Fire Daily has advanced to the top ten final round of the Fire EMS blog of the Year 2009.

What?

I am fully humbled and completely surprised that I was nominated at all, let alone advancing out of the evening gown portion of this highly competitive contest.

Now it’s your turn. Have some fun and choose from an outstanding list of the other nine bloggers that truly deserve to have advanced to the final ten, whilst averting your eyes from the visual your brain will so cruelly conjure up of FireDaily in a swimsuit.


STATter 911 Statter911.com

The place to go for up to the minute coverage of daily stories of anything emergency services. If it seems like the coverage is from a real-life TV journalist, it is. Looking for a video and want to find it fast? Check out Dave Statter’s site first!

Rescuing Providence RescuingProvidence.com

True stories from Michael Morse, a medic in Rhode Island with an amazing ability to string together words and form a movie in your head. My newest regular read.

Medic999 999Medic.com

What a year for Mark Glencourse, a medic from the United Kingdom who talks funny but packs a mean forearm! Part of “The Project”, Mark came across the pond late last year to see how EMS operates here in the U.S. and let us all in on the process. With a very engaging personality and a clever sense of humor, I’m really glad to have “met'” him.

The Happy Medic HappyMedic.com

The other half of “The Project”, Justin Schorr came out of the anonymous closet when it became apparent just how wildly public he would become. After hosting 999Medic, Justin traveled over to the U.K. for his half of the adventure. More success in inevitable for both Justin and Mark this year. It will be interesting to see which one of the two finishes with a higher vote total. Place your bets!

FireGeezer FireGeezer.com

One of the obvious front runners, FireGeezer probably needs no introduction. If you have never heard of FireGeezer, welcome to our planet Earth. I’m proud to be the one to introduce you to a blog actually made up of three people: retired fire captain Bill Schumm (FireGeezer), retired fire captain Mike Ward (FossilMedic) and Jim Featherstone (LightRock) with over 30 years in the fire service. Frequently updated posts with some of the best titling this side of Uranus. You read that exactly how it was meant to sound.

Firehouse Zen FirehouseZen.com

Chief Mick Mayers posts his thoughts, insights, and opinions focusing on two of the most fascinating areas in the fire service- change and leadership. Any aspiring company officer, or fire service professional looking to better their leadership qualities should put FHZ on their daily reading list. I do.

Everyday EMS Tips EverydayEMSTips.com

Greg Friese is a paramedic, EMS instructor, conference speaker, and EMS author. Beyond that, he has clearly demonstrated a grasp of the successful utilization of numerous social media elements to put forth a wide array of EMS topics, tips, and tidbits. Greg’s commitment to using the newest internet technologies to expand learning opportunities sets him apart from the norm. And he lives in Wisconsin. That should count for something, right?

Engine 9 RFD EngineCompany9.Blogspot.com

A highly-addictive look into the daily interactions of an engine company in Virginia. I love this site because I feel like I know all the players when I read of their everyday exploits as a “fire station family.” Get inside their heads as long as they let us…..

The EMT Spot TheEMTSpot.com

Steve Whitehead has an extensive history in EMS instruction and has written for several EMS journalists as a freelance author. His content is update three times a week, and you can always count on quality information geared toward EMS topics.

Art “Chief Reason” Goodrich ChiefReasonArt.com

No, Art didn’t make it to the top ten this year.

Methinks his evening gown selection should have at least gone below the knees. And salmon chiffon went out in the ‘70’s. Honestly. Help lift Art's spirits by voting for his best blog of the year here and vie for one of the coolest prizes around, that new Firefighter edition Monopoly game!

Voting is simple.

Go here, select your choice, and click the button.

By the way, the rules say you can vote once every eight hours (a little more restrictive than here in Illinois). Take a moment to make your choice. Voting ends very quickly (January 12) and the winner will be announced on the live FirefighterNetCast next Tuesday night at 8pm ET.


Finally, hats off to Rhett Fleitz, a.k.a. Fire Critic for taking on this contest among all his other irons in the fire. Make FireCritic.com a regular stop as well, you won’t be disappointed. If he were not running the contest, he would probably be winning it. Thanks, Rhett!



John Mitchell is a Lieutenant on the Barrington (IL) fire department. He is a paramedic, fire and EMS instructor, certified fire investigator and Chicago Blackhawks fan. He is the editor of FireDaily.com.