-Outstanding Firemen (gender neutral! Outstanding firefighers just didn't sound right)

- Yardbreathers, etc.

Most of our departments have them or we know of places that do. Of course I am not referring
to smart, aggressive firefighters who love the job, but rather those
firefighters who can be found "out-standing" in the yard
while everyone else is working. Forget RIT and other essential
positions, I am referring to those unique individuals who have a
knack for getting out of work. Usually they arrive on the 3rd or 4th
due engine and do just enough that they feel they should stand in the
front yard looking crusty and basking in their smoke-eating
glory.

Please don't take this wrong as we all know that there are essential fireground positions that must remain outside. Some of
the best firefighters I know can usually be found at the pump panel.
In my opinion, there is more honor in running the pump because you're
a damn good operator rather than going in on the line. Knowing that
your guys will always have good water at the end of that line is more
important than going in on the nozzle and wondering if Cletus can run
3 lines off the same truck.

There are a few reasons that you might have a yardbreather convention at your next fire. Perhaps
command is preoccupied with all that comes with running a fire or
maybe even a bit overwhelmed. Maybe the guys are just coming out for
a break/rehab which of course would be completely acceptable. About a
year ago, I learned the hard way that even though im young, in good
shape, and thought I could handle anything thrown at me, sometimes
you just get your ass kicked at a job and need to take a break.... or
else you earn yourself a ride to hospital with two good friends
half-joking about starting 4 large bore iv's just for practice and
maybe a surgical cric if they have time before we get to the
hospital.  I would not reccommend putting yourself in this situation!

The day after a fire last week, a non firefighter friend said that he watched all the news stories about the fire and was curious as to why
he didn't see me (our names are on our running coats) I simply told
him that at a fire you wont see the guys doing the real work on the
news, as we don't let the news crews inside the burning building!

How can we cut down on yarbreathers? Accountability is one way. By keeping track of what crews are where and what their tasks are,
command can see if guys might need a break and if other crews haven't
done much of anything. Another way is training. By training today's
firefighters to be aggressive and want to do as much as they can on
their next fire, you will have guys tripping over one another trying
to find something...ANYTHING to do!

So at your next fire, while you're pulling ceiling on the second floor, take a quick look out the closest window at the outstanding firemen
in the front yard and just smile knowing that you're not one of them!