Featured Blog Posts (1,722)

Inspire, Teach, Lead

Inspire, Teach, Lead

Todays Mental note:

I am in an asking and teaching mood today. I am asking for our officers and senior firefighters to step up. Lets be the teacher today. Help someone with less experience and training achieve something new. If they haven't learned something yet have the ability to say here let me teach you this it could help you and your crew in the future. Be a leader make yourself someone that people want to look up to. Show that you have the ability to… Continue

Added by Patrick Mullen on November 15, 2008 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Fallen Brother in the FDNY

I just thought the word should get out. I didn't know him, but he was part of the same smoke eating nation. check out the link. My prayers go to his family.

http://www.thebravest.com/FDNYNewsArchive/1108/12a.htm

Added by Jason Luna on November 12, 2008 at 2:17pm — 1 Comment

Exciting Growth News for Firefighter Nation -- and Then Some

Ten years ago, in a spare bedroom, a team of … er, well, myself and Chris Hebert (with the help of the elusive Travis Good), started a little site called Firehouse.com. Since then, it’s become the largest Web portal for the fire service.

Two years later, Paul Andrews joined us and helped us turn our ideas into revenue as our sales ace. We covered the fire service from every perspective, through Worcester and 9/11, the launch of the Fire ACT grants program, Ladder 49 and… Continue

Added by Firefighter Nation WebChief on November 9, 2008 at 4:30pm — 6 Comments

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...November 8, 2008

Last night was our second live burn at the Academy. I am starting to get it with teamwork. Instead of groups of three, we were put into groups of four, and our squad of twelve had to haul charged hoselines into a garage area where we were taught about rollover, with re-inforcing the ceiling S pattern, and hitting the seat of the fire.

I was really sick though last night and knew I would not be as strong as I usually am.… Continue

Added by Denise Imperiale on November 8, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments

Books for Emergency Service Families

I am a book junkie, especially when it comes to my office. I really like to have a lot of resources relating to the work that I do as a chaplain on hand. I have learned quite a bit from reading various titles on grief, trauma, traumatic stress, abuse, and fire & police families. I have learned a lot in my education but there is always room to learn more. Reading books helps me better myself as a chaplain.

Denise over at Laughing with Spoons wrote a beautiful post called I Am. She… Continue

Added by Wendy Norris on November 5, 2008 at 9:12pm — No Comments

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...November 6, 2008

I am writing this post from my kitchen laptop with sore shoulders right now. Yesterday was a two-fold day for me. It was my one year anniversary at my firehouse in Morris Township, NJ. It was also the day of my first live burn.

Since I did a vehicle burn on Monday I was anticipating a bigger fire, more instructions, and a tougher situation. I know you can't really compare a vehicle fire to a burn in a building, but when… Continue

Added by Denise Imperiale on November 6, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments

The Continuing Chronicles of the FNG(irl): Culinary Throw-Down

Our business meeting is held the first Tuesday of the month (Presidential Election be damned), and every month three members of my department are selected to prepare the group meal at the conclusion of the meeting. We are charged with feeding anywhere from 35-60 folks a full dinner, while still keeping the total food costs to under $100.

That works out to roughly $2 per person for a plate of chow.

Now that's a challenge.

We've been fed everything from "The… Continue

Added by Mary Ellen Shea on November 6, 2008 at 9:22am — 6 Comments

Rebel or Revolutionary - You Make the Choice

With all of the change going on in the atmosphere, I was contemplating the difference between being a rebel and a revolutionary. It seems to me that there are plenty of firefighters who are a little mixed up and don't understand the difference. The problem is that while revolutionaries effect change in a situation, rebels simply refuse to obey.

Why should that matter? When we… Continue

Added by Mick Mayers on November 5, 2008 at 11:11pm — 2 Comments

Christmas Comes Early for Kentucky FD

I’m sure we’ve all heard, and maybe even experienced, how the world is “getting smaller every day.” There’s probably no other place that this phrase is truer than in the fire service.

The more we dare to explore outside of our engine room doors, the more we find that there’s a brave new world out there full of firefighters who, despite their differences, are very similar to every one of us. A friend once told me that, in the end, it’s only… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on December 18, 2008 at 10:25pm — 18 Comments

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...November 1, 2008

Today I had a super instructor who actually works at a major company in Morris Township. He taught us so many things about fire extinguishers. Some of the things that stuck in my mind were:

-If you look at the fire extinguisher, note the amount of feet it says to stay away from the fire. Some are 6 feet, 12 feet, etc.

-Start at the root of the fire meaning the bottom. Don't just start spraying… Continue

Added by Denise Imperiale on November 1, 2008 at 3:38pm — 1 Comment

Court cases against Volunteer Fire Departments this week in the news

In the past couple of days we have discussed a court case in KY where the fire department is being sued by a homeowner who states that the fire department was not prepared or negligent in fighting a fire on their property. They now want to hold the department responsible for the property damage. We have also read about another court case in Canada where a ff driving his POV, struck & killed a civilian at the scene of an MVA. The litigation says that the fire department should have used… Continue

Added by Jenny Holderby on October 31, 2008 at 4:50pm — 11 Comments

What motivates me?

I was reading comments on the discussion "What motivates you?" So many people wrote things that I can say are part of the reason I am a firefighter. There are so many reasons but I think the biggest one, the one that keeps gnawing at me is that I don't know how not to be a firefighter.

When I was little, I watched my uncle go to calls & I wanted to go with him. As I grew older, I became more involved with the fire department in any way I could. My closest friends were involved… Continue

Added by Jenny Holderby on November 1, 2008 at 3:43am — 4 Comments

Firefighter & EMS Injury Study

After nearly a year of researching, assessing, and discussing the importance of caring for the needs of emergency service workers who have been critically injured in the line of duty, the SHS board of directors is releasing a survey (link to survey is below) to collect more detailed and specific information on those needs. The survey will assist us in gathering resources and in developing SOGs for departments to use in the event a critical firefighter injury.

Link to survey:… Continue

Added by Wendy Norris on October 30, 2008 at 4:48pm — No Comments

Command Safety/Leadership

I have spent the last hour or so on FFN checking on the discussions I am interested in & looking through my groups for topics of interest. One of my favorite groups is Command Safety where Christopher J. Naum, SFPE posts some very good information & references. One of his topics of conversation was Leadership. There is a very well written piece with some "tips" on Leadership & how to become a better leader. Very good reading for anyone particularly those in officer positions. He… Continue

Added by Jenny Holderby on October 28, 2008 at 3:18am — 2 Comments

Punching a Corpse. Now that is a grudge!

Would you be mad enough at someone to attack their corpse? Well, one man was. He walked into a funeral and started punching the corpse. Mourners attacked the man and he was arrested. The article reports that he is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. Surprise, Surprise. Below is the full story from the Daily Telegraph. I wonder if the organist started playing "Eye of the Tiger".

November 05,… Continue

Added by Bruce C Ziebarth on October 14, 2008 at 8:30am — 3 Comments

Women OF the fire service

I've tried writing this blog a couple of times & something always happens. In one of the groups I am subscribed to: Female Firefightrs a couple young ladies are having some issues with anti-female sentiment and discrimination. I know too that new fire fighters get picked on even if they are not women. It the nature of the "brotherhood". I read a blog titled Men are from Mars & women are from the continental US that made me giggle & think.

When I wanted to join the FD as a… Continue

Added by Jenny Holderby on October 13, 2008 at 6:26pm — 2 Comments

My Emergency! Man Crush is Back On

This is a blog on my personal site....here's the teaser...click the link to read the full blog

http://www.itsfestive.com/2008/my-emergency-man-crush-is-back-on/

One TV show changed my life.

When I was a wee bit lad of 11 or so, I started tuning in to what was exceptionally poor reception on Channel 24 in Baltimore. There was this awesome show called Emergency! It was all about… Continue

Added by Firefighter Nation WebChief on September 19, 2008 at 12:30am — 4 Comments

I didn't do anything special on September 11, and here's why...

Remembering the firefighters, police officers, and medics who were killed on 9/11/01 is important; in fact it's so important that I have included it into the culture of my average workday. I have visual memory triggers to help me remember, including 9/11 memorial decals on both my personal and work vehicles. I wear a bracelet memorializing Captain Terry Hatton of FDNY Rescue 1. Helmet stickers, check.

There are two even more important things I do on a routine basis. The first is that… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on September 13, 2008 at 10:00am — 8 Comments

NEVER FORGET 9/11!!!!

IT'S SO HARD TO BELIEVE THAT 9/11 TOOK PLACE 7 YRS AGO ALREADY. TO ME IT'S JUST LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY BUT SADLY TO MANY OTHERS IT'S JUST ANOTHER DAY. EVEN FOR SOME IN PUBLIC SAFETY THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN OR HAVE MADE LIGHT OF IT.

LAST NIGHT AT CHURCH MY HUSBAND (WHO IS A FIREFIGHTER) MENTIONED 9/11 AND IT WAS AS IF IT MEANT NOTHING... THAT REALLY SADDENED ME. MYGOOD FRIEND SAID PERHAPS THEY WANT TO FORGET THE HORROR.... BUT WE CAN'T BECOME COMPLACENT... WE CAN'T FORGET!

SO ON… Continue

Added by Shelley Robertson Smallwood on September 11, 2008 at 10:08pm — 2 Comments