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…

From my blog at FireGroundWorks.

We often talk of the challenges we face in the field; the ambiguous, complex, and confusing incidents that attack our senses and tax our ability to beat them. Instead of all the talk about “what” we face, why not focus on “how” we can successfully win against it.…

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.…

Local newspaper headlines report the sad news of another fallen hero. The tragic death of a brave firefighter who has died in the line of duty. A dedicated professional who sacrificed his or her life that others may live or that homes and property would be saved from the ravages of fire. Most people halfheartedly acknowledge the event while searching for more…