Firehouse Magazine

In This Issue: August 2011

Butch Moran

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, the FDNY fireboat Firefighter II berthed in Staten Island provides a water display in front of the Statue of Liberty. It is one of two new identical fireboats recently added to the department’s Marine Division. The first boat was named 343 in honor of the firefighters who were lost on 9/11. Never forget.

Dedication

This month’s Firehouse® is dedicated to Firefighter Robert Dean Watts, 51, of the Windsor, CT, Volunteer Fire Department; Firefighter Elias Jaquez, 49, of the Cactus, TX, Volunteer Fire Department; Captain Michael C. Webb, 46, of the Neon, KY, Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department; and Firefighter Charles Foster, 59, of the Barton Volunteer Fire Department in Olive Branch, MS, who died in the line of duty, April 2011.

Peers Are Driving Force For National Fire Curriculum

by Paul Snodgrass
Created: August 2, 2011

In an industry with a deep commitment to volunteers – all the way back to Benjamin Franklin and the formation of the Union Fire Company – it’s a fitting tribute that federal fire service...
The Apparatus Architect

by Tom Shand and Michael Wilbur
Created: July 12, 2011

Over the years, most pieces of fire apparatus, regardless of type, have become larger. Basic dimensions such as overall length, overall height and the in-service weights of units have become so...
The Rapid Intervention Reality of Your Fire Department

by Jeffrey Pindelski
Created: July 11, 2011

Last month’s column outlined five points to consider in assessing your fire department’s true rapid intervention team (RIT) capability, using the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1407...
Green Fire Service: Red Engines, Green Strategies

by Barry Furey
Created: July 11, 2011

T he 1970s gave birth to Earth Day and the environmentalist movement. Since then, society at large – including the fire service – has been reducing, re-using and recycling as they “go...
On The Job: Rhode Island

by Ken Labelle
Created: July 7, 2011

A general-alarm fire tore through a five-story, U-shaped, 217,000-square-foot mill at 85 Fairmount St. in Woonsocket, RI, on June 7, 2011. At the height of the fire, with the mill complex fully...
Integrated Tactical Accountability: “Engine 54, Where Are You?”

by Mark Emery
Created: July 7, 2011

Part one of this series (February 2011) referenced the 1960s sitcom “Car 54, Where Are You?” to establish that freelancing and lack of accountability may be funny on TV, but are not funny on the...

AS Firehouse Sees it: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

by Harvey Eisner
Created: August 2, 2011

AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY of the events of 9/11, the use of new technology has brought not only the fire service, but almost every aspect of daily life to a much higher level than it...
Thermal Imaging Training: Thermal Imaging in Wildland Firefighting

by Brad Harvey
Created: July 7, 2011

With training, many years of practice and maybe just a little bit of crazy, generations of wildland firefighters have approached fires measured in acres or thousands of acres and thought, “I can...
Fire Politics: What a Difference 10 Years Can Make

by Dennis Compton
Created: July 7, 2011

I recently sent a friend an article from an online magazine that tore into firefighters from a few angles, including whether it is appropriate to refer to them as real heroes. My friend has been a...
Fire Law: Legal Factors in EMS Judgment Calls

by Steve Blackistone
Created: July 7, 2011

Earlier this year, the city of Detroit, MI, overhauled the dispatch procedures used by its EMS system to give dispatchers discretion to refuse ambulance service to certain callers. Detroit’s...
EMS: Taking a Swipe at Fire-Based EMS

by Gary Ludwig
Created: July 7, 2011

As we all know, it has become fashionable to attack fire departments and firefighters. I wrote about this in my September 2010 column, headlined “Firefighters – From Heroes to Zeros,” and...
Chief Concerns: The Dozen That Make a Difference

by Dennis Rubin
Created: July 7, 2011

TOP DOZEN FIRE CHIEF TRAITS 1. Be Nosy 2. Be A Good Communicator 3. Be Patient 4. Be Prepared 5. Be Honest, Direct And Clear 6. Learn New Systems 7. Role-Model Behaviors 8. Be A...
The Fire Scene: Required Fire Flow

by John J. Salka, Jr.
Created: June 27, 2011

I recently read an article that talked about, among other issues, the “required fire flow” for various fireground situations. As I have stated here many times, nothing, absolutely nothing, is as...
Leadership Lessons: Focus on Values, Not Policy

by Kimberly Alyn
Created: June 27, 2011

In previous columns, I have talked about the importance of organizational vision and purpose. Now, I want to focus on values. I conduct leadership training in fire departments all over the United...

New Deliveries 8/2011

by Firehouse Staff
Created: July 11, 2011

THE ARLINGTON COUNTY, VA, FIRE DEPARTMENT, on behalf of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, recently took delivery of six Rosenbauer bomb squad vehicles purchased under a federal Urban...
Rekindles 8/11

by Paul Hashagen
Created: July 7, 2011

HAMILTON, ONTARIO: AUG. 1, 1911 – Eight lives were lost as fire tore through a hilltop insane asylum just outside the city. Eight hundred patients were asleep when the fire broke out on the top...
Forum 8/11

by Firehouse Readers
Created: July 7, 2011

Training Operators In Emergency Mode I was thinking about the apparatus and vehicles that fire departments use. I was also comparing the training related to the operation of those vehicles. Having...
Hot Shots August 2011

APACHE-SITGREAVES NATIONAL FOREST, AZ, JUNE 10, 2011 – The “Wallow Fire” became the largest in state history, burning 527,774 acres 23 miles southwest of Alpine. Structures were threatened and...

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Firehouse Managing Editor Elizabeth Neroulas talks with Deputy Chief Ray O'Brocki about his Chief Concerns article “It's All Hands On Deck When Disaster Strikes" which appears in the March 2013 issue of Firehouse Magazine . Listen as the two discuss how Baltimore City, MD, Fire Dept. handles emergency calls during extreme weather events. Read: It's "All Hands On Deck" When Disaster Strikes View: The March issue of Firehouse Magazine Subscribe to...

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