To All FirefighterNation Members:

  The current Fire Weather forecast reports the Heat Wave that's dominated the Western United States is expected to be around for another couple of days. Today's supposed to be the hottest of it all with a gradual cooling trend coming in later on this week.

  It's extremely important that EVERYONE KEEP/STAY HYDRATED, wear a HAT, use SUNSCREEN and SUNGLASSES. If you're planning outdoor activities,…

by: Lou Angeli



During my career, I’ve covered a number of wildland fire campaigns as a video and photojournalist.  One thing I’ve learned is that when Mother Nature whips a firestorm, she does so with a vengeance. 

To All FirefighterNation Members:

  Today was a very tragic and unfortunate day for all Firefighters Nationwide in Prescott, Arizona where 19 Firefighters from a 20 man Hot Shot Crew were killed in the line of duty battling a fast-moving wildfire that has forced the evacuation of two small towns in central Arizona on Sunday, fire officials said.…

18 firefighters working the Yarnell Hill Fire confirmed dead. Under these circumstances most people will…

Sample from current post at pipenozzle.com reprinted with permission: 

"I’d say it’s fair to conclude, based on my two decades of teaching experience and thirty years as a writer, that most Americans can not tell if they have been victims of propaganda or not until some obnoxious retired educator/writer like me starts asking for fact. I did so with Kaitlyn and easily established that she had no basis in fact for supporting Ackley and for voting to slash the PBFD budget.…

Excerpt posted here with permission of pipenozzle dot com.  For the full post, visit the site. 

For alcoholics to seek a cure, they have to hit bottom first.

Before serious leadership emerges to cure the fire protection mess in the Town of Groton, Connecticut, Alan Ackley will take the Poquonnock Bridge Fire District, which provides fire protection for half of the town, to the bottom first.…

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?…

Earlier this year I wrote about the Turning Tide in Police and Firefighter Hiring. As we reach the midyear point, police and firefighter hiring trend appears to be accelerating along with a couple of interesting twists. Click the link below o read the full article:…

Except reprinted with permission of pipenozzle dot com. Visit site for complete entry.

At the end of a hot, muggy southern Michigan May day, I pulled my truck into the Coca Cola warehouse lot and glanced up at sky blue everywhere but over downtown Kalamazoo where a black thunderhead passed over as they tended to do on hot, muggy spring afternoons.  The only thought I had concerned turning in my paperwork at the front office, and then getting in…

PHMSA asks fire chiefs to promote 811 in their response areas “August 11 [811] as “National 811 Day.””

PHMSA | Fire Chief

Learn more about the 811 call process

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is members of the International Associations of Fire Chiefs for their assistance in promoting the national “811— Call Before…

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.…

In every AAR (after action review) that I have ever been to, problems with communication ranks in the top three of “what went wrong”.  Often the source of frustration is blamed on equipment or new technology or both.  Despite all contributing factors, the question remains: Is the message ‘sent’ the message ‘received’ as intended?

Training gives us the…

An estimated 90% of the people that die in confined spaces die because of a toxic environment. Understanding that a 1/2 percent of a drop in Oxygen doesn’t sound like much but it’s 5000 PPM of something. How much of a chemical do you need to be toxic or fatal? Bill Bennett from Safety Systems Inc. in Northern VA reinforces what he teaches in the…

Under active fire conditions the dangers are extreme and the stakes are high. Upon the declaration of knock-down the fire should be out, victims saved, and acute hazards controlled.

The game is not over. The long term carcinogenic by-products of combustion remain and may even be worse than under active fire conditions. When overhaul begins think of it…

I posted about Brotherhood in the Fire Service and would like to give some more of my views. I have been a firefighter for 15 years. A volunteer for 15 and a full career firefighter for the last 8 years. I grew up in a Fire Department my father was an Assistant Chief and Chief when I was a kid and was a Captain when I joined. It is what I have known and I love it and would not change it for anything in the world. Now a little twist to my career and how I am dealing with it. As I said I have…

What does the Fire Service mean to you? I have asked this question many times to people who have just begun their careers in the Fire Service and you get a lot of different answers anywhere from I have always wanted to be a firefighter. This could be because they grew up in the Fire Service as one of their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc. was a firefighter and they loved what they saw growing up to the answer of well I saw the fire department was giving a test and I figured that…

As you all remember the blog i posted some time ago about my classmate Darcie Davis. I am here to add onto that blog. On December 11,2011 Darcie's Little  Brother Dillan Davis at the age of 20 passed away in a lumber mill accident. You and your sister Darcie were way too young to die. Dillan you and your sister were inseparable. I want both of you to know that we miss and love both of you. …

Hello, 

I'm new here and I would really like some input from anyone. My husband and I are pursuing our dream of getting on with a large local dept.We have a guaranteed testing spot in about 6-8 mos. However, I need to pass the CPAT. The dept we want to get on had some info sessions and they strongly suggested we start crossfit. In their academy, this is the method of PT they do every morning. I have been doing boot camp type workouts, and didnt really know that much about crossfit.…