Fire Prevention & Investigation Web Exclusives

Photo Courtesy of Reedy Creek Emergency Services

Fire Chief William "Ray" Colburn, who retired in April.
Fire Chief William "Ray" Colburn, who retired in April.
Photo Courtesy of Reedy Creek Emergency Services

Reedy Creek Emergency Services Fire Station 1.
Reedy Creek Emergency Services Fire Station 1.
Photo Courtesy of Reedy Creek Emergency Services

Reedy Creek Emergency Services Fire Station 3.
Reedy Creek Emergency Services Fire Station 3.
Photo Courtesy of Reedy Creek Emergency Services

The department staff a heavy rescue squad with an ALS provider around the clock.
The department staff a heavy rescue squad with an ALS provider around the clock.
Photo Courtesy of Reedy Creek Emergency Services

A sample of the various emergency vehicles that Reedy Creek emergency responders use to access patients and fire situations.
A sample of the various emergency vehicles that Reedy Creek emergency responders use to access patients and fire situations.

Firehouse Interview: Chief Ray Colburn (ret.), Reedy Creek Emergency Services

Ben May recently interviewed William “Ray” Colburn, who retired as the fire chief of Reedy Creek Emergency Service in late April. Colburn started with the Reedy Creek Emergency Services in Lake Buena Vista, FL, as a firefighter/paramedic in 1979. Richard D. LePere Jr. was appointed fire...

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Firehouse Interview: Chief Ray Colburn (ret.), Reedy Creek Emergency Services

Ben May recently interviewed William “Ray” Colburn, who retired as the fire chief of Reedy Creek Emergency Service, which protects Walt Disney World in Florida, in late April.

Article • May 15th, 2013
Fire Safety Education: Understanding Smoke Alarms

If ever a tool was invented for the fire service that has saved countless lives, the undisputed champion has to be the smoke alarm. The smoke alarms currently in use were introduced in the early 1970s. I remember my first smoke alarm cost about $50...

Article • May 1st, 2013
Speak Up: Tactical Vs. Strategic Decision-Making on Arrival

I have been using elements of Chief Mark Emery’s series “How to Nail Your First-Due Responsibility” to reinforce the importance of distinguishing between tactical and strategic-level decision-making in the minds of our first-arriving officers...

Article • April 1st, 2013
Fire Service PIO: Tips for Taking Photos at Incident Scenes

Of course, you’ve heard the expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” For me, it means I can write a media release about an incident, but a photo shows what I cannot put into words. That is why I take photos at nearly every incident to...

Article • April 1st, 2013
Global Lessons: Bringing Fire Prevention Home

While residential fires continue to be our biggest problem in the U.S., fires in public buildings, notably assembly occupancies, while occurring less frequently cause the largest loss of life and property. Recently a fire in a Bangladesh factory...

Article • February 5th, 2013
Scuttlebutt 1-13

Lending a Hand (and a Truck) to Kosovo When Jakup Jahiri came to Mason, MI, to visit his son, he returned home to Viti, Kosovo, with much more than memories of a fun trip. While in Mason, the then Mayor of Viti, noticed how much fire equipment this...

Article • January 1st, 2013
Conducting Interviews At TV and Radio Stations

You just received a call from your local radio or TV station to be interviewed on a show to talk about how to make a home safe from fire. What should you do? When you first get the call, make sure you get the name and telephone number along with the...

Article • January 1st, 2013
Power of the Badge: It is Time to Stop Feeling Helpless

As with most emotions that occur in the fire service we can’t describe it, but we all know it because it seems to be with us every day when we turn on the television – helplessness. As firefighters we are action orientated with one purpose and one...

Article • December 18th, 2012
For the Record 11/12

Marion Body Works President Dies in Crash James M. Simpson, 51, the president and chief executive officer of Marion Body Works, was killed in a motor vehicle crash on Oct. 4. Simpson had been president and chief executive officer of the WI-based...

Article • November 1st, 2012
Restoring the Flame at the U.S. Fire Adminstration

Next year marks the 40 th anniversary of the landmark report, "America Burning." A must-read for fire service officials, "America Burning" brought together many of the brightest minds in the fire service to develop a report that captured the...

Article • October 23rd, 2012
Fire Prevention Over the Years

Forty-nine years after the Great Chicago Fire, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation in 1920. Two years later Fire Prevention Day was expanded to Fire Prevention Week. Since then, Fire Prevention Week has...

Article • October 9th, 2012
Rekindles 10/12

PENN YAN, NY: OCT. 6, 1912 – Late at night, smoke seeped into an upstairs bedroom in a home near Keuka Landing. The woman of the house, Mrs. Stowell, was awakened by shrieks of “Fire! Fire!” Her parrot was hopping around inside his cage and...

Article • October 1st, 2012
Close Calls: Firefighters Burned In Mega-Mansion Fire

This is the conclusion of a two-part report on operations at a March 19, 2011, house fire in Huntingtown, MD, at which 10 firefighters were injured, including four who received significant burns. Fire and rescue personnel from the Huntingtown...

Article • October 1st, 2012
On The Job Tennessee: Multi-Alarm Fire Destroys Vacant Furniture Factory

The main portion of the vacant structure was constructed in the late 1800s of heavy timber and brick. Several additions were made to the factory over the years. The present complex consisted of 13 interconnected buildings with more than 1 million...

Article • October 1st, 2012
Firehouse Humor: The Ultimate Prevention Solution?

Firefighters who do prevention consistently ask how they can get support from those firefighters who are on the rigs. Fire stations abound with hallway echoes of “those prevention people” and “those suppression people!” (I am being nice...

Article • September 5th, 2012

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Fire Prevention & Investigation Web Exclusives

Firehouse Interview: Chief Ray Colburn (ret.), Reedy Creek Emergency Services

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