All Blog Posts (7,003)

Firehouses Lit Pink to Support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

By now you’ve probably all heard that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s important that we do everything we can to bring attention to this disease. One Connecticut department is doing just that. To show support for a firefighter at their department who has been treated for cancer, as well as all people who are struggling through the disease, the East Hartford Fire Department has lit… Continue

Added by Janelle Foskett, FireRescue on October 29, 2010 at 11:02am — 1 Comment

NIST Study on the Charleston Sofa Super Store Fire

It’s rapidly becoming one of the most studied fires in recent US history, and for good reason. The Sofa Super Store Fire of June 18, 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina claimed the lives of nine firefighters and has left an unending scar on the members of the Charleston Fire Department and

the American fire service. Today, the long awaited…

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Added by Timothy Sendelbach on October 28, 2010 at 11:54pm — No Comments

Experience Comes Surviving!

As we are born, there isn’t a day that should go by that any person on this earth doesn’t learn anything. It’s a big world out there, and that means there is a…

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Added by William Beutler on October 28, 2010 at 5:25pm — No Comments

I Wish You Could See

I wish you could see the sadness of a business man as his

livelihood goes up in flames, or that family returning home,

only to find their house and belongings damaged or lost for good.

I wish you could know what it is like to…

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Added by William Beutler on October 28, 2010 at 5:20pm — 1 Comment

Battery Donations for Local Fire Departments

For the 23rd consecutive year, the IAFC is partnering with Engerizer on the Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery (CYCCYB) program. Last year, more than 6,200 departments joined in supporting this program. Visit the CYCCYB website to access the many resources available to you your department to…

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Added by IAFC on October 27, 2010 at 4:07pm — No Comments

Texas Firefighters Make Numerous Flood Rescues Resulting from Tropical Storm Hermine

By Tom Vines

As Tropical Storm Hermine moved from the Gulf of Mexico into southern and central Texas in early September, it showed much of its force in wind; however, it soon walloped the area with a massive downpour of rain, making for a long shift for firefighters in Killeen, Texas, located approximately 70 miles north of Austin.

Hermine Hits

The long shift began on Sept. 7 at… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on October 27, 2010 at 5:30am — No Comments

Remembering 6 FDNY Firefighters Killed at Soap Factory Fire 48 Years Ago Today

Today we remember the six FDNY firefighters killed on Oct. 26, 1962—48 years ago today—at the Sefu Soap and Fat Co. Fire in Queens.

• Captain William Russell; Engine 325

• Firefighter James Marino; Engine 325

• Firefighter Richard Andrews; Engine 325

• Firefighter George Zahn; Engine 238

• Firefighter Richard Gifford; Engine 238

• Firefighter Francis Egan; Ladder 115

More than 20 firefighters were working at a four-alarm fire in a soap factory when… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on October 26, 2010 at 12:00am — No Comments

Junior firefighter problem at school

Hey, I have problems sometimes with people at my school that like to joke about me being a junior firefighter and I'm starting to get tired of it. Like, someone will be talking about something and the word fire comes up in the sentence/conversation and someone would say call Frederick the little junior firefighter to put it out and then everyone start laughing and I don't see what's so funny about me being a junior firefighter. I don't know if it's they don't have anything else better to do or… Continue

Added by Frederick Martin on October 25, 2010 at 12:00am — 8 Comments

Now it's time for planning and decision-making....

This past weekend, I completed my National Pro-Board certification for Firefighter II. It was one of the bigger certifications that I needed to make it a little closer to being eligible for most of the paid municipal firefighting jobs here in the area. Since the perfect time came up to take it, I did.

Now, I have a big decision to make. Being that I’m in school for my fire sciences degree and need to keep at least 3 classes each semester to keep getting paid by the VA,… Continue

Added by John Karl Ambrusch, III on October 24, 2010 at 12:50pm — No Comments

The Predictability of Occupancy Performance and Tactical Patience

By Christopher J. Naum, SPFE

TheCompanyOfficer.com and CommandSafety.com

Today’s incident demands on the fireground are unlike those of the recent past, requiring incident commanders and commanding officers to have increased technical knowledge of building construction with a heightened sensitivity to fire behavior, a focus on…

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Added by Christopher J. Naum, SFPE on October 22, 2010 at 12:39pm — No Comments

Where's The Water? Delays and Reasons Why

A San Francisco apartment fire garnered a lot of attention from the customers about where the water was. Take this misunderstanding and turn it into a list of 'What if..." drills.

An apartment fire in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood became a short video sensation as it captured what appeared to be a delay in getting water onto the seat of the fire. As usual most comments about the firefighting, from civilians and firefighters,… Continue

Added by Bill Carey on October 22, 2010 at 12:15pm — No Comments

Internal & External: Managing fireground risks involves controlling situational factors & human factors

FIREFIGHTING-360

By Billy Schmidt

My last FF-360 column, “Means to an End: Effective communication leads to action,” was the first in a series that addresses the characteristics of effective communication and the barriers that prevent it. Following columns will review areas such… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on October 22, 2010 at 8:00am — No Comments

Engineer training and pumper testing

How do you train an engineer? Minimize water usage? Focus on safe pump operations and use all the functions of the apparatus?

Training the engineer usually ends up as nozzleman training, or a wild nozzle because a strap broke on a line that was thought to be secure. A line can be charged when someone is not ready for water.

Usually focus is on the safety of the firefighter on the charged line, The training is interupted, focus is on safety and usually thousands of gallons of…

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Added by August Martin on October 21, 2010 at 4:18pm — 2 Comments

Back It Up: Dead lifts help strengthen back muscles & prevent back injuries

By Jeff & Martha Ellis

In the July 2007 column “More Power to You,” p. 110, we addressed functional lifts that strengthen your muscles for moderately heavy lifting, such as lifting a ladder from the ground to overhead. There are, however, many situations when we need to lift and move something that weighs considerably more than a ladder, such as extrication power units or fans—not necessarily overhead, but off the… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on October 21, 2010 at 4:00am — No Comments

Rehab

My chief said when I get my lisence which will be in a month that he will give me a pager so I can go to the fires and help with rehab. Do anyone know what rehab is?

Added by Frederick Martin on October 20, 2010 at 9:41pm — 6 Comments

Newspaper clip on or last structure fire.

http://www.newssun.com/100810-eb-ap-fire

Added by Steve on October 20, 2010 at 11:48am — No Comments

School

Hello,

I was wondering what your thoughts were about college degrees and getting hired onto a fire deptarment. I currently have an AAS in fire science Tech as well as my EMT basic card. I am currently working on my FF1/FF2, while I am attending school full time for Kinesiology. I kinda have a lot on my plate now and I was thinking about leaving college for a while. Do you think this would affect my chances of being hired on to a department? I dont see my degree helping me get hired anyway.… Continue

Added by Chris Haefner on October 20, 2010 at 10:45am — No Comments

Good Things Are Happening at E-One These Days

Inside the Apparatus Industry

Story & Photos by Bob Vaccaro

E-One, one of the top five apparatus manufacturers, has weathered the storm surrounding its sale from Federal Signal 2 years ago, and it seems to be doing OK for itself these days. In fact, it’s made some big announcements in the past year. Let’s review.

At FDIC this year, E-One announced its… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on October 20, 2010 at 6:00am — 4 Comments

Is It a Full Moon?

The belief in Fate, a divine hand, or just plain bad luck is encouraged and promoted by our understanding that call volume has some association with innocuous universal truths. Friday the Thirteenth is a widely held bad luck…

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Added by Peter Lupkowski on October 19, 2010 at 9:01am — 2 Comments

USAR Team Rescues Victim from Structural Collapse

Northwest Ohio Region #1 Urban Search and Rescue Team performs complex structural collapse rescue

Story & Photos by Paul Hasenmeier

On July 7, 2010, rescuers in Ohio were called to the scene of a significant structural collapse with two victims trapped. The rescuers—who came from volunteer, combination and full-time fire departments, and who had varying levels of experience and… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on October 19, 2010 at 6:00am — 2 Comments