November 2009 Blog Posts (76)

4 Washington police officers killed

My heart goes out to the town, department and families of the 4 washington police officers brutally killed this weekend. Another senseless act of aggression and violence against the innocent by an evil person.

We may not always get along with our brothers and sisters in Blue but you have to respect them for doing what they do and putting on that uniform everyday.

May God bless and console the friends and families of these men and woman

How about in honor of… Continue

Added by Mark Klaene on November 30, 2009 at 8:51pm — 1 Comment

58 Vehicle pile up on QE#2 HWY North Bound

Friday Nov 27th 2009

A 5 alarm tone out for Fire Stn's in Southern Alberta (20 k from Calgary AB)

Tone out came about 14:00 hours, for a 58 Vehicle MVC Northbound HWY #2. Snow and ice were a factor in this mess of mangled metal from trucks, cars, and semi trucks scattered a 6 k stretch of hwy.

5 dept's were toned out to this crash call as well as a 2 dozen ambulances from two different stns responded. Hwy #2 was closed for more than 6 hrs both directions north bound… Continue

Added by Mr Jacobs on November 30, 2009 at 4:27pm — 5 Comments

"They" answer the call

(This is a reprint of a column I wrote last year, which appeared in my newspaper. It won me first place at the newspaper association contest. Someone on this site came across it online and asked me to reprint it, since it holds my copyright. ALWAYS happy to give props to you emergency/fire service peeps out there.)

" 'They' Are Volunteers and 'They' Answer the Call"

Last week, I was stopped in the grocery store by a woman who wanted me to “write something” for her.

She said… Continue

Added by Sally on November 30, 2009 at 10:19am — 14 Comments

Will fire prevention strategies used in other countries work in the U.S.?

FIRE PREVENTION

Foreign Concepts: Will fire prevention strategies used in other countries work in the U.S.?

By Jim Crawford

A great deal of attention is being given to the latest studies from Tri-Data and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention on fire prevention efforts around the world (free download), and rightly so. But the results of the studies should be no surprise to the… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on November 30, 2009 at 8:00am — 3 Comments

Fire Department Oath...

First, I want to thank all my fellow firefighter brothers & sisters for always being here to help me when I have asked for it...& now I ask for your help again. My department needs an oath to administer to our firefighters and fire line officers. I also have a question, do departments that have Administrative/Auxiliary members administer the same oath to those members as they do to their firefighters or is it worded different?

Thank you all so much for your time, it is… Continue

Added by Tammy on November 30, 2009 at 1:41am — 2 Comments

Training Fire

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/29/recruits-get-chance-set-fight-fire/

After 20 years they actually did live fire training. BTW this is across the street from my son's place on campus. he found the whole evolution boring. I guess we are going to skip a generation.

Added by Jay Nicholson on November 29, 2009 at 8:02pm — No Comments

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...November 29, 2009

Remember like 2 weeks ago I wrote that I had the courage to tell someone something?

Well, it was my husband.

We finished that conversation on Thanksgiving night.

We are separating.

At least now I don't have to ask permission to go on a fire call.

Love from NJ

Denise Broesler
NJ Rookie Firefighter

Added by Denise Imperiale on November 29, 2009 at 2:40pm — 8 Comments

Run to the Curb!

What kid doesn't want to be a firefighter? Every time they hear a siren or see a fire engine race by, they run to the curb to see what's going on. I call them "Run to the Curb" type kids.

I was one of those kids and I bet you were one too. It's something you never grow out of --- and many of us chose to grow into it.

"RuntotheCurb.com" is a work-in-progress blog and… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on November 29, 2009 at 12:00pm — 3 Comments

RECRUITMENT TOOLKIT: The Value of the Prospective Member Guide

What kind of documentation did you receive when you joined your fire department? Was it thorough, clear, and concise? Did it answer all of your questions about what would be expected of you or did it leave you wondering with information unclear?

Was the information well organized and presented or was it scribbled on a bar napkin over a couple of “pops” at the firehouse.

Other than the application, was there any documentation at… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on November 28, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

IL firefighters ending stellar careers by leaving a legacy and showing us what brotherhood is all about

“…It's disheartening and hurtful to be portrayed as the economic destroyers of the community, the ones who work such a short career and live such a wonderfully long retirement at the expense of the people we served - portrayed as something bad, as if our work, lives, careers were some sort of scam we have perpetrated on the community. I guess on a line item in a budget or in a ledger, we are just another number.”

Earlier this year, the…

Continue

Added by FireDaily.com on November 28, 2009 at 11:47am — No Comments

Pilot Math Made Easy

If you love math and solve complex word problems to relax, this article is NOT for you.

If math is a four letter word you sometimes use in conjunction with other more colorful four letter words, keep reading.

One of the most repeated questions in the air medical industry is how long?

How long until the helicopter gets here?

Everybody wants to know; the landing zone officer, communications center, county… Continue

Added by Troy Shaffer on November 27, 2009 at 8:00pm — 1 Comment

TAKE THE POLL: What's Your biggest recruitment and retention challenge?

Recruiting New Members?
Retaining Existing Members?
Getting our Leaders to Realize that We Need to Do Something about our Recruitment and Retention Challenges?

Take this poll at www.firerecruiter.com:
http://firerecruiter.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/whats-your-biggest-challenge

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on November 27, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

To Everyone....

Hi everyone. It's been another grueling year. I'm half way done with Nursing school and I also have a nursing externship at a hosptal in Michigan. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and if I'm not able to get on later....Hope everyone has a safe and good Christmas holiday.

Added by Jennifer on November 26, 2009 at 10:55pm — 2 Comments

Turkey Day

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone. I hope all has stayed safe!!!

Added by Dale Lucius on November 26, 2009 at 8:39pm — No Comments

"My father would be proud..."

"Thank you," an elderly woman in a wheelchair said to me today, as I was reaching for her dirty plate at the community Thanksgiving dinner.

I smiled and asked if she needed a refill on her coffee, as I tossed the styrofoam plate into the garbage can I was rolling around the noisy school cafeteria.

She nodded, tears filling her eyes, as her shaking hand held up her stryofoam cup to me.

I took the cup to the coffee urn and filled it, then carried it back to her, nodding at my… Continue

Added by Sally on November 26, 2009 at 5:01pm — 3 Comments

house explosion 11/25/2009

By Adam Sacasa

The McDonough County Voice

Wed Nov 25, 2009, 03:09 PM CST

Bushnell, Ill. -

A Bushnell home was destroyed Wednesday afternoon by an explosion caused by a gas leak.

The home at 519 Washington St. was leveled by the explosion at about 2:30 p.m. The blast also caught the house next door on fire.

The occupant of the house that initially exploded was Bradley Thompson, who was outside with his dogs at the time.

Thompson’s house… Continue

Added by Mitchell Williams on November 26, 2009 at 12:54pm — No Comments

i passed my written test!!! i now have a permit

Well after studying my ass off i finally passed my written test for my permit!! i proabably made a poor judgement decision today after my dad wanted me to drive home from louisville!! let me put this in perspective, i live in bagdad kentucky a little town with barely any traffic and very few people and im not used to driving on a road with a line in the middle much less one with 4 lanes in each direction but i navigated the gene snyder and us 60 and we made it home in one piece!! apparently i… Continue

Added by Jessica Travis on November 25, 2009 at 6:58pm — 2 Comments

looking for a firetruck(please read this!)

I resigned from the fire department about 2 months ago, i just need a little break and to get my life back on track. Before i resigned we had a wake up call happen on our fire department that we thought would coluld and would never happen in our little town.

E- 42 a crew of 5 was on there way to mva. They were going around a curb and some how the truck ended up on the other side of the road on the officer's side. It totalled the fire truck. I will never forget the response of the community… Continue

Added by Brenda-Jean on November 25, 2009 at 2:42pm — 6 Comments

Do You Know the Letters of Leadership?

The Letters of Leadership

You don’t have to be born a leader; you can learn these valuable skills

By Battalion Chief Jonathan L. Pennington

I was standing in a burned-out kitchen at one of our housing projects, giving advice to an acting captain on the hazards of not performing a thorough overhaul. My shift has had a captain’s vacancy for some time, and this acting captain had been filling the slot. Tests had already been given, interviews were scheduled,… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on November 25, 2009 at 1:30pm — 1 Comment

S.W.O.R.D. Checklist for Helicopter Landing Zones

Attached is a checklist I use when flying. I believe it could be useful for air or ground operations. Any comments, suggestions or additions to the checklist based on a firefighter or landing zone coordinator perspective would be greatly appreciated.