I have had a bad case of writers block and just haven’t been able to settle on a topic for a new post and the then rains came. Man did it rain here in Colorado for the last couple of days; it has rained on a biblical level. One area south of Colorado Springs received 9 inches of rain in four hours.…

I have a question. Why is it that most firefighter shifts start around 7:00 am? Why are firefighters forced to deal with rush hour traffic and add to the rush hour mess? After all we work a 24 hour shift, why couldn’t we begin our day at say 10:00am or 11:00am?…

More and more of my firemen friends are retiring, this is the result of hiring large recruit academies in the early 80’s. I have gone to a few retirement parties to wish my friends well in retirement land and to see other retirees.…

I have been asked if Firefighters are good in bed and since I’ve only slept with one, my ex-wife, I have a very limited data base on the subject. I won’t discuss my ex-wife in this post as that is far too private for a blog. I will offer some stories about firefighters in bed that I do know all too well.…

Becoming a firefighter is quite a process and always has been. The testing has taken many forms over the years. When I tested in the early 80s it was so grueling I vomited following the physical agility test and had to sit in my car for 10-15 minutes before I could drive.…

I have had a lot of friends ask me how do firefighters feel about all the things that have happened this week in America, from the Boston Marathon to West, Texas and the many other tragic events less reported. I can’t speak for all firefighters and would never attempt something so arrogant as to try and express how it feels to lose a…

There is a life cycle for a firefighter. Some people say as a child, I want to be a firefighter when I grow up and they do. Some like me fall into it and now a days there is a new type of firefighter, the well educated-advanced-degree-holding-uncommitted-I-need-a-job-for-now kind.…

I saw these videos today Must see Videos and it got me thinking of the good old days on the streets. I remember people screaming at us when we blocked traffic on surface streets and even worse language when on the Interstate. We block lanes of traffic not so we can hide behind the fire…

It was a cold winter day in Wisconsin, and the coming winter weather was enough to make even the saltiest veterans of our area’s fire service consider the special calls and challenges that winter brings.  Slippery roads bring car accidents on the Interstate, cold weather creates more risk for structure fires, chimney fires, firefighter rehab and cold weather safety concerns and the holidays create dynamic EMS calls, with more emotional families, and a variety of other challenges for our…

If you aren’t watching the new show on NBC called Chicago Fire you should be. The show has a great pedigree it comes from Dick Wolf of Law and order fame and a friend Derek Hass. I don’t give it a strong recommend because I know some of the people involved, but rather because it is serving an educational roll in my opinion.

After the first episode my sister called me. She was nearly in tears after having watched the show. She told me that the show…

Whenever I have an opportunity to visit another area, whether on vacation or traveling for other reasons, I always enjoy meeting other firefighters.  I’ve learned so many things from visiting fire stations in other parts of the state and country, and I’ve also met a lot of great people.  Often, as a part of the first few minutes of conversation, the inevitable question comes up: “Are you a career firefighter, or a volunteer?” 

Being the passionate volunteer that I am, I…

Through the years, I’ve participated in numerous interviews with candidates that have applied for membership in our department.  Recently, I started thinking about the challenges of our proud volunteer fire service, and how special of a person it takes to become a professional volunteer firefighter.  In a world where there are many different kinds of people, and many different personalities and priorities, these people give their time and energy to make their communities…

In studies about volunteer recruitment and retention, it has been mentioned that some firefighters reach a plateau after several years of service, where they “burn out”.  We lose some of these valuable volunteers to other interests, and all of their fire service training walks out the door with them.  This leaves us with a double impact: we lose a trained firefighter, and we also lose an experienced and participative member of our group.



As members of the fire service at all ranks…

My home town Colorado Springs, Colorado is on fire. The beast known as the Waldo Canyon fire took three days to get here, but get here it did. Yesterday afternoon I stood in front of my house and watched as this beast clawed its way over a mountain ridge and then charged down the foothills and in to virgin territory.

It looked like a volcanic eruption the colors were intense black and brilliant orange, a true hell storm. I have seen many fires in…

The Fire Chief of my home town has had a YouTube video made about him. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the format; it has been used hundreds of times on YouTube. It is the famous Hitler rant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYJNoicuGeA&feature=player_embedded

Hitler sits at his desk surrounded by his staff of officers, all the…

           This story is  from the International Association Of Firefighters own  Online Blog  the story  is Discusting and  Each and every Firefighter  Paid and Volunteer   Need  to Look at this and recognize  The ignorance in  depicting  Firefighters  as abusers and  racists, using Firehoses   To  fed  off  African Americans, ( not unlike  race  riots  in…

So Sauza Tequila wants you to “Make it with a Fireman” have you seen this ad heating up Youtube? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0hq4bBnYIM&feature=player_embedded#!

The internet is all a buzz over it. I’ll try and fit all of my complaints into a single post here, but that may be very hard.

First off SHAME ON SAUZA TEQUILA! You desperate soul…

When the weakness of a firefighter is discovered, it is exploited by some for the entertainment of the rest. I was an exploiter. I worked with many unusual people myself counted in that statement.

Some had strange behaviors around the way they ate, slept, exercised, read, talked, you name it there was someone on the job with a different way of doing it, a way most would describe as not normal.

Here is another uniqueness…