February 2010

Progress Being Made Toward Professionalizing The Fire Service

Feb. 3, 2010

It has been my privilege to be in the forefront of a number of different educational efforts over the years within the fire service that have long held up the goal of professionalizing...

Careers & Education

ACCREDITATION

Paul Snodgrass

Feb. 3, 2010

As Jim Wright sought to continue his higher education to encompass a bachelor's degree, he found some institutions willing to take life experience and distill it into credit hours...

Operations & Training

On The Job: NEW YORK

Jay K. Bradish

Feb. 3, 2010

On Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008, fire destroyed the International Fiber Corp. plant in North Tonawanda, NY. The company manufactures products to serve food, pharmaceutical, auto and ...

Operations & Training

Truss Truce: Part 1

Mark Emery

Feb. 3, 2010

truss — A framework of triangulated forms in which all loads are carried by compression or tension in each member of the frame. It is time for the fire service to make peace with...

Apparatus

The Apparatus Architect: Part 44

Tom Shand

Feb. 3, 2010

In the January installment of The Apparatus Architect, we began covering some considerations for the use of ground ladders on the fireground, together with reasons why your department...

More content from February 2010

Operations & Training

On The Job: MONTANA

Feb. 3, 2010

The small Montana city of Bozeman was rocked on a wintry Thursday morning, March 5, 2009, by a natural gas-fueled explosion and fire that left one woman dead and leveled or damaged...

Leadership

Layoffs, Budget Cuts & Deficits

Ed Ballam

Feb. 3, 2010

From Glendale, AZ, to Tulsa, OK; from Philadelphia to Atlanta to Los Angeles, the news is the same — budgets are in crisis and firefighters must be laid off. The depth of the ...

Tech & Comm

The Highs and the Lows of Gains

Brad Harvey

Feb. 3, 2010

When I am looking for column ideas, among the places that I like to turn to are the multitude of firefighter forums on various websites and read what people are posting. If a ...

Rescue

Hybrid Vehicle Emergencies: Honda Insight

Ron Moore

Feb. 3, 2010

SUBJECT: Hybrid Vehicle Emergencies TOPIC: 2010-model Honda Insight Gasoline-electric Hybrid OBJECTIVE: Given a 2010-model Honda Insight vehicle at a new-car dealership for inspection...

Careers & Education

The Philosophy of a Firefighter/Paramedic

Gary Ludwig

Feb. 3, 2010

A characteristic of firefighter/paramedic is someone who is intellectual.

Safety & Health

"It Felt Like a Bomb Went Off!" — Part 2

Feb. 3, 2010

As we noted last month in Part 1 of this column, for most firefighters, odds are your most common structural fires involve single-family dwellings. In addition to construction...

Operations & Training

NWCG Approves Changes in Wildland Tactics

Feb. 3, 2010

Changes that I proposed in my September 2009 column in Firehouse® Magazine have been adopted by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), an organization that represents...

Leadership

We Don't Lose "Non-Essential" Lives

Dennis Compton

Feb. 3, 2010

A recent newspaper article reported on a major fire department in our country being faced with the challenge of submitting a 15% budget reduction to the city council for consideration...

Leadership

Doing Less With Less. When Will We Learn?

Firehouse Staff

Feb. 3, 2010

Budget cuts. These words have become an integral part of the daily lives of most fire service leaders. As many municipalities, both big and small, are forced to deal with declining...

Operations & Training

100 Years Ago

Paul Hashagen

Feb. 3, 2010

BALTIMORE, MD: FEB. 1, 1910 — A fire that started among bales of packing straw stored at the Eisenhauer, MacLean and Co. lumber dealers yards spread quickly, driven by high winds...

Leadership

Trying to Do More With Less?

Harvey Eisner

Feb. 3, 2010

With the state of the fire service in flux due to the continuing fiscal crisis, in this issue we take a three-pronged look at the lack of money, budget cuts, givebacks and zero...