The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates citizens about disaster preparedness, including training on basic disaster response skills, fire safety, light search...
Local governments across the nation continue to grapple with the "perfect storm." The effects of the worst economy since the Great Depression, including unemployment, declining...
For the second time in two years, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on whether a fire department's personnel practices violate civil rights law. In the latest case, the court ruled...
SUBJECT: Gasoline-Electric Hybrid Vehicles TOPIC: 110-volt AC Cables OBJECTIVE: Determine whether any colored cables exist inside the passenger compartment of a gasoline-electric...
My mom died recently after a long illness on a Sunday afternoon. It was May 23, 2010. Several weeks earlier was Mother's Day and in 20 minutes alone with her, I said everything...
This is the second part of a report about a fire that occurred on Nov. 21, 2009, in which two firefighters from the Wheat Ridge, CO, Fire Department became trapped and initiated...
Our nation's economy remains in a significant slump in many of our towns, cities and states. Difficult funding decisions continue to be made that impact the level of resources...
"I don't want to go to work today!" How many times have you started your day with that statement? We all have. Although it may be true at some points in our lives, we must be ...
Unseen threats are routine for first responders. Knowing whether there is imminent danger is key to getting home safely. This column outlines several cases in which the Chicago...
NEW YORK CITY: JULY 2, 1910 — Three alarms were needed to battle a difficult fire at 112–116 Nassau Street in lower Manhattan. Sparks from a light switch apparently ignited stored...
Great leaders must ensure that all firefighters go home at the end of an alarm or shift. This rule is perhaps the most important one of the entire list of Rube's Rules.
The Baltimore County, MD, Fire Department provides fire, EMS and rescue services to over 800,000 people in a 610-square-mile area surrounding the City of Baltimore on three sides...
When it comes to professional fireworks displays, there are some important things firefighters need to know to keep themselves and the public they are sworn to protect safe.
Uprighting a loaded cement mixer or lifting the rear of a loaded van trailer are everyday tasks for heavy recovery operators. Place someone who is injured and trapped in a car...
Behold the beam, an amazing structural element that bends when loaded - but one that must not bend too much. A fallen tree spanning the banks of a river was perhaps the first ...
A fire station is more than a house with a big garage — as anyone who has experienced the travails of funding, designing and constructing a new one (or remodeling an old one) ...
IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS, several firefighters from the "war years" of the 1970s in the FDNY whom I knew personally passed away during their retirement. Many got the chance to live...