There is so much hunger for leadership in the fire service today. Everyone wants to be a better leader, but the question most often asked is "What do great leaders do?"
The department apparatus speccing committee, consisting of a battalion chief, a captain, and six other department members, was discussing the power train requirements for a new pumper and a new tractor-trailer aerial apparatus. The last department apparatus purchase was a pumper, acquired eight years ago. Only two of the officers on the present committee were on the department back then.
Dive into the topics you can't ignore - everything from the role of emerging technology to leadership and management insights for today's fire service.
When the chief speaks from the crystal palace and says "We need more volunteers," how many of us high-five one another and look forward with delight to going forth to seek fresh bodies? It tends to be right up there with root canal and playing goalie for the pistol team.
MINE SAFETY APPLIANCES COMPANY (MSA) has entered a strategic partnership with INDIGO SYSTEMS CORPORATION to develop and market the next generation of firefighting thermal imaging cameras. Indigo will provide core leading-edge technology while MSA will engineer the displays, controls, mechanics, and ergonomics, and provide the manufacturing capability. Indigo Systems specializes in infrared technology for commercial and military applications.
Nationally, we are still having difficulty marketing our staffing needs at the fire scene. In my opinion, that lies almost entirely with an in-depth understanding about additional and vitally necessary extinguishment support tactics-truck work.
BRANNIGAN AT FDIC 2000. As a result of one of those inexplicable errors by mysterious creatures we called "gremlins" during World War II, my presentation was not listed in the preliminary FDIC 2000 program, causing some to think that I had "shuffled off this mortal coil." No such luck, truss promoters. I'll be there with a brand new program.
As a retired Fire Department of New York firefighter, I am puzzled and bewildered when the media report that a wildland fire is being fought by inmates and firefighters. I wonder what the public and government administrators' perceptions of the fire service are when career and volunteer firefighters are being augmented with convicts.
The following approaches to fire safety education have enabled us at Livonia (MI) Fire & Rescue to present our messages to large audiences while keeping expenses negligible.
Over the years, firefight-ers have always had difficulty fighting fires. As buildings be-came larger and more complex, increasing in area, height, and energy efficiency, the inherent difficulty increased dramatically.