Strategy & Tactics Magazine Articles

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 85

    Drill #85: Directing and Penetrating Hose Stream Readers will about the science behind how to direct the hose stream. The drill is designed to be a single page of information to conjure up discussions among your crew members. Sit down and talk...

    Article • September 9th, 2012

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 84

    Drill: Hazmat Cylinders

    Article • September 2nd, 2012

  • Chief Concerns: Fires in Vacant Buildings

    Question 1 – What is a vacant building? What criteria do you use to determine that a structure is unoccupied? In the 1970s, some fire departments had separate categories for fires occurring in vacant and abandoned buildings, the thought being that...

    Article • September 1st, 2012

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 82 - Hotel Incidents

    Readers will get understand the various size-up points for these high risk structures that often require additional alarms for suppression and life safety efforts.

    Article • August 19th, 2012

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 81

    Drill #81: Incident Action Plans: Part 2 Part 2 of this two-part series on Incident Action Plans (IAP) breaks down the five levels of the command sequence: Incident Priorities; Size-up; Strategies; Tactics; and Tasks. The drill is designed to...

    Article • August 12th, 2012

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 80

    Drill #80: Incident Action Plans: Part 1 Readers will learn how the Incident Action Plan (IAP) assists the IC indecision making and identifying problems. The drill is designed to be a single page of information to conjure up discussions among...

    Article • August 5th, 2012

  • Firefighter Trapped: Water/Dive Rescue Emergency

    This continues our discussion of an incident involving the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD). As I noted last month, this close call provides loads of valuable information from which we all can learn, especially those of us who respond to water...

    Article • August 1st, 2012

  • VES: Ventilate, Enter & Search

    You probably read and hear lots of fire service instructors talk about “VES” all the time. VES – ventilate, enter and search – is a major function of any fire department that conducts interior structural firefighting. Sounds pretty simple too...

    Article • August 1st, 2012

  • 'Bilco' Doors: Entering, Ventilating Below-Grade Fires

    When discussing strategic and tactical considerations for structural fires, one hot-button issue that divides many incident commanders is the use of “Bilco” doors. When they say Bilco, most people in the fire service are referring to below-grade...

    Article • July 31st, 2012

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 79

    Drill #79: Cellar Pipes Readers will learn about cellar pipes (also known as distributors) and how thay can get water on the fire in cases that are too dangerous or impossible for firefighters to reach. The drill is designed to be a single page...

    Article • July 22nd, 2012

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 78

    Drill #78: 13-Point Size-Up Readers will learn about WALLACE WAS HOT, the mnemonic to help them remember all of the key aspects of the all-important 13-point size-up. The drill is designed to be a single page of information to conjure up...

    Article • July 15th, 2012

  • The Active Shooter: A Special Challenge

    On the day I am writing this, a person shot five people at a cafe near the University of Washington in Seattle and then shot himself in the head as police closed in on him. His rampage left three people dead and two critically wounded. I remember...

    Article • July 1st, 2012

  • Firehouse.com Weekly Drill: No. 76

    Drill #76: Directing the Stream Readers will learn how to properly direct a stream so it will be most effective as it pertains to fireground operations. The drill is designed to be a single page of information to conjure up discussions among...

    Article • July 1st, 2012

  • How to Nail Your First-Due Responsibility Part 3

    Back in 2007, Firehouse ® Magazine published the first installment of Mark Emery’s 11-part series “The Ten Command-Ments of Intelligent and Safe Fireground Operations.” The series began by identifying 13 “fireground indiscretions” that...

    Article • July 1st, 2012

  • Introducing the "Best Practices Forum"

    According to a U.S. Fire Department Profile Report published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in 2010, the U.S. is protected by 30,125 organized fire departments staffed by more than 1.1 million firefighters. The make-up of these...

    Article • July 1st, 2012