instructions to incoming units before we hit the ground.
We have heard of and there are some teaching victim profiling; determining if there is someone in the building or not and if it is survivable. While I understand what is trying to be done in regards to keeping ourselves safe, why should it be any different from your size-up and basic training as a company officer? A building is tenable or it is not, no matter if it is occupied or not occupied.
Decisions, decisions.
It seems to me that the real problem is intermingled between fewer fires, thus we have less real-world experience. The second part of this is that we have not compensated for that lack of real-world experience as a whole. The experience we cannot help, but the training has to change for company officers and improve.
The fire officer when confronted with a crisis situation pulls from past experiences to determine what he should do. Those past experiences include actual calls, education and training. We have already determined that we are all getting less experience because fires are down. The other part of this is that the training has to be meaningful and relevant.
If our training doesn’t match what we are expected to do under extreme circumstances, we will fail to make the proper decision at those times. So, when the company officer pulls up and has a working fire in any building, he is pulling from his past experiences, or lack of, to make his decision on a course of action to take. This is critical and I think it goes back to mastering the basics and being able to identify potentially hazardous conditions at any fire without trying to run down two separate matrixes based on occupied/unoccupied. That is just confusing.
When an officer pulls up to the building or situation his experience and training will kick in if trained appropriately. Whether it is a two-story, occupied house or a single-story vacant house, the process should be the same and the decisions made from the same variables identified by the company officer.
–What is showing?
–What kind of construction?
–Life safety indicators?
–Conditions at present time and where will they be in 5 minutes?
–360
–Is it safe to enter or is it not?
These seem simple, but several other factors can be determined from each of these and the company officer will make these decisions in seconds and minutes. If the building is not safe to enter, don’t enter. If there is a chance to search safely, whether occupied or not, search. If the building can safely be entered to extinguish the fire, whether occupied or not, enter and extinguish the fire. If the building is not structurally sound, occupied or not, don’t enter. Why make it so hard?
I truly believe we can over think some of this. If we have officers making bad decisions, we need to look at our training and drills. We need to look at what emphasis we put on career/professional development and make sure our fire ground leaders are competent. But, don’t confuse the issue by buzz phrases and methods that just complicate fire ground decisions.
The bottom line is that the sooner we put a fire out, the better opportunity any victims will have. Use common sense and training and past experiences to make prudent, sound decisions that take into account all factors.
I am sure that I will rub someone the wrong way with this, but I have been kicking this around for a long time and thought I would try to put in the blogosphere. So, no offense meant and train hard and frequently. Don’t complicate things, remember our mission and master the basics.
Tenable or not tenable, vacant or not.
Ahhh, the good ole days!
Are you making a difference? It is a simple question that requires a “yes” or “no” answer. So, which is it?
The fire service is full of opportunities for people to take advantage of to better themselves. Are you taking advantage of those opportunities?
It is easy to go to work and sit down at the kitchen table and complain about what needs to be done that day. It is easy to come into work and complain about training or not doing it unless we are directed. It is easy to go home and completely forget about the job and never take another class outside of work again. Are we doing our best?
I recently had some folks complain about the amount of training we do at my career department. (He thinks we do too much!) The bad thing is that it was coming from a captain! My comment was simple, what is enough? He has a daughter who plays sports and I asked about how and when she practiced. He explained that she did practice at least 3 times a week.
Then I asked if she practiced after her games began and he answered “yes.” Why, I asked, the games have started and they should be experts by this time, so why are they still practicing since the games have started? He started to see where this was going and started to get agitated with me.
I simply wanted to know if his daughter’s coach would quit practicing just because the games had started and he finally caved and said that no, they kept practicing. Of course they keep practicing. Skills fade and you need to prepare for the next team.
You hear pro teams talk about it all of the time; we have to watch game film, we have to prepare for their defensive schemes or we just weren’t as prepared as they were. It is no different for us. Our enemy never takes a day off. Our opponent never quits and is always ready to take us out. We have to keep preparing.
We know of the guy that gets out of the academy and never does anything extra for the rest of his career. The guy that gets promoted and then calls it quits on training and classes. This is not the way to beat the other team for 30 years of a career.
We must continually train and gain knowledge. Not only on new issues but, we must re-learn things that we have forgotten or not done in a while. We owe it to ourselves to be safe and experts in our profession so we get home safe to our family. We also owe our partners to be as good as we can be so that they have the confidence in us to know that we will be there if something goes bad.
Look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Am I doing enough?”. Be honest, are you doing enough to make a difference?
Is one day a month, like this particular captain wants to train, enough for you? I hope not. You have to stay motivated and keep up the fight. Train and keep training. Read and keep reading. Take classes and pass on the information.
Be fair to yourself, your family and your fellow firefighters; make a difference and do the right things.
Take care and stay safe!
For those that might be going to FDIC and might be planning to attend my class, (which I am getting nervous about) this is an excerpt from a book I am attempting to write on the subject matter.
If you do come to my class, just leave your rotten fruit and bricks at the door. Be mindful, this excerpt is only a portion of what is taught during the class.
Feel free to comment, but be gentle, please. : )
Hope to see you all at FDIC and travel safe.
One of the first things I came to enjoy when I first got hired as a career firefighter was the morning bullshit sessions at the kitchen table. This was a time when everyone sat around the kitchen table and fixed their morning cup of “Joe” and selected items for breakfast. This usually happen after shift change and the oncoming crew was set on their trucks. The talk usually started in the engine bay and worked itself up the stairs to the kitchen.
The discussions consisted of how families were the prior day’s events and the rumor mill or grapevine. In fact, our chief at that department eventually put up a newsletter he dubbed the “grapevine” and hung it in the kitchen since that is where all of the “information” came from anyway. Regardless, conversations were spirited at times and most of us learned who was creating their own theories and realities and those who were steady and level headed. As a young, new firefighter at this department, it wasn’t always easy to distinguish who to listen to and follow.
This is an important issue. Whether we realize it or not, what we say around new firefighters will influence them for the rest of their careers. We will discuss this a little later, but we need to remember this and pay attention to what we are saying and what others are saying. We all have an opportunity to quell rumors and inaccurate statements or those things that are not conducive to a positive attitude. We don’t need rank or title to be leaders in the fire service.
The kitchen table has made leaders and ruined others. It has started rumors that were damaging and it has redeemed men from mistakes made. Some have solved problems around this eating surface and problems have been created at the same setting. Sometimes the cup we drink from and offer is sweet and others offer poison. We, as men and women of honor and integrity must know and learn the difference and do our best to stop the spread of damaging comments and attitudes.
This table is diverse and it does not discriminate. We basically bring our problems and lay them out there for others to listen to and give validation to. Most that I have seen don’t like being told they are wrong or that they were the problem and not the other person or circumstance. With that being said, most of what we perceive is what we base our judgments on. These judgments are accurate or not, based on the information we have or what we perceived to have. In some instances, we simply hear what we want to hear. We have all done the experiment in some leadership or management class where the first person in the front row is told a phrase and by the time it gets to the rear of the room, it is altered. Not purposefully, but simply because each person hears things or wants to hear things differently, which changes their perception or creates it.
Deploy your people. You are the big boss on this one, what next?
You are the incident commander on this fire. You can deploy who ever you want where ever you want.
I am allowing for your normal response of resources. No cheating!
Don’t worry about what is going on with the personnel in the picture; pretend they are not there.
Explain your size-up and the building characteristics.
Deploy your resources accordingly through what ever a first alarm will bring you. If you want to expand your alarms, hey, have at it. Just let us know.
Sit down with your crews and work this out.
This fire came in as a house fire, unknown victims, called in by the neighbors.
Have fun with it, pass it on, and be safe.
This picture says a lot to me. I know that it is a still frame and only a fraction of a second in time, but I believe it is telling.
We have fire venting from the Alpha side upper window, and from the Bravo side near the eaves. There is no doubt that we have a good working job.
How many times do we see chaos from all parties involved when we show up to a fire like this. Adrenaline is pumping and people are excited and ready to go. Sometimes too much so.
With all of the chaos and effort to be first in, too many times we forget our assignments or tasks. Everyone can’t be first in and the other jobs are just as important.
Looking at this picture I get the impression that these are some cool cats. You have a team raising a ladder. You have a team with a hose line ready. It looks like the officer is getting his stuff on a little behind his hose crew, maybe from completing his 360. And there is a firefighter propping open the door.
This looks organized just from what I can see. It looks good and I bet they took it to it.
Know your assignments and do them. The best attack is a coordinated one when everyone is doing what needs to be done to accomplish the overall goal; safely get in and out after putting the fire out and removing all victims.
You must train this way and trust your crew for this to happen. So, get out of the recliner today and do something as a team. Ask about assignments if you have questions and train, train, train, and train some more.
Take care and stay safe.
You may remember a few weeks ago I posted about the origins of this blog and the title. Well, here is one topic of the class that I will be presenting at FDIC and that I did at Missouri Winter Fire School.
Understand, this is only part of a dynamic that we need to understand as fire service leaders and as future leaders. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts, experiences and view.
Thanks for reading and stay safe.
Respect is a word that is used too frequently in the fire service and in many cases is not used correctly or in the correct context. We use the chain of command for our emergency scenes and for our communication and disciplinary actions. The guy at the top is the Chief and is the ultimate superior in that chain and organizational chart. Although being at the top demands respect, it should not be assumed that it is there waiting for you when you move up the ranks. Respect is earned, not given.
I have witnessed officers that have gotten promoted and believed that they are automatically due the respect of their crew and of the organization. This creates a real problem for both the officer and his crew from the onset. The officer feels rejected because he is not receiving the respect he feels he deserves and the crew feels forced into following a leader who is perceived to be power hungry. Both sides are wrong and only good communication and mutual respect for each other will cure this ailment.
As an officer, you have added responsibility and become a management tool in one form or another. Although you have just been promoted and will now be viewed as an officer, your people will recall your prior actions to determine your initial level of respectability. Right, wrong or indifferent, what you did and how you acted and how you treated others before you were promoted will play a large role in how you are viewed and their respect for you or lack of respect will be based on those previous observations.
It is very difficult for power mongers to earn respect from his/her people. The officer that puts himself above his people is doomed to fail and discord will surround him and it will filter down through the organization. The harder an officer tries to demand and gain respect when he has done nothing to earn it, the faster he loses credibility and the more transparent he becomes in regards to his motives and values. It will not take long for this officer to feel frustrated and unwelcome in many circles in the fire house.
The officer who demands respect and does not earn it is typically one who feels that he “deserves” what he has and that the title dictates that he be respected. Although the position must be respected, the person who fills that title can do little to gain the respect of his peers and subordinates unless he takes steps to earn the respect by his actions and attitudes. It is not enough to wear a gold badge and some trumpets to get respect; you must put the organization and the people that you are supposed to lead before yourself. Over time, by putting others first, an officer will slowly earn the respect of his people and peers. But, it won’t happen overnight.
Being promoted is more than wearing a white shirt and gold badge; it is a responsibility to make the organization a better place when you leave it. One of the primary jobs of an officer is to make sure the person that takes your place is better than you are. If that is not accomplished, the organization becomes stagnant and reactive. I like to look at it as a pond vs. a stream. The pond sits and grows algae and gets a film on it from the water just sitting. It is not inviting to drink from or swim in to cool off. Sometimes it even stinks. The stream is clear, cool and refreshing. You would not hesitate to cool off in this stream and to fill your canteen from it. The area is clean and the rocks are smoothed over from the many years of the stream flowing over them. Which is your organization? The fresh, cool, free running stream or the dank, scummy pond? Your leaders must decide where they would rather swim.
I am back and will continue the discussion on vacant buildings.
First, I appoligize for not posting all weekend, I was at Missouri Winter Fire School teaching. It was a great weekend and everyone was pleasant and eager to learn.
When I left, I had posted a picture and gave a scenario of a vacant building. Vacant buildings and how we approach them is a hot topic right now. We have some chiefs and firefighters arguing that we need to write-off all vacant buildings.
On the otherhand, we have firefighters and some officers that argue that we should search all buildings that are on fire because that was what we were sworn to do. I understand both points.
While teaching this weekend this topic was brought up and the very vocal crowd, and the majority immediately said, “Let ‘em burn.” Their setement was that we should not be entering these buildings because they are “vacant.”
I then asked the question, “Are all vacant buildings decrepit and delapidated?” The answer is absolutely not. Many vacant buildings are just that; not occupied. It doesn’t mean that they are falling down and structurally unsound.
I pose this scenario. If a couple leaves their winter home for five months out of the year for warmer weather, is that building abandoned? Most said , “no.” Would the “let it burn” montra apply in that situation and why or why not? Well, most said no it would not apply.
Listen, I am not sure why this is so difficult. In a way I do because I understand the history of some very famous LODD that have happen in abandoned buildings. But, at the same time, we are seeing and hearing reports of homeless and vagrants being rescued and found in these vacant buildings.
So, what do we do? Here is what I am suggesting and you are free to disagree. If we use the same risk management system and the risk vs. benefit anaylysis, this becomes less of an issue. If your first arriving units are adequately trained, confident in their decision making abilities and familiar with their area, they perform like they would at any other building.
Just because a building is occupied does not make it inherently safe if it is on fire. The same is true for vacant buildings; just because it is vacant does not make inherently dangerous just because it is vacant. It also doesn’t mean it isn’t occupied.
Do your size up, get three sides when you pull up. Get your 360 and make an evaluation of conditions inside and those of the building. If conditions are poor and survivability is not possible, don’t put your people at risk.
If the structure appears to be sound, the fire conditions are condusive for an aggressive search and attack, then it should be done. The same rules apply for occupied structures. You may take more risk for an occupied structure if you don’t konw that all occupants are out. But, you still will measure conditions and survivability, especially if you have confirmation everyone is out. Use the same judgment and experience with vacant buildings.
The bottom line is that properly trained firefighters and company officers will make the right decision. IF they don’t, adequately trained and experienced chief officers need to make sure the correct decision is made and the proper battle plan is followed.
Use your head and don’t let your ego and emotions rule your actions. It could get you and your crew killed. Take your time to call on good practices and experience to see the overall picture.
Until next time, stay safe and be careful.
Here is what I need you to do...
Okay, you are the officer with this group on the deck/porch.
There still hasn’t been a confirmation of victims being out. They might be, they might not be.
Another company is pulling up with four including the operator.
Make your assignments and explain your tactics. I understand we can’t see the rear and or the B side. But, this is fun and illustrative.
Let’s have fun with it and get your crews involved.
Stay safe and train for real.
I am not going to add any commentary here since I don’t know the entire story behind why or how this has all transpired. I did my best with the email that I received and the image of the letter.
If you want a better copy, email me and I will forward it to you.
Stay safe and be careful.
I tried to copy the image and it did not work, it was too tiny.
The letter is dated January 22, 2010 to Bob Barger, DFBLS from Arizona State Fire Marshal Phil Mele.
“Please accept this memorandum as my formal notice of retirement from State service effective March 26, 2010.
I could not have imagined a better way to end 33-year career in the Arizona Fire Service than I have experienced working for you and with the dedicated staff of the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
During my tenure as State Fire Marshal, I believe, the true critical nature of the position was being recognized, by the state’s fire service and public we serve. The mission of the Office of the State Fire Marshal does, in fact, provide for the public safety through its fire prevention responsibilities as well as in the education and training of the State’s firefighters.
I leave with the belief that the State must recognize this responsibility and the significance of our mission. The recognition must also provide continued support of the activities of Office of the State Fire Marshal for the benefit of Arizona’s citizens and firefighters.
Thanks you for giving me the opportunity to serve the citizens and firefighters of Arizona.”
This is fairly good sized single-family home. Fire has vented at the ridge, at least appears as such.
We have not confirmed that everyone is out in this late night fire.
There is a basement and most of the bedrooms are on the upper floors. Those are not fake dormers.
How do you procede and what are your main concerns and why?
What is your size up and as the first officer, what is your first action?
Get your company together and hammer this one out.
Stay safe and train hard.
These two firefighters need to switch their roles. The one on the bottom of the ladder appears ready to go.
The one at the top in the window with fire above his head does not appear to have an SCBA on. At least I don’t see it on his back.
Wearing yous PPE completely and correctly is and should be mandatory.
There is fire above this firefighter and they are taking part in suppression efforts. He is at risk RIGHT NOW!
The firefighter should and probably does know better. But, that is why we need competent fire officers, to tell firefighters that get in too big of a hurry or forget, to put on their PPE.
Safety on the fire ground is everyone’s responsibility. It starts with us personally and then on to the officers.
Stand up and make safety a priority all the time. Stay safe and remember, EGH!
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