Since September 1976, Firehouse Magazine has served as the foremost medium for communication to America’s Bravest, offering the most up-to-date reporting on fire service news, critical events, and advancements in training, tools, tactics and technology, and more.
In July 1984, The Great American Firehouse Expo was first hosted in Baltimore, expanding the delivery of Firehouse and strengthening the training and professional development of our nation’s firefighters.
In December 1998, within a period of extreme growth in the usage and adaptation of the Internet by businesses and firefighters around the world, Firehouse.com was launched, and a whole new dimension of news, reporting and information-sharing entered the fire service. It was with this launch that Firehouse became truly global in its influence and reach to firefighters around the world.
In February 2003, with our nation still reeling from the events of September 11, 2001, San Diego played host to the first Firehouse World conference and exposition. This event created an added dimension to training, as it combined the talents and experiences of East Coast and West Coast firefighters/instructors, offering a more comprehensive form of training largely unseen in the American fire service.
Today, we are faced with an ever-expanding list of challenges that stretch beyond the limits of traditional thinking and template-driven solutions. At the same time, these challenges also present us with a path of uncharted opportunities—opportunities that reach far beyond our nation’s borders. It’s with this thought in mind that Firehouse will begin to write the next chapter in our efforts to serve our nation’s firefighters and firefighters around the world.
With the unparalleled support of the Los Angeles City and County Fire Departments and the 28 surrounding departments that make the up the Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Association and the Los Angeles Area Regional Training Group, the City of Los Angeles will become the new home for Firehouse World, March 24–28, 2019.
The Los Angeles region has long been recognized for its unique geographical challenges, its adaptation to innovation and technology and its creative insights for the betterment of the fire and emergency services. With a global reach that includes an international hub in LAX airport and an unmatched array of venues to host and develop some of the most advanced and physically challenging hands-on training ever offered, we are excited by what the future will bring with this move.
The goal of Firehouse World 2019 is not simply to provide a new venue, but also to showcase one of the most diverse regions in the American fire service and to present an unprecedented forum of training and education for firefighters from around the world. Our mission is to become the host of professional conversations and global debates for the advancement of the fire and emergency services, to highlight the best practices of all nations, to allow the creative minds of firefighters and instructors from around the world to design and develop the solutions that best meet the needs and demands of their communities and, finally, to serve as the delivery mechanism for the latest research and development and product unveilings by clinicians, manufacturers, vendors and entrepreneurs.
While the shadows of tradition will forever be cast upon this proud profession, our next chapter must be guided by these traditions, but not overrun by them. The classrooms of Firehouse World will not be limited by the names and influences of a region, but rather open to the best that the world has to offer.
Firehouse is proud to have served our nation’s firefighters for more than 40 years, and we are looking forward to writing the next chapter that expands our reach and provides ALL firefighters the opportunity to grow and develop their knowledge, skills and abilities to better serve and protect their communities.
I hope all of you will join us in Los Angeles next year as we begin what promises to be a historic journey for the betterment of the fire and emergency service.
About the Author
Timothy E. Sendelbach
Editor-in-Chief
Timothy E. Sendelbach is a 30-year student and educator of the fire and emergency services, and former editor-in-chief for Firehouse. He has served as an assistant fire chief with the North Las Vegas, NV, Fire Department, as the chief of training for Savannah (GA) Fire & Emergency Services and as assistant fire chief for Missouri City, TX, Fire & Rescue Services. He is a credentialed Chief Fire Officer and Chief Training Officer and has earned a master’s degree in leadership from Bellevue University, bachelor’s degrees in fire administration and arson and an associate’s degree in emergency medical care from Eastern Kentucky University.