Unselfish service toward others

What does this mean? Quite simply it means that the less able are supposed to be assisted of the sinking ship before the able body males and the ship’s crew. Maritime law (or operational…

Yes, as chief officers we want to be everywhere. We manage multiple fire stations and lead teams of firefighters and officers. We want to visit every station and listen to all of their stories, suggestions, and yes, criticisms. We want be at the fires, the bad motor vehicle accidents, and maybe even some of the medical calls. We want to get things done for them that will help them do their jobs. We want to help them grow. But we can’t be everywhere. Or can we?…

I never met Jamie Middlebrook but I knew him.  I knew his heart and soul,  for it is the heart and soul that unites every man and woman into the brotherhood and sisterhood of the fire service.  It is the desire to serve,  the urge to help,  The compassion one had for his fellow man. 

Jamie paid the ultimate sacrifice of any firefighter,  giving up his life while serving the community and because of this the entire fire service feels his loss.

Today I had the honor of attending…

I get a lot of emails asking for good workout options for the firehouse when on-shift.  

Working out on-shift is a major concern, you want to make sure you keep your body in good "fit for duty" condition but also want to make sure you have enough "left in the tank" to respond and perform in an actual response.  Over the last couple of years I have…

Someone said this to me the other day. Again, a few days later, the same thing was said with slightly different verbiage, but the message was the same.

I'm not cut out for EMS. I'm not the right "caliber" of person to do this job. I get "wonky" after bad calls. I'm not the one for the job.

Wait a second? Then what was up with that baby in 2009 who stopped breathing? Why was I able to walk into that house, take that small, precious child into my arms and without…

This is something that my fire department has to deal with every year and we do have a plan for response to the festival but I am curious how other people would respond to it.

Shambhala Music Festival is about 10 minutes outside of the Village of Salmo but response can be up to a half an hour depending on traffic. The route is paved highway up to the turn off to the music festival then it is a dirt road for about 5 km (about 3 miles), about half of the road is only single…