June 2019

Today, June 30, 2019, marks the sixth anniversary of the LODD of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew, who were killed while fighting the Yarnell Hill fire […]

Volunteer firefighters make up most U.S. departments, by far. Yet the state of volunteer firefighting is in serious trouble. The NFPA issued a report in March that said there were […]

The topic for this episode is flowing water while advancing the line. Some departments always do it. Some don’t. There’s pretty good evidence that flowing while advancing is safer than […]

If you want to become a firefighter, the first thing to understand is that it isn’t easy. There’s a lot of school required nowadays, and it can take several years […]

The battle over the traditional fire helmet and what I’ll call the Eurohelmet is growing as some U.S. departments make the switch. It’s hard to nail down exactly why firefighters […]

Swiftwater rescues are among the most dangerous that you will face. That may sound obvious, but some departments that haven’t seen many swiftwater incidents have been taken by surprise. Out […]

When you go to the roof, what do you include when you make your report on conditions? Right. Every department’s truckies report something different, depending on SOPs. Sometimes, there’s even […]

Self-storage units present a unique challenge in case of fire. The come with the hazards found in a hoarder house, but worse. Making entry can be tough—nowadays, the simple padlock […]

If you want to be an officer, it may come as a surprise that not everyone does. That may be a good thing. You probably also know that not everyone’s […]