In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two extended Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)/canine search and recovery operations were conducted in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward...
This past summer my wife, Vicki, and I took our two youngest granddaughters on a trip from California to New York City and Washington, DC. This was, in part, to fulfill one of...
The topic of leadership has been thoroughly researched and examined throughout history. Researchers have studied the relationship between leadership and a variety of factors, ...
The city of Ocala is 80 miles north of Orlando, in north-central Florida. Ocala is situated so that many highways transect through the city, including U.S. Routes 27, 301 and ...
Last month, we looked at the origin and development of the thermal imaging standard by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as well as the state of the industry. This...
It's no secret that the economy is in a slump. I am sure this is not a surprise to any fire department in the United States. Furthermore, I predict that any positive changes in...
SUBJECT: Electric Vehicles TOPIC: Part 2 – 2011 Chevrolet VOLT Battery OBJECTIVE: Given a potential scenario involving a 2011 Chevrolet VOLT, the emergency responder team will...
Wildland firefighters facing life-threatening situations are taught that a fire shelter is to be used only as a "last resort," but we fail to define "last resort." Further, firefighters...
Do you remember the days and months after 9/11? I do. Grateful people showed up at fire stations across the United States with cakes, cookies, meals and other expressions of appreciatio...
On June 24, 2010, the Harrisonburg, VA, Fire Department was dispatched to a multi-family dwelling fire in the Copper Beech townhouse community on the eastern edge of the city....
Two columns I've written in the past year addressed topics that have become increasingly important in recent months. Not that they weren't important before, but as of late, circumstance...
One summer afternoon, as a light rain coats a winding two-lane road, a father with his three children in an SUV overcompensates on a turn. In the subsequent accident, they are...
GLYNDON, MD: SEPT. 6, 1910 — An oil stove caused a fire in the kitchen of E.J. Heath's residence in this Baltimore County town. The flames spread to the Big Camp Meeting Temperance...
you pause to ponder the meaning of the headline on this month's column, you may be asking a simple question: Why does it matter what rig I am riding? I am a firefighter and firefighters...
After seeing a dramatic decrease in vehicle-related line-of-duty deaths in 2009, we now find ourselves asking, are we still not getting it, that seatbelts really do save lives...
My initial column in the June 2010 issue began a discussion about buildings called "mixed multiple occupancies," or "taxpayers," as they are known in some places. We noted that...
It was Father's Day, June 21, 1970, a peaceful Sunday in Crescent City, IL. At 6:30 A.M., a young girl delivered newspapers, Firefighter Bill Dirks was asleep in his apartment...
Firehouse Expo's 27th year kicked off with thousands of attendees traveling to Baltimore, MD, to train and learn from the best in the fire service. This year's event was unlike...
On July 8, 2009, a six-alarm fire destroyed an entire block of row-houses in York, PA. The incident required a large mutual aid response because at the time, all front-line city...
Part 3 — Types of Beams You Are Likely to Encounter If a surgeon doesn't possess a foundation of human anatomy and physiology knowledge, would you let that surgeon cut you open...
In the category of fire service politics, some extreme words were spoken on the floor of Congress recently while members were discussing the bill to aid rescuers who worked at...
