On Fire for training! Good afternoon from the jumpseat!  This was a huge weekend for me personally as I was able to run and complete my first Half Marathon.   I started this journey last year being able to run only 1 mile, now I have completed 13.1.   During my run I was able to take time to think about lots of things from family to the fire service.  One thing that kept coming back up is how to keep your department motivated to stay fit and ready to fight? Personally I am a person that has to have a goal.  Whether it is a half marathon or the combat challenge I strongly believe that if you provide a goal for yourself and your crew you will stay the course.    Have you ever had a call where your fitness didn’t hold up...

Or it's time to focus on prepping for a night of dumpster fires, downed trees in road ways, kids out walking along the roads, and structure fires? If your Halloween night is anything like mine it's a busy night for the fire service.All Hallows Eve brings out the best in all the hoodlums in my area too. It seems like the amount of dumpsters that spontaneously combust on this particular night is amazing. While fighting these fires you need to be ever mindful of what's in them. Chemicals, solvents, and plastics we know can produce toxic fumes that we should not be breathing. But it's just a dumpster fire! Yeah, but put your pack of air on! Don't take any chances of breathing the smoke that is produced by whatever is in there burning gives...

As I logon to Firehouse.com and see another article about fires happening in homes with hoarder type conditions, I just stop and wonder, when will it happen to you?  When I was writing my article on fighting fires in these conditions I never would have imagined that this problem would continue to grow. It has become the norm today to respond to someone's residence and be faced with these conditions.  Let's take an opportunity to address this problem during our month - Fire Prevention Month. October is the best time to address these issues with our residents because this is the time when we are most visible to our community. While educating the public on the dangers of fire, let's educate them on the dangers of hoarding. One of the...

Good afternoon from the jumpseat. I just finished a webinar on the effects of shift work on the average worker and was blown away. The amazing information about rotating shifts, sleep deprivation and dealing with these issues was an eye opening experience. With that in mind I had a few questions to ask you, the reader of Views From the Jumpseat. Question 1: What is the schedule of your shift? I am aware that fire departments use varying shifts schedules. Does your department use a 24-48 rotation or a 10-hour-14-hour schedule? This is a interesting subject because when the first firefighters shifts were made I believe that the run volume wasn't the same. Over the past decade, with the incorporation of EMS into our duties, our calls for...