When you stop and think about it, a firefighter’s personal protective equipment (PPE) is downright amazing. You carry the air you’ll need on your back, cloaked in fire-resistant fibers that allow you to move through burning buildings; your boots are designed not to melt as your feet encounter burning materials, and your helmet has undergone years of testing to ensure that it affords the greatest protection against impact.



But these items that you wear and bring with you are… Continue

Note: I’m currently at the Everyone Goes Home Safety Summit held at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md.





“When we train, we have all sorts of policies and procedures to follow. But when we go to a fire, it’s just chaos—and I love it!” This is just one example of the attitude Chief Gordon Routley encountered during the after-action review of the Charleston Sofa Super Store Fire that killed nine firefighters. As Routley put it in his presentation today, it… Continue