Not sure it ever worked in the first place

We are in a fascinating period of time for the fire service.  Never before have the resources (financial, physical and mental) been greater.  We are finally looking at fires, how they burn, how conditions change.  We are looking a fuel packages, flow paths.  We are discussing heat release rates and polar…

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Never before have we had the information we do now

FACE 2011-31 On December 23, 2011, a 42-year-old male career fire fighter died during fire-fighting operations on the 2nd floor of a three-story apartment building. The victim was assigned to Engine 5 (E5) with a lieutenant and driver/pump operator. E5 was the first-due engine company at this fire. The Incident Commander ordered E5 to take a 1¾"…

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"Quid est veritas?"

 

 

 

In this classic scene from ‘A Few Good Men’, Danny Kaffee is questioning Lt. Col Nathan Jessop about the use of a ‘Code Red’ that resulted in the death of a Marine. Colonel Jessop’s…

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Video bites, Facebook morsels continually shape our education

 

 

As we look at the evolution of training in the fire service, we must realize that we are at a time like never before experienced. Today there is the availability of information at a moment’s notice. Fires occur and are on YouTube before the companies finish making up. There are…

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I think I finally put it all together….I understand it now.  Call it an epiphany or a moment of clarity, but suddenly it all made sense.  During a recent class the instructor made several references to the standard EGH ethos, “We come first” and “Risk a lot to save a lot”.  As I listened though, I understood that while he spoke of these things, his perspective was different. …

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Check out the new interactive tour we are creating at the Fire Museum of Maryland. Children learn about how the paid Baltimore City Fire Department was created and why.

Then the students fight the Clay Street Fire of 1873 on a 77 inch, Smartboard as they role-play as actual firemen from that time period, see the flyer attachment.…

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Many of you have taken Firefighter Survival Training.  While it varies from place to place, depending on the instructors, the core information and intent is the same, to prepare firefighters to save themselves when things go wrong.  From bailouts to low profile maneuvers to breathing control, all these things are taught to teach firefighters what to do when things gone wrong and they get…

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According to some, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  It would appear that this applies to Charleston, South Carolina based on a report based on a fire that occurred in 2010.

The Post and Courier published an article…

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For those of you that follow the news and happenings of the fire service, you may have noticed an increase in the number of bailouts reported. Now certainly some of this is a result of the media figuring out that a firefighter bailing out isn’t a normal occurrence, so as one outlet begins reporting it, others follow suit. But it begs the question, why? Why are so many of our brothers bailing out? Have that many incidents occurred where things have gone that wrong?



This year’s Safety… Continue