During Tuesday’s Firehouse World opening ceremonies, Firehouse Editor-in-Chief and Conference Director Tim Sendelbach challenged attendees to consider the fire service’s evolving challenges, but also its unwavering focus on three key priorities: life safety, property preservation and incident stabilization.
With the conference theme—“New Challenges – Same Priorities”—serving as a backdrop, Sendelbach detailed the firefighters’ “Call of Duty”—a responsibility that many would think of as the typical response to a bread-and-butter fire or vehicle extrication, but actually extends far beyond that, as we have seen with so many recent disasters.
Sendelbach spoke of the hurricanes that pounded Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico; the Route 91 Festival mass shooting in Las Vegas, NV; and the devastating wildfires that ravaged California. These unthinkable tragedies may feel far removed from our day-to-day lives, but, Sendelbach reminded, “we all have these vulnerabilities in our communities” and must be prepared for the call of duty, whatever it may be.
Sendelbach encouraged conference-goers to listen to the many international speakers who have new ideas to share. “They are here to challenge you, me and the American fire service to look at what we do and the real threats to our modern fireground,” he said. “It’s time to perk our ears, and open our minds to new insights and ideas.”
He then shifted focus to an international disaster—the Grenfell Tower fire of June 2017—urging attendees to consider the factors involved with that incident and whether similar factors could be at play in their own first due. “If you say that can’t happen here, I challenge you to look around.”
Closer to home, the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, CA, took the lives of 36 people in December 2016. Sendelbach noted that although the tragedy should never have occurred, “It’s not about fault; it’s about capturing the critical lessons learned to make sure we don’t repeat the same tragedies of the past.”
Speaking of the devastating Tubbs Fire in October 2017, Sendelbach asked how many times does this have to happen before we start making changes, reminding that these California wildfires tend to occur in the same month—almost to the day—every year. Using Gordon Graham’s words, Sendelbach reminded, “If it’s predictable, it’s preventable.” He acknowledged, though, that just because something is predictable does not mean it’s easily solved—but that is why we are here, at shows like Firehouse World, to do everything in our power to work together to find solutions to these problems.
Beyond fireground incidents, Sendelbach also addressed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide in the fire service—an escalating problem that has always been present but that is only just recently being recognized in manner that can affect change. “It’s a different time, and we bear the responsibility to take this where it needs to be and find a solution,” he said.
Considering the variety of new challenges we face, Sendelbach urged firefighters to reflect on two phrases:
- “When you build in the wildland/urban interface and fail to accept, endorse and enforce minimum regulations for the safeguarding of life and property from the intrusion of fire, we cannot defend it, save it or otherwise protect it.”
- “When you build a building and fill it with products that impose undue risk when exposed to fire, fail to comply with national life codes and compromise our ability to safely respond due to financial constraints and limited resources, we cannot defend it, save it or otherwise preserve it.”
“Not a firefighter in this room wants to say ‘we can’t,’” Sendelbach said, adding that he’s not advocating being passive firefighters. He emphasized that we can’t protect or defend certain structures or areas that significantly compromise a firefighters’ safety beyond their call of duty because, “if you can’t perform the job, you can’t serve your community,” he said.
Sendelbach then stressed the enduring priorities of the fire service—life safety, property preservation and incident stabilization—asking firefighters to always consider what they are doing in their communities to focus on these priorities because no matter how many new challenges arise, these three priorities will always remain.
