When I was first asked to do this blog I hesitated - who really wants to hear what I have to say? Now I know that there are probably a lot of heads nodding in agreement on that one right now (thanks for the support folks...), but then again, you are sitting here reading this, aren't you?
The other thought that came into mind is what do I write about, which is an odd thought for someone who makes their living with the written word. I'm actually involved in a number of different areas but they do all have a common theme - fire. Campus fire safety, fire safety and the environment, standardized markings on smoke alarms, sprinkler fire saves, significant mutliple fire fatalities, Vision 20/20, Campus Firewatch Radio, Fire Marshal's Corner...once I started compiling it the list kept growing and growing. I need to get some help (as in staff, not psychological. Or is that open to debate?).
Through this blog I'm hoping to bring light to some of the different issues that may not always make it into the magazines or into the different online discussion groups. Some of them will have a narrow focus with a limited audience, others more mainstream. However, I hope that they will all be of interest and value.
Another common theme through much of what I do is the use of the Internet. I work out of my home in Belchertown, Massachusetts. There is only one reason that the global headquarters of writer-tech.com, llc, can be located in a beautiful town like Belchertown and that is the Internet. When I first went out on my own ten years ago, the Internet was already an established and powerful tool, but nothing like it is today. I make a lot of use of features such as Google Docs, Google Calendar, PIcasa, Blogger, GChat, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, whenisgood.net along with the standard suite of Microsoft products such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and others. All of this has helped me to do my job but has also extended my reach globally in what I do. I'm hoping that these tools will help all of you in what you are doing and that I can provide some real world examples.
Ed Comeau
Ed Comeau is the owner of writer-tech.com, a technical writing firm that publishes Campus Firewatch, a monthly electronic newsletter that focuses on issues relating to campus fire safety. He is the founder and past-director of the Center for Campus Fire Safety, a non-profit education and advocacy organization focusing on the complex issues of campus fire safety. Mr. Comeau has been instrumental in developing educational material targeting students as well as raising national awareness of the importance of fire safety among parents, administrators, legislators and students. His writing has appeared in a number of international publications and he is the author of the campus fire safety chapter in the current edition of the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook.
Before forming writer-tech.com, Mr. Comeau was the chief fire investigator for the National Fire Protection Association's Fire Investigations department. He was responsible for the management of the department and conducted investigations of a number of major incidents, including: the Oklahoma City bombing; the Treasury Building fire in Washington, D.C.; the Rockefeller Center fire in New York City; the Kobe, Japan earthquake; the airport terminal fire in Dusseldorf, Germany; the English Channel Tunnel fire; and the Gothenburg, Sweden disco fire.
Before joining NFPA, Mr. Comeau was a fire protection engineer for the Phoenix Fire Department. While in this capacity he was responsible for organizing the department's Urban Search and Rescue program and developed training material for the department's technical rescue program in the areas of structural collapse, trench rescue and confined space operations. Prior to joining the Phoenix Fire Department he was a call fire fighter for the Amherst, MA, Fire Department.
Mr. Comeau holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
He hosts the Campus Firewatch Radio and Fire Marshal's Corner podcasts on Firehouse.com.
