Archive | June 2013
June 28, 2013  

Reading Assignment – June 28 2013

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Here’s the list:

  1. Halligan – streetsmart firefighter
    “Three articles about the most versatile tool in the fire service.  Take the time to get better every day.”
  2. Choices –  Irons and Ladders
    “For all of the new guys, these are CHOICES. It is up to you!    We can tell which one you choose.”
  3. The Most Important 6 Inches – Jason Jefferies, Fire Service Warrior
    From the FSW Archives:
    “Take a good hard look at your gear and how wear it into combat.  Screwdrivers, door chocks, webbing, and various other “add ons” are useful, but where we position the most important items that could save your life is one of the most important decisions you will make.”
  4. MacGruber Bag – Gary Lane, Fire Service Warrior
    Another one from the FSW Archives:
    “This is just one way I’ve been able to stay in a “Warriors mindset” without over burdening myself with an extra 20 pounds of stuff in my pockets.”
  5. Registration is open for the 2013 Colorado 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Here’s a video from the event last year, which I was able to participate in. SIGN UP HERE!
  6. Registration is also open for the 2013 Charlotte Stair Climb. I climbed in Charlotte last year and will be climbing there again. SIGN UP HERE!

-Pete

June 21, 2013  

Reading Assignment – June 21 2013

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Here’s your weekend reading assignment:

  1. Mentors – Mark VonAppen, Fully Involved
    “You never know when a mentor will show up, who they will be, or how they are to influence you or your life as a whole.  We might not know how someone has molded us until years later as we hear his or her words echoed in our own.”
  2. Because We Can –  Jonah Smith, Fire Service Warrior
    “As you sit down at the firehouse, you can think about whether to retire to the recliner for the day or find something to train on.  I am sure that there are plenty of fallen firefighters’ families wishing that their loved one could be training with you shoulder-to-shoulder every day you work.”
  3. Developing Door Control Doctrine – Ed Hartin, CFBT-US
    “Fire scene photos go up by the hundreds daily on the Internet. Critiquing them for best in “Equipment Omission” does not solve safety issues. It makes you look petty.”
  4. Focus – Dan Manning, Fire Service Warrior
    A look back in the FSW archives with this Dan Manning post.
    “To be truly great at our business takes a lot of work — a lot of work for the entirety of your career. If you find yourself not working too hard you may have hit a plateau from which you need to keep building and learning.”
  5. Finally, stay up to date on the latest research from the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute by giving their new Facebook page a “like”.
    Also, check out their main site at http://ulfirefightersafety.com/

-Pete

June 14, 2013  

Reading Assignment – June 14 2013

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Here’s your weekend reading assignment:

  1. The Deadload Isn’t Dead – Brian Brush, Fire Service Warrior
    “I personally find beauty in the 2 ½” hose.  The simplicity and efficiency of the line is second to none. A 2 ½” flat loaded, in a static bed is a work of art to a fire nerd like me.  If you are the one other guy out there who agrees then this was easy. If you are the other 99.999% and you need a little more convincing before you flip your 2 ½” hose bed around, put a nozzle on it and toss a double female in your hydrant bag, here we go.”
  2. Conventional Methods for Defeating Window Bars –  Brian Brush, Fire Service Warrior
    Two assignments from Brian Brush this week. Be sure to open, read, save, and print the PDF at the end of the article, or you will miss out on a ton of additional information.
  3. Safety ADHPD (Attention Deficit Hyper Photography Disorder) – Ray McCormack, Urban Firefighter Magazine
    “Fire scene photos go up by the hundreds daily on the Internet. Critiquing them for best in “Equipment Omission” does not solve safety issues. It makes you look petty.”
  4. Absorbent Filled Training Hose – Streetsmart Firefighter
    A quick tip for the training toolbox that might work for you.
  5. Facebook Pharisees Throwing Stones – Bill Carey, Backstep Firefighter
    “Give it rest, will you? We know, we know, but life isn’t perfect and this isn’t a fireground and it may come as a surprise to you but you and your fires aren’t perfect either.”

-Pete

June 8, 2013  

Weekend Reading Assignment – June 8 2013

A fresh attempt on a variation of the old (and short-lived) “Weekend Update” posts. This regular post will forgo the random photos and viral videos to recap only articles and training videos posted on the Facebook page throughout the week(often captioned as “today’s reading assignment”), as well as some that I may have missed. As my original articles are less frequent, and may be published elsewhere, I want to continue to use this site to share the work of others. With that in mind, you may share your own work here. Article, rant, photo, poem, drawing, or other…send it in.

Here’s your weekend reading assignment:

  1. Don’t Kill Yourself – Christopher Brennan, Fire Service Warrior
    An honest and timely article from Chris on a topic that is all too common in our community, yet is often avoided in discussion: suicide. Read it, and if you know someone who is in a dark place, talk to them…starting with those three, most important words.
  2. Close the Door! Were You Born in a Barn? –  Ed Hartin, CFBT-US.com
    “Coming and going as a little kid, I frequently would forget to close the door to the house and my mother would say; close the door! Were you born in a barn? What does this have to do with firefighting operations? As it turns out, it has significant impact!”
  3. Throwing Ladders – Jason Jefferies, Fire Service Warrior
    “A good training program should consist of progressive learning so that as a task is learned and then mastered, the difficulty is increased.  We cannot expect a firefighter to see a technique that is new to them and expect perfection in performance right out of the gate.”
  4. Sick Days – Mark vonAppen, Fully Involved
    “The old days are gone.  If we wish for the past, worry for a future that might not happen, the present goes by and we don’t live the days that are right in front of us.”
  5. What Research Tells Us about the Modern Fireground – Steve Kerber and Timothy E. Sendelbach, UL
    “Applying water to the fire as quickly as possible—regardless of where it is emitting from—can make conditions in the entire structure better.”
  6. Finally, two things in the wake of the Houston LODD’s –
    A post on the Fire Service Warrior Facebook page had this to say:

    Risk does not recognize rank. Collapse does not recognize rank. Fire does not recognize rank. Heart attacks don’t recognize rank.

    There is no experience required to access information, no prerequisites to get in the gym. If there is a fire engine in your station you have all the equipment you need to drill. It just takes the will to do and the soul to dare.

    Stop waiting for someone else to take care of you, to show you, to prepare you.

    Your life is your responsibility and has been since the day you were born. The lives of those you serve are your responsibility and have been since your first day in uniform.

    Enough with the dependance, avoidance and laziness. Pride and ownership isn’t a book, it is an internal drive, a different standard and most importantly it is hard work. Dig in and start now.

    You answer to yourself and your duty. The critics will not be there for you at the moment of truth so why let them influence the outcome. We have lost enough this year.

    Put down your phone right now or log off the computer and go to the bay, the gym or the book shelf. When the voice from the lazy boy asks “What are you doing? Don’t you know it is the weekend?”

    Just tell them “unfortunately it is a weekend that too many are missing and I choose not to be one of them.”

  7. Secondly, the following WOD was posted in honor of the fallen in Houston:

    The Houston Hero WOD

    Captain Matthew Renaud, Station 51
    Engineer Robert Bebee, Station 51
    Firefighter Robert Garner, Station 68
    Firefighter Anne Sullivan, Station 68

    1 mile run
    68 Push-Ups
    68 KB swings
    51 Sit-ups
    51 Burpees
    1 mile run

    Many Brothers and Sisters have posted times for the workout over the past week. I completed it on Wednesday with a time of 37:04. Denver area firefighters organized a fundraiser workout at Crossfit Ken Caryl in Littleton, CO this morning. Knock it out and show your work here or on the FSW Facebook page.

    Remember the fallen.

-Pete

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