May 2009 Blog Posts (130)

Big Promotion

May 1, I made it to Chief. Fire Marshal for Salt Lake City! Yeehaa!

Added by Martha Ellis on May 4, 2009 at 1:35am — 17 Comments

I am writing my research paper for english on should it be nessecary for a career firefighter to have basic EMT training. I was going to try to get some input from true career firefighters. I personally believe that there should be at least 3-4 on each shift who are trained in emt but not all should be required to. what do you think? anything posted could help.

Added by Dylan Blake Zachary on May 4, 2009 at 12:25am — 3 Comments

International Firefighters Day - May 4, 2009

Take a moment to stop and thank a firefighter, their family or their colleagues in the fire organisation today. If you're a firefighter take time to thank a fellow firey, one or more of your mentors (perhaps they have retired or moved on from your fire organisation) or even a firey from a different organisation, service or country.

Today with modern communication we can touch the lives of people on the other side of the world so why don't… Continue

Added by Glyne Alleyne on May 3, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Somewhere In the Middle or Just On the Fence

Over the last couple of weeks a tremendous amount of blogs have been posted and comments given about a recent speech given at the 2009 FDIC conference. Lt. Ray McCormack from FDNY stood in front of thousands and spoke to the culture war that is raging in our midst. He spoke about a culture of fear vs. a culture of extinguishment. What I gained from his dialogue was the fire service must remember our reason for existence, the people we serve. If the organization whose purpose it is to perform… Continue

Added by Mike Walker on May 3, 2009 at 8:26pm — 5 Comments

Lost or trapped Firefighters? MAYDAYAIR.COM

Hey everybody, Have any of you heard about this new product on the market called Mayday air? Its an adapter to replace the MMR in the event that you run out of air. I don't want to say to much for fear that it will sould like I am advertising for the company, but in fact it seems like a great solution for the trapped or lost FF who is about to run out of air. Check out the website at www.maydayair.com. Let me know what you guys think about the product. Maybe I'm not looking into it enough, but… Continue

Added by Don on May 2, 2009 at 5:47pm — 12 Comments

"Does God Have Enough Hands...?" (Written 17-Sept-01 by: B.A. Ellis)

Who of us can ever forget that terrible Tuesday morning of Sept 11th, 2001? I was not yet a firefighter at that time, and had not even ever really thought of becoming one, But looking back, I think perhaps, it was a seed, one of many, planted in my heart, that played a role in my becoming a firefighter. Who can ever forget the loyallty, dedication, and bravery of our Brothers/Sisters who got "that call," and those we lost that day? I often write poems and songs etc & have since I was about… Continue

Added by Brent A. Ellis on May 2, 2009 at 10:42am — 6 Comments

Word of Mouth

"Word of Mouth" from Firefighter Behavior

In fire departments our most influential training opportunities are not necessarily the yearly recertifications or the latest seminars but the working fire. Our trade is a hands on service where the majority of learning is done by doing. We go to fires; we stretch hoselines; we search rooms; we open up the roof. And if we happen to not do any of those… Continue

Added by Bill Carey on May 2, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

Safety Culture vs. Extinguishment Culture – Smart Fire Departments Can Have BOTH!

If you have a personal or departmental "Extinguishment Culture", would you grab a line and enter this flashed over abandoned house that is showing signs of impending collapse? If you have a personal or departmental "Safety Culture", would you wear your SCBA , a traffic safety vest, and crank a PPV fan while sitting in the rig a half-mile down the street? Chances are, if you are a U.S. firefighter, you'll choose an option somewhere… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on May 1, 2009 at 8:30pm — 12 Comments

Before You Buy A Car

INTERESTING...maybe the country should consider bailing them out to some degree

Nothing needs to be said... Ford, Chrysler and GM's contributions after 9/11

An interesting commentary...You might find this of interest:

'CNN Headline News did a short news listing regarding Ford and GM's

contributions to the relief and recovery efforts in New York and Washington .

The findings are as follows.....

1. Ford- $10 million to American Red Cross… Continue

Added by Kayla Mowrey on May 1, 2009 at 6:30pm — 5 Comments

Project Graduation-- History of Firefighting

Ok... I never blog.. but here goes

I am a junior in high school. When we are in the 11th grade we start on this thing called Project Graduation. What we have to do is A)pick a topic that we like B) do a TON of research on the topic C) do all kinds of other stuff in relation to our topic D) Write a 5-8 page paper on it E) and present it to some judges and pray that you do good.

I chose my topic to be the History of Firefighting. I am trying to come up with a catchy title… Continue

Added by Stephany Greene on May 1, 2009 at 11:15am — 1 Comment