Becoming a firefighter means serving your time as a rookie.

Serving as the Captain of a fire department means training rookies to become firefighters. How do you know when they have gone from rookie to firefighter? Are they a fire fighter when they pass FFI, or is it when they come off "proby" or probationary status. When the time set by your department is up, say a year, are they no longer a rookie then? Is it when they put on their navy blue firefighter t-shirts or car plaque on…

Just returned home from our first fire call of 2008. 14 years of firefighter experience, training and dedication...... Yeah you guessed it - a carbon monoxide alarm. Not just a carbon monoxide alarm, a bad battery in a carbon monoxide detector. Can't get more exciting than that. Sure, the rookies were thrilled, packs on - CO detectors in hand - helmets in place. I even had to drive because all my engine pump operators were still celebrating the effects of New Years…