Honoring Heroes: The Impact of the FDNY 911 Stair Climb

https://saltriverfields.com/stairclimb/

The conversation revolves around the 9/11 Stair Climb event, its inception, growth, and the personal connections of the participants to the tragedy of 9/11. Riley Murph shares insights into the importance of community, brotherhood, and the traditions of the fire service, emphasizing the need for trust and effective training within firefighting culture. The discussion highlights the significance of honoring fallen firefighters and the impact of charitable events in supporting those in need.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
All right, welcome back, everybody.
This is gonna be a special drop coming up to 911 talking about
stair climb. So I have the privilege to sit
down with Riley Murph. He is one of the founding
members here. He started to climb the 9/11
stair climb in 2015 at the Talking Stick Resort with 14
firefighters and was just something for fun.

(00:20):
The next year they partnered with Salt River Fields and a
grown about 300 climbers and raised $5000.
After that they're about 1500 climbers raising over $120,000.
The climb benefits East Valley firefighters Relief Fund that's
here in Arizona and the NationalFallen Firefighters Foundation.
So all the brothers. The climb is for all ages and

(00:42):
it's open to the public. So you'll be climbing along
firefighters all in the state ofArizona and the public to honor
those that were killed on 9/11. Registration is $35 and if you
sign up, and I know this is short notice, by August 22nd,
you're guaranteed some swag. If you want more information and
everything will be attached in the show notes down below,

(01:02):
please go to www.saltriverstairclimb.com.
So again, the event coordinator and while we're sitting down,
welcome my brother, this is Riley Murph.
He is a captain at Salt River Fire Department at Station 293.
There a ladder rescue and technical rescue station that
serves Scottsdale, Salt River and the Talking Stick

(01:24):
Entertainment district. He's done all this with his good
friend, engineer Terry Kubal, and he has been running this
event with the help of DiscoverySalt River and Salt River Fields
since 2016. So first of all, thank you for
taking time out of your busy day, my brother.
Did I miss anything mispronounceanybody's name?
Is there anything you want to add so I?

(01:46):
Think we're good, man. You hit it on the head and
that's that's pretty much the gist of what we got going on.
Thanks for having us. We appreciate you making the
time for us. Cool and and again absolutely
this is this is an event that I have had the privilege to go to
twice so far. I'm going to go again this year
and again we connected over Instagram and it's it's just a
good event in the state to honorthe and if you talk to guys from

(02:09):
New York City, the most successful rescue in this in the
American fire service history, which is amazing way to look at
it. So please my brother, you have
the floor. So tell the audience kind of the
inception how you guys started. I know again, we have a quick
little brief intro, but my brother, the floor is yours.
Please tell everybody what you guys are doing, what's coming up
in the next couple weeks and howthey can sign up.

(02:32):
All that good stuff bro. Yeah, absolutely, man.
So kind of like you you alluded to, we started this in 2015.
We were just doing it for fun. We made a couple shirts and we
were in the stairwell at TalkingStick, which is 15 stories.
And we're like, hey, let's just let's climb to remember, right.
So we made a shirt, we made a poster.
We kind of just did it and it was awesome, man.
As a butt kicker, we were like, man, this, this could actually
be something. So I started doing some Google

(02:53):
and doing some research and cometo find out, the National Fallen
Firefighters Foundation does these stair climbs all over the
country, all out of springs, Redrocks like FDIC, They do them
everywhere, right? Lambeau Stadium.
And so I got a hold of them and I was like, hey, you know, this
is something that we'd like to do.
And the lady at the N triple left Regina, she's like, yeah,
we'll help you. She got to set up the first
couple years, you know, it was slow.
You know, you're building a charity event.

(03:15):
It takes time to to, to grow andto get people interested.
But this is our 9th year now. And man, we've been, we've been
doing really well. We've been helping a lot of
people and really that's our mission is to help people,
right? So this not only benefits the
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and all their
programs that they, that they run, right, Our East Valley
firefighters Relief Fund. So you know, God forbid one of

(03:36):
us gets killed in the line of duty, gets job related cancer
and injury. You know, that money stays local
here to not only the East Valleyguys, but as you know, in
Arizona, we all help each other out, right?
Something happens, you and Glendale, you're, you're going
to catch a check for 2260, right?
Or East Valley firefighters charities or whoever it may be,
right? We all help each other out, but
the big thing about our stair climb that the N Triple F does
is they they make sure that someof this money goes back to the

(03:58):
FDNY. So that's one thing that we're
really, really proud of. You see a lot of you see a lot
of 911 stuff going on and they're kind of grifting in my
opinion, you know, like they're selling shirts or whatever.
And none of the proceeds go backto the FDNY and, and they're the
ones that went through this, right.
So the money, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
make sure that some of the moneygoes back to support the

(04:18):
counseling services unit, which is apparently a really, really
good program in the FDNY that a lot of guys take advantage of.
And as you know, we're approaching the 25th year and
now I believe we've surpassed the number of people killed on
9/11 by the people that have 911.
So there's over 343 firemen thathave 911 related illness.
So you know, we say never forget, this is our way of

(04:39):
forgetting and keeping doing what we're doing.
And like you said, we've, you know, we've got some amazing
partners. Plexus, who is a community
partner of ours, they're representing sponsor, they've
been with us for the last like 3years.
They're a huge asset. Salt River Fields, the team at
Salt River Fields is amazing. They do so much legwork for this
thing. They help us with graphic
design, promo, setup, I mean everything.
And then discover Salt River, who is the Salt River Tribes

(05:00):
tourism division, help us out with this thing among many other
sponsors we have that are just ahuge part of this thing.
But like you said, you know, we've grown to over 1500 people
at each year we're raising over $120,000 and and really helping
those out that need it. You know, we're trying to fill
that gap. Rickmance comp doesn't always
work. We know presumptive law doesn't
always work. We know there's just, if

(05:20):
something catastrophic happens, there's just not always enough
to cover it. And this is a way that we can
give back and help bridge that gap and then give back to the,
to the fire service that's givenso much to us.
You know what I mean? That's that's the big thing is
kind of when I grew up in, in myearly days, the fire service
charity and giving back was a big thing.
And that's been instilled with me from the beginning.
And this is kind of a one way that we can do that.

(05:41):
I love it and we tell guys all the time like say yes more than
you say no, especially when you get hired.
And that's and that's what we'retalking about.
There are charities and and giving back to the public and
this the American fire service alots of so many things.
And it's just it's nice that youguys are doing something to give
back. And this is this is something

(06:02):
that's near and dear to my heart.
Like a lot of guys don't know, only the ones that are super
close to me, but I mean to sharea little bit my experience, 911,
I was there, I was in the UnitedStates Coast Guard at the time.
I was stationed at Sandy Hook, NJ, which was we were the first
military unit on scene during 911.
So we had spent probably about amonth after the day doing

(06:25):
security and everything else. And then we ended up moving
bodies from the city to Governors Island, which is
crazy. It's like a closed circle.
The Governors Island used to be a Coast Guard base.
It's now just abandoned. That's actually most guys will
recognize it from the UL testing.
So all the slicers came, they burned houses, government
housing at Governors Island, which is where.

(06:48):
So The funny thing, I was born, but they made that place of
makeshift morgue at one point and it was just, I mean, but it
was savage. So I didn't have even close to
the experience that the firemen had.
But I have a direct art string that's attached to 911.
Now. Let me ask you guys when when I
had the privilege to get hired out here, I used to be back

(07:10):
East. I was a fireman and then I came
out here for my ex. But I remember our first year
right out of the Academy, we gota little tag and actually had it
was a white tag that had one of the 343 firemen that are killed.
Do you guys still do that or is that something that's a little
bit different now? Yeah, we still do that.
So the N triple F send us A tag of of everybody that was killed

(07:32):
on 9/11 and now they're startingto give us tags of people that
are dying of job of illnesses. So that's kind of The thing is
you've seen you walk into the event, you know, you check in,
you get your shirt, you get yourswag and then you walk over.
We have all the tags listed in alphabetical order and they're
kind of hanging on this deal andyou can go up and and find the
the person that you want to carry and you're, you're
carrying that tag and you're some symbolically completing
their journey to the top of the twin towers, right?

(07:53):
You're carrying them with you and man, it's it's kind of crazy
as you're talking about your experience.
We've got people that have family that were killed in 9/11
are people that were there. And it seems like, you know, the
more you talk about this stuff, everybody has some kind of
connection to 911, right? We've got people that come up to
us every year and they're like, hey, thanks for doing this.
You know, I was there a guy lastyear was telling us say I was

(08:14):
there. I was in an office building
about a block away and he was telling me his story about what
went down and what he experienced during the collapse
of the towers. And it was insane the story that
he had just a civilian, right. And he's like, I got some
buddies that work for the FD andY and they didn't make it.
And he's like, like, this is an amazing thing.
We'll be here every year. Like I got, I got goosebumps
talking about it right now, man.Like everybody has a connection

(08:34):
to this thing in some way. It seems like, you know what I
mean? Be it why they got on the job or
they had family there or they know somebody that was killed or
whatever it is, right? So kind of bouncing around a
little bit. But yes, we still do those tags
and that's kind of. Part of it, and that's cool.
And I just want to mention that because that was so symbolic to
me. It's as my first one.
I still have that tag and that tag is in my turn out pocket and

(08:57):
it goes with me to every job andthat's and to me that means
something. I talked to the privilege now to
be a recruit training officer atthe regional training Academy
here and we talked about that. So we do here in the offseason,
I would say prior to 911, we do a 22 tower stair climb to honor.
And then I always have the privilege to talk to the kids

(09:18):
about the importance of this. And then obviously, no matter
what the season is on 9/11, we always climb the towers to, to
honor the brothers. But again, the fact that you
guys do this is amazing. So that's that's why we want you
on the show and just really makesure that everyone knows about
it and then how they can get there and, and what they can do.

(09:41):
So just to clarify for everybody.
And we kind of talked about in the intro a little bit.
So when we went, we went with, we were sponsored by our
department. So they allowed us to go
turnouts. We were able to wear bottles on
air until we ran out of air, then we unclicked and did from
there. So just so the audience knows,
do you support? They can come in turnouts,
bottles, civilian clothes can. Can you kind of break that down?

(10:02):
Like what are you allowed to do while you not allowed to do for
that? Absolutely.
So you'll see, you'll see firemen from all over the state.
They'll come, they'll bring their turnouts, they'll bring
their packs, you know, they'll mask up, they'll do it on air.
Some guys are carrying an Academy flag, some guys are
carrying department flags. You know, some guys just come in
PTS, they, they come with their families.
You know, they got their, their little son on their shoulders

(10:23):
doing it. You know, you'll see, you'll see
parents come in and watch and grandparents come in and watch.
And you can do as little or as much as you want.
And it's, it's just about being there and supporting, right?
It's not a race. It's not like a fitness
challenge or whatever, right? Like, you know, people just come
to hang out and, and experience this.
And it's, it's a pretty incredible deal, man.
It's, it's, it's, I mean, you'veseen it, It's, it's wild.

(10:45):
It's just, everybody comes together for one, 'cause right,
We said never forget. Well, this is, you're not
forgetting, you're honoring. And now, you know, people are
coming that weren't even born when this happened.
And they're, they're learning about the significance about of
this event in the American Fire Service.
And it's a great point that the greatest rescue ever made,
right? It's not just a tragedy.
It was an amazing effort by the FD and Y, and the things that

(11:05):
they accomplished was, it's incredible.
There's never been anything likeit.
I hope there never is again, youknow?
Yeah. And, and it's it's crazy for the
for the guys that don't know andI don't know the exact number,
so please Fact Check me on this.I believe it was over 5000
civilians saved that day. And the crazy thing about it is,
yes, twin or towers one and two did fall, but there were

(11:27):
buildings associated. It was building 3456, all
surrounding that. They made valid rescues from
that. When those towers came down,
those buildings were also destroyed.
You know, there's, it's just, it's crazy just the amount of
carnage, but the good that came from that, you know, and the,
the, the amount of guys that were able to get out of that

(11:48):
situation because of the brothers that, you know, went to
the biggest job of their life, which is exactly what I was at
the time. So why did you feel that it was
important for you guys? I know you started in 2015 with
basically probably just your crew and your friends.
So where did where did that comefrom?
Where you guys just sitting downthe kitchen table one day and
said, you know, we should do something or where did that

(12:10):
really? Where did the spawn come from?
You know, so, so I got picked upwith Salt River in 2015 and I
was like one of the traditions of the fire service, right?
You got to do a probie project. And I was like, man, I want to
do something different. I'm not going to redo a host
card or, you know, something that's been done or make a back
like I'm going to do something different.
So I was like, let's do this, right.
So that's kind of where that came from.
And 911 was a real big deal for me.

(12:31):
It was one of the reasons I became a fireman and it was
pretty impactful to me. And, and where I started my fire
service career. The guys were very, very old
school and just this kind of stuff was really ingrained to me
early in my career. You know, you honor, you
remember and you give back. And that's kind of just
something that that always stuckwith me.
And that's why we wanted to do something like this.
You know, it's our, our department is a very young

(12:52):
organization and we didn't have anything thing like this.
And I was like, man, what a great opportunity to bring
people together, build that brotherhood, you know, bonding
through suffering or trauma bonding or whatever you call it.
Let's go climb some stairs. And it's going to suck, but
we're all going to feel really good about it afterwards.
And it's for a good 'cause. When is your actual for you guys
at the and excuse me if I is it the arena like at Salt River

(13:15):
Stadium? Is that what it's called?
Yeah, so it's Salt River Fields at Talking Stick and it's it's
an amazing venue. So it's the Arizona Dime backs,
the Colorado Rockies spring training facility, baseball
spring team. And it's, it's a beautiful
facility, man. It's, it's outdoors.
It's the lights that the billboards.
Like we have our sponsor logos on, on the Jumbotron and all
that stuff. And it's, we're pretty unique.

(13:35):
I believe we, we originally werethe only place that did this
climb at night. And I actually had the had the
opportunity to go back to, AT toMaryland and go speak at the
national fallen firefighters stair climb coordinators
conference and meet all the other people from all the stair
climbs around the country and kind of get some ideas from them
and, and see what they were doing.
And we were the only ones that were doing it at night.

(13:57):
Now I think the four corner stair climb up in Farmington,
they're due tonight to to combatthe heat, you know, so it's just
evolved into this cool thing. And you know, we've made
relationships with other departments and guys like like
you and people from across the country just by doing this,
meeting people and talking aboutit and bouncing ideas off.
What can we do to make this better?
And essentially, like I said, how can we all fill the gap to
give back? You know what I mean?

(14:18):
Yeah, exactly. So for for your location, can
you give the audience the address and then the actual date
and the time and then we'll alsoinclude that in the notes.
But I do feel like it's important that guys hear it.
Yeah, absolutely. So it's a salt reveals a talking
stick. It's 7555 N Pima Rd. in
Scottsdale. It's right by the Great Wolf
Lodge over there. It's September 13th.

(14:38):
We always try to do it around 911, but we try to make it on a
Saturday because we do it in theevening, Right.
So opening ceremonies start at 6:30 PM and the climb starts at
7. We've got some really, really
awesome things for the opening ceremonies this year.
It keeps keeps getting better and better.
You know, it's a really neat venue.
You get to go down on Major League Baseball grass, you're
down on the field, Everybody lines up in heats.
All of our sponsors have their tents and their boots set up.

(15:00):
They're giving out free stuff. You know, we've got like KUPD is
one of our long time supporters.They come out and they're
handing out swag and giving awayconcert tickets and doing all
this stuff. A Spooner PT down there, they're
stretching people, giving massages, rehabbing people.
Kimes Ranch, a really popular western wear company, they're
giving us 300 hats. So the first 300 people to come
and check in, get a free Kimes Ranch hat, which is awesome.

(15:21):
It was a huge hit the last couple years.
Again, Plexus is one of our big sponsors.
There's so many people that havesuch a huge part in making this
happen that just that want to help and want to give back and
want to remember, you know, guyslike you right, putting us on
your podcast, AZ TV7, we go down, we do a new it's just,
it's amazing how people want to get involved.
And we're lucky to have formed those really good relationships

(15:43):
with our sponsors and participants.
And and you know, it's everybodywants to be involved it they're
there for the right reason. You know, I was on the
Firefighter 48 a podcast, Ben Linquist not that long ago
talking about this thing and been on their own all podcast.
And it's just everybody just canget behind remembering and
giving back and again, filling that gap where the guys need it
if something happens, you know? Yeah, and like I said, it's it's

(16:05):
for it's about the brothers. It's for the brothers.
I mean, it's it's a win all the way across the board.
And I love the fact that you guys are I even know the word is
I guess. But you're willing to work
around schedules because there'sanother stair climb that we do
to honor 9/11. That's in city of Glendale.
But it's during fire school, which makes no sense.

(16:26):
So we have Arizona Fire School coming up first week of
September. I'm one of the instructor, one
of the state instructors there. But it's one of the deals where
you're OK. Well then I will see you there,
brother. I'm teaching forcible entry.
What? What class are you?
Ladder OPS. My other favorite thing in the
world, but so it's nice. So again, brothers, we'll we'll
all see each other there. But it's one of those things
where you have to understand like we need to capture the go

(16:49):
getters, the the hard chargers, the guys that are just ingrained
in this. But we can't conflict with
things that we're going to be involved in anyway, like fires
go. So again, I appreciate that you
guys understand that and you're moving it around.
So the majority of the guys thatreally, you know, the guys that
want to go, the majority of the guys can go, can go.

(17:09):
And again, this is Copper State fireman podcast, but we exist
because of the copper State fools and the Copper State fools
will be out there in gangbustersbecause again, this is this is
what we're talking about. We honor the fallen in every
chapter meeting and there's no greater honor than honoring 343.
So it's just New York City fire again, the greatest rescue in

(17:31):
American fire service history. And the fact that you guys are
here to help honor the brothers is just, we love it as an
organization and we we can do nothing.
But thank you guys for putting this stuff on for, for all of us
in the state. And then I mean, hopefully
people outside the state too, ifthey're if they're available to.
Come. Yeah, man, we have people, we've
had people come from all over the country.
We've actually had a couple people that were visiting from

(17:53):
overseas and they came from Europe and they came in climb
while they were here and they'relike, Oh my gosh, like this is
so much different than than the fire services in Europe.
And it's just it's, it's really cool to hear their stories and
hear their perspective on things.
You know, so we we try to make it accessible for everybody and
that's why we switched it to tonight, right, because it's
hotter than neat during the day.So it's amazing that it's I
mean, you've been there, you know, the vibe like it's, it's

(18:15):
and it's kind of a little bit different event, right.
The Hunter club does their eventon the West side.
They do it in the stadium and it's a very somber event.
You know, our opening ceremoniesare very somber and and very
respectful. You know, the colors.
We have pipes and drums. We're actually doing a swearing
in of some some Army recruits this year at the opening
ceremonies. Yeah.
So that's going to be really, really cool.
You know, we've had a piece of the tower out there that people

(18:36):
have climbed with. We really unique things, but we
we want to honor them and we want we want to keep it somber
and respectful. But the same time we want people
to enjoy being there and enjoy comes, it becomes a pretty, a
pretty, I don't even know the word, you know, there's a lot of
camaraderie once you get out there and you start climbing.
People are high fiving, people are hugging, people are crying,
people are waving American flags.
People are just having the time of their life, man.

(18:57):
And it's all for that one cause.And never forget and give back,
you know? What I mean, I love you said
that too, because I was actuallygoing to say that, like, my
experience was insane. People I've never met and we're
going up and down and everyone'sfist bumping and like you said,
high fiving and hugging and you're like, I'm fist bumping a
nine year old and then literallylike a a 75 year old right

(19:20):
after. It's just a cool experience.
Yeah. And not even if you're not, not
even if you're a fireman, if you're listening to this and
you're, you're a family of a fireman, something like that.
It is. I encourage you if you're
available, if even if you're not, make yourself available
because it's such a good cause. But more importantly, it just
sucks a good experience for the firemanship, you know, the love

(19:41):
and the brotherhood and sisterhood.
It's just there's, there's very few things out there.
And again, what you guys are doing are, is absolutely
amazing. And I, I can't thank you guys
enough. And what a great freaking rookie
or probie project. And look, look where it is now
10 years later and it's freakinghuge.
Yeah, it's awesome. Much better than a freaking hose

(20:01):
rack or a plaque that you would have put above the freaking
kitchen door or something. Yeah, You know, we wanted to do
something that that helped otherpeople, right?
It's not about serving yourself,it's about serving others,
right. And and you're talking about the
firemanship, right? In the East Valley, you know, we
all see each other, you know, weall train together.
You know, everybody's runs callstogether except for us.
I'm sure we'll get into that. But you know, like, like East

(20:23):
Valley ladder training, for example, we all see each other,
you know, we all go out and train together.
But like when guys come out fromall the different departments,
like Queen Creek has a huge showing in our event every year.
They've been massive sports fromthe beginning.
So you see the same guys from Queen Creek Fire come out every
year. You know, Tempe sends guys,
Chandler sends guys. You know, Phoenix has had a
couple trucks down there. Scottsdale PD has a team
Scottsdale Fire. Like all these people getting
together, building these relationships, meeting each

(20:45):
other. Hey, good to see you.
I saw you last year. You know, like it's just that
firemanship, that camaraderie, that brotherhood is just, it's
it's a really cool event to thatman.
And it brings us all together when there's, you know, in the
valley. We all live.
You may work in Glendale, but you may live in, you know,
whatever San Tan Valley or you may I live in Buchanan.
Yeah, exactly. Right.
And people come from all over the valley to, to big things

(21:05):
like this to get together for one cause.
And it's cool to see that, you know?
Yeah. And like you said, we're, I mean
the valley especially too, like I, I feel like we do a very good
job here in the valley of that firemanship.
It doesn't matter that I work for a department, you work for a
different department, whatever the case might be.
We come to these events and we're immediately brothers and
we're on the same team. And it's, it's, it's like I

(21:26):
said, it's gangbusters, high fives, you know, some, some cold
ones and really good stories about jobs and everything else.
So that's, I mean, that's what it's always all about.
Before we start talking about some cool fireman stuff, though,
whenever you want to talk about with your event or anything we
haven't talked about, please just let the audience know how
they can sign up. All that fun stuff.
What happens if they are listening to this after the 22nd

(21:47):
but before the 13th? How does that work?
Cool. Yeah.
So you go to Salt River Stair, Salt River Stair, climb.com, you
sign up, it's 35 bucks. If you sign up before the 22nd,
you'll get an event T-shirt whenyou check in.
You can also buy extra shirts. They're 20 bucks.
Just buy them online. We have to make a shirt order,
you know, ahead of time. So it's a challenge every year
to get people to sign up and make sure we have enough shirts

(22:09):
for everybody. Last thing we want to do is turn
people away without a shirt, Right?
Shirts are awesome. So do that.
Please go sign up. Like get signed up early.
It really helps us out. We don't make a ton of money
from the shirts. You know, State 48 is our
partner with the shirts and theyhave been amazing to us.
They they cut us an amazing dealand they're a huge supporter of
the 'cause as well. You know, they want to help
firemen. So kind of what it is, you come

(22:29):
in, you check in, you get your shirt, you get your swag, you
get your badge, you know, hang out and go down on the field,
bring ceremonies. We have some guest speakers.
We've had board members from theNational Fallen Firefighters
Foundation come out. Usually somebody from Plexus are
presenting sponsor comes out andspeaks.
We've had families that the National Fallen Firefighters
Foundation have helped out in the past with line of duty
deaths. You know, a couple years ago we

(22:49):
had a girl, Emma, her father died in the line of duty.
She came out and spoke and spokeon how the National Fallen
Firefighters Foundation has helped her.
And so some real personal thingslike that.
Opening ceremonies go on. And then we start the climb and
it's again, it's outdoors at night.
And we just zigzag through Salt River Fields, through the
stadium. It's two times.
You zigzag once and you go back down on the warning track and
you come back around and you zigzag again.

(23:10):
You get to the end. You ring a bell.
Fire wipes is always there. Cresting with fire wipes.
It works for Phoenix. He's another huge bus.
They're handing out fire wipes. People are wiping themselves
down, going out on the grass and, you know, laying there all
smoked and it's just an amazing thing.
And then you go home, right? A lot of times we'll go out and
we'll eat afterwards and have a,you know, have a couple drinks
to celebrate and honor the fallen, you know, and give, give
a toast to those that came before us and, and paved the way

(23:33):
for this amazing, amazing culture and, and profession that
we have today. And that's kind of it, man.
It's, it's down and dirty climbsthe stairs.
Have some fun, give back and remember.
So Salt River Stair climb.com please go get registered soon.
Got you. Now with your arena, how many
times are they going up and downto hit that the twin towers?
So it's two, it's two times around.
You go once and you come back onthe warning track and then you

(23:55):
go back again and again. You can do as little or as much
as you want. I mean, you've done it like it's
a butt kicker in gear, man it it's a lot.
It is so, I mean, all fitness levels again, if you don't
complete the entire climb, it's OK Again, you're supporting a
great 'cause you're having a good time and you meet a bunch
of really good people. So yeah, please come out,
support the brothers doing a great thing for us.

(24:17):
So again, I can't thank you enough, dude.
I love what you're doing. Again, we will be there, copper
say fools will be there for sure, 100%.
So thank you for that invite. And so kind of as we wrap up a
little bit, let's talk some coolfireman stuff.
So guys, listen to this all across the country and we all
fight the same fires and do the same thing, but we do it so much
different. So we're talking about your 95%

(24:40):
bread and butter house fire, single line, single story,
two-story, doesn't matter what it is.
So in your system, the department you work for, when
that gets dispatched, that box, that run number, whatever you
guys call it, what do you guys get?
And then if you kind of March out, how that works, is it like
an IC structured system like theValley is?
Is it SOP driven? If you just don't mind breaking

(25:01):
it down for the listeners, How you guys?
Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.
So we're, we're a little bit of a unique department.
So we we border the east side ofthe city of Scottsdale out onto
the reservation. We're a tribal fire department
just like everybody else in the,in the valley.
We follow volume to right. So volume to SO PS and tactics
and all that. It's, it's nicely driven type
thing, right? So it's, it's just like anybody
else. But we are a little bit unique.

(25:23):
So we have 4 stations right now.We're getting ready to build our
fifth. So we have two engines and two
truck companies. So our ladders function as
engines a lot, right? So we could be first in like my
area's commercial district. It's all commercial.
We don't have a single typical residential structure in our
area. So we're first in, we're an
engine company, right? We're going into commercials.
We have a ton of mid rises, tonsof hotels, we have talking

(25:45):
sticks, the high rise. We have manufacturing big boxes,
I mean multi, multi, $1,000,000 car display, high end sales
places. We have nursing homes, we have
rest homes, we have we have all kinds of stuff, right.
So our area is really, really unique.
But other than that it functionsjust like the valley.
We're volume to driven, right. So that's just kind of how we
run. We're not part of the auto aid

(26:07):
system. We're trying to get there.
So we have to call and Scottsdale usually comes and
helps us or Mesa comes and helpsus.
It takes a little bit of time. So we get to be a little bit, we
get to be a little bit cavalier and do some work on our own.
And we we work hard. When we have fires, we have to
kind of hold our own until help gets there.
With only four companies, it canbe challenging and it can be
taxing, you know? Now, what's your staffing on
your engines and your ladders? How does that work for you guys?

(26:30):
So we have, we have full time staffing like, just like
everybody else device. We run 4 on our truck companies
and four on our engines. And then we have rescues at each
stations. So it's a it's an ambulance,
right? So those are swarm personnel,
they're fire guys. Depends on the crew, depends on
kind of how that rotation works.You might do, we're on the 4896.
So you might do, you know, 1 tour on the rescue, 1 tour on
the truck or whatever, right. So all our guys are very

(26:50):
well-rounded. They're very well versed in, in
EMS and fire stuff. But yeah, so essentially every
station is 6 essentially is so your, your truck or your engine
and then your rescue company. So I just, and then like again,
at our station, we're a TRT station.
So we have a squad that we crossed out.
So we get a TRT call, we just jump from the truck to the to
the squad and go do our thing. I got you.
So with all that said too, when that initial fire comes out, is

(27:13):
that a three in one then SO3 engines, one ladder or OK now
just. We get kicked out as a three in
one and then if we got something, we upgraded to a
working fire. And it's, it's interesting.
We, we have to request a tac channel from either Phoenix or
Mesa, depending on which side ofthe reservation we're working
on. So hey, upgrade this to a
working fire. I got a column showing, you
know, give me a tac channel for Phoenix.
We'll then go to a tac channel for Phoenix, for example, if

(27:35):
Scottsdale's coming to help us, right?
We'll do our on scene report, doall that stuff.
And then essentially we're working off of the Phoenix
dispatch system on their channels, essentially in a
mutual aid type situation with Scotts still or Mesa or whoever,
right? If it's on the West side of our
boundaries, work with Phoenix and their alarm room and
Scottsdale, if it's on the east side, we'll work with Mesa on
their alarm room, right? It kind of just depends where
it's at. And then we have kind of a

(27:55):
pretty unique mutual mutual aid agreement.
Mutual aid agreement, excuse me,With Fort McDowell on Fountain
Hills. We run a lot of calls with these
guys. They come and help us.
You know, the beeline goes all the way up through Fort McDowell
up to Fountain Hills, up to Shea, you know, big MBAs and
stuff like that. We'll go help them out. 293C
shift went up not that long ago and helped out with the fire.
Got to cut a hole up in FountainHills area.

(28:16):
I think the Fountain Hills truckguys were a little bit upset
about that because our guys wentup there and snuck their hole.
But this is what it is, right? Hey, first ladder gets a hole,
that's all it comes down to. So it's it's a don't be so slow.
That's OK. And then how many BCS do you
guys have? Just one or.
Yep. So we have one BC and they have
a BSO or a fit as some people call them.

(28:37):
Yeah, OK. Gotcha.
And then or do they automatically respond on all
working house fires or structurefires right now with your
system? I'm just curious because you
guys only have 4 stations. When that first arriving officer
comes on scene, he gives his initial report, starts making
assignments. When the BC comes on for you
guys after your department, doesthat BC always take command or

(28:58):
does he kind of feel dependent on that captain, that incident?
Is it like his decision or are you guys hard fast that that BC
will always take command on yourfires?
If it's a working fire and it's a structure that BC is going to
take command, right and then they're going to work in with
that first company officer. If they get assigned into your
sector, for example, right and they're going to work in TAN and
just like everybody else does todrive that IAP, right.

(29:19):
Hey, what do you need? I'm taking command from out
here. Give me a can and depending on
that can is going to dictate where we go with tactics, right.
If it's if it's bread and butterroom and contents and there's we
got it knocked right, cool, we got it knocked down fire
control. Let's get a fan in here.
Let's get lost stops salvage andoverall that good stuff.
And it's it's easy, right? If it's a more involved fire,
then obviously things go from there, right?
Ventilation, all the all the crazy stuff that goes along with

(29:42):
the into building that IAP throughout your plan.
Got you cool good deal. And then last cool fireman talk
just because and, and we had talked I think off camera for a
second. I, I can't remember now, but I'm
a ladder captain. I work on a heavy rescue too.
So through and through. I mean, oh, that's what we're
talking about teaching, right? So yeah, so ladders is my jam,
forcible entry is my jam, extrication by jam, all that

(30:04):
stuff, right? So we're very like minded.
So in your department, what is your truck culture or ladder
culture like? Do you guys, do you guys
entertain any sort of targeted or event?
Enter, isolate search? Do you search in front of hand
lines? Is it always with the hand line?
Can you kind of March out for the audience, your truck and
ladder culture in your department?
So again, we're pretty young organization and we're like a

(30:25):
lot of people, we have a bunch of people retiring.
You know, we, we, we don't run as many fires as most of the
departments around us. We, we don't honestly have a
super strong truck company culture, but we're working on
building that. You know, we're always training
on the east side. We have East Valley regional
ladder, which I'm one of the instructors for and we're, we've
trained on VES or targeted search, right.
We've trained on all this stuff.Luckily we're pretty on the east

(30:47):
side. We're pretty aggressive and
progressive when it comes to roof operations and the way that
we do them. We drill that stuff into guys at
East Valley Ladder and even in our own organization, how we
cut, when we cut the different kind of roofs, we cut the
equipment we have. We're, I would say that we're
very aggressive and progressive with that as a whole on the east
side. Again, from our department,
we're smaller, right? Like I said, 4 stations, we're

(31:08):
very lucky. We have very nice equipment and
we're adequately taken care of. We have nice saws, you know,
nice tools like we're trying to build that truck company culture
here in our organization and train our guys up.
And we have a lot of really, really young green guys that we
want to bring into the mix and teach them and get that kind of
going. Our department's only been
around since like 82. So we don't really have that.

(31:28):
And we've really only started kind of really adopting Volume 2
and playing by the value rules probably in the last 10 years, I
would say. And so it's all honestly a
little bit new to us. So we're doing what we can to
stay up with the times and, and our guys are very well trained.
We have a lot of really good people that work for us that are
very, very capable and competentfiremen.
I work on a shift. Our officers on a shift are

(31:50):
awesome. All the firemen on a shift are
awesome. Our battalion, she's great.
We're very, very. Lucky dude, that's that's
awesome. And, and again, like I said,
just from one ladder monkey to another.
Yeah. It's a good thing and we are I
say we I'm just part of a very large group of guys right now
very hardly pushing on that volume to West side, East side

(32:11):
on increasing the capabilities of our ladder culture with the
targeted search VIS right forcible entries, everything
else. But we've been interjecting a
lot more tactical ladders, ladder rescue stuff and like
we're doing, we're starting to do a West side ladder training
Academy out here that's in the inception.

(32:33):
So it's great. I mean, this is something that
again, I would love in the future that maybe we can figure
out some sort of collaboration between West and East Side too.
Because again, we all play underthe same rules.
And as long as we're on the samepage pretty much, we could do
whatever the hell we want to do.As long as we're all operating
together, we're all fully trained, we have the appropriate
PPE, everything else. But do I love the fact that you

(32:56):
guys are hard charging, you know, super aggressive and then
really trying to stay proactive on all the new modalities
because I mean, you're no different than we are.
And everybody across the American Fire Service right now,
everyone's young, you know, so it's captain.
Yeah, our captains are young areare brand new.
I mean, if you have three to four years on, you're definitely

(33:18):
a senior fireman right now in this in this area.
So it's it good and scary all the same time, but all the more
reason why we can capitalize on all these additional trainings
between all of our departments because we need it, because our
guys are young and there's a lotmore things that we can we
should be allowed to do and we can do as long as we operate on

(33:39):
the same page and we understand,you know, what kind of equal and
opposite reactions we cause negative and positive on the
fire ground depending on what we're doing.
But dude, I love it sounds like you guys are freaking doing the
right thing. So yeah, you know, love talking
with the firemen. With East Valley ladder, man,
it's, it's, it's an amazing thing.
One of the things that we do is we always invite the BC's out,

(33:59):
right? Come out and see what your
ladder companies are capable of.Come out and watch us do this
stuff that you might have been scared of and thought and watch
the proficiency of these crews do it.
And right. And then the BC's come out and
they're like, Oh my gosh, like Ihad no idea that we could do
that safely, right? I didn't know you guys had that
equipment or I didn't know you guys were trained to do that,
you know, be a targeted search for the ES balcony rescues.
We do a lot of heavy lifting stuff, you know, tractor

(34:21):
trailer, cement trucks, lot of chain work.
We, we, we kind of try to touch all those different things and,
and really bring that truck company culture to the East
Valley. Mesa fires a huge part of that.
You know, Casey Russell drives out a lot, Alan Blaine from
Chandler. They're huge proponents of this
stuff. You know, Dan Rush from Gilbert,
Matt Rush from Tempe. I don't know if you know, Matt,
he was teaching with us for a while before he, you know, left

(34:42):
the job And, and all those guys,you know, Ralph Barr, all those
guys were all part of this and, and paving the way.
And we're just trying to continue that and, and make it
better, right. Like when you first gone was
like, leave it better than you found it, you know what I mean?
And that's what we're trying to do with with the ladder
operations type stuff and the training that we do, the
opportunities that we have. And again, coming to work
together with all these different agencies, right?

(35:04):
You see the same people you get to you get to meet with the same
people and run scenario based training with the same people
and see different equipment and different capabilities and who
does things different ways. And I'll tell you what, being
one of the instructors, I think I've been out there instructing
for six or seven years now. Like I have learned so much from
watching these other crews and picked up little things and pick

(35:24):
another captain's brains. I'm a, I'm a relatively new
captain. I've only been a captain for
like 3 years. So like the amount that I
learned from going out there instructing and sharing my
knowledge. I, I get so much out of a man
and I, I would tell anybody, like if you have an opportunity
to get out and get involved in instructing, that is the best
way to learn man. Share what you have, but you'll
pick up so much more. And I tell guys all the time, if
you want to be a better fireman,teach because I will make you

(35:48):
the best in whatever that modality that you get assigned
to or tasked to, to do the most research on.
I mean, I teach a bunch of classes and I tell guys all the
time I'm like, listen, I am not a subject matter expert.
I was a guy that I was tasked todo the most research.
That's it, right? And I have the most practice
doing it. And I'm just going to show you
what's worked for me. And I would love for you to show
me a better way, right? I tell, I tell kids all the

(36:10):
time. I'm like, even the recruits I
train, I'm like, listen, man, this is the best way I know how
to do it right now. If you figure out a better way
and it works, come back. That can teach me, please,
Because that's what it's all about, you know, There's no
more. Egos, everybody's got people
lateral in from other departments, right?
So guys will come in with experience.
You know, we've had guys lateralover from departments with 15

(36:31):
years on. It's like, man, these guys have
all this experience, Let's capitalize on it.
Let's take their knowledge and they're, you know, the things
that they've learned over their 15 year career that we may have
never seen and let's, let's use it, right?
Let's, let's bring them in, let's have them teach, let's
learn from them. It's it's stuff that nobody
knows everything, right? No, no, none of us, us are
perfect at everything, but we can absolutely learn something

(36:51):
from everybody, even the shitty fireman, you know, so do I, I
love what you guys are doing, man.
What a freaking great fire department.
What a great 'cause you guys aredoing.
And obviously like the guys are listening.
You can tell he's a brother, he's a great dude, He's doing,
you know, the something that benefits all of us across the
nation. And then on top of that is a go
getter hard charger and a ladderdog.

(37:12):
So what else can you want from afreaking fireman running a stair
climb? And that's what I'm talking
about, dude. Thanks.
Man, you appreciate it. I'm just a dude.
I, I ain't anything special, man.
I'm just a dude that's trying to, you know, I, I love the job.
The job has given me so much. You know, it's given me a great
life. It's given me great experiences.
You know, it allows me to take care of my family and, and I, I
love it, man. This is I, I got involved super,

(37:33):
super young and I'm not a legacykid or anything like that.
I just kind of fell into this and it's, it's been the best
thing that's ever happened to megetting into this, into this
craft. I you can never do enough to
give back what it's given me. You know what I mean?
No. I agree all the time.
And then I mean, it's a perfect segue.
So I'll get right into the questions then because like you
said, it's giving you so much. So let's let the listeners know

(37:56):
the why. So like we asked the why all the
time. We asked guys, hey, why do you
want to work for X fire department?
And then after you get hired, westart asking them, hey, why do
you want to be an RTO? Why do you want to go and fire
investigation? Why do you want to do all these
nice jobs within? But this is a why for you.
So why did you get involved in American Fire Service?
So please tell the audience whatever you want to know and
how you got into the best job inthe world.

(38:18):
Yeah, so I was in high school and I was a pretty, pretty rough
and tumble kid in high school, you know, got in some trouble
and all this like a lot of us, right.
Didn't really didn't really havea direction in life.
I was going to go to the military and I wish I would have
gone to the military. It's it's one of my big regrets
in life. But they had a program, I went,
I'm from a little bitty town up in Northern Arizona.
And they had a program called NAVIT, which is like Evit down

(38:40):
here. And I think we were the first
fire science class in the state.This was an OO2 or O3, I can't
remember. So I was like, ah, whatever fire
like all it sounds cool, right? So I got involved with it, got
involved with snowflake and Taylor fire and found out what
it was all actually about and instantly fell in love with it.
So by the time I graduated high school, you know, I had all my

(39:01):
basic classes, you know, your first responder and hazmat all
that stuff and you're NIMS classes and all that stuff.
And then when I turned 18, I gotmy EMT and got my one and two
and got involved with Snowflake Taylor fire.
And the town that I'm from had an all volunteer department, not
even a full time chief. And they were the old dudes that
have been doing this since, you know, the 60s, right?

(39:24):
So they were, they were old school firemen, volunteer
firemen, like East Coast firemen, you know, and, and just
the knowledge that these guys had, especially because being on
the I-40 where I'm from, like the knowledge from extrication
vehicle mechanics, you know, allthat dynamic stuff from running
these gnarly MBAs and from the 60s up into the up into the

(39:44):
2000s when I left is just these guys were amazing, right?
And it was a really neat place. Like they had a very, very
strong culture and tradition. You would walk into their fire
station, there was glass cases lining the walls full of
trophies from fire musters and make and break challenges.
And you know, every Monday nightwas steak night, right?
And then like, you know, the first Tuesday of the month was
training night. And then when you know,

(40:05):
Wednesday was ladies night and everybody.
Bring their wives up to the department.
We'd cook steaks and, and beans and all this stuff.
And everybody got together and, you know, holidays were a family
thing and the 4th of July barbecue and all that stuff.
And that's kind of how I got introduced to it.
And it just stuck with me, right?
So that, that history, that culture and that tradition has
always been very, very important.
I mean, it's something that I'vejust kind of held onto

(40:26):
throughout our career, right? Like we just had the 20th
anniversary of our station beingopen.
So, you know, we set up a thing where people brought their
families and we all kind of got down and had a little potluck at
Station 293 and celebrated 20 years.
You know, it wasn't a big formalthing is just, hey, let's all
get together and hang out and have some, some firemanship and
some brotherhood and some camaraderie.
And that's kind of my story how I got involved with it.

(40:46):
And I left Northern Arizona, came down here, started testing,
tested everywhere for years, right, got on as a reserve and a
smaller department. Then I got hired in another
smaller department and then justkind of worked my way up to, to
getting where I'm at now at SaltRiver.
Like I said, I got hired in SaltRiver in 2015 and I've been
there ever since, man. And I love it, man.
It's, it's a great place to work.
We're very well taken care of. We have amazing opportunities.

(41:09):
You know, it's pretty cool beingpart of a small organization and
being able to make change and impact things in a positive way,
be it through training or charity or just being involved,
right? Like there's, you know, there's
a little over 100 of us line guys.
So you can get involved and you can make change if, if you want
to. And that's another piece of
advice I'd give the younger guys, right?
Get involved, leave it better than you found it and be the

(41:30):
change that you want to see. And, and I'm not, you know, I
don't want to make it sound likeI'm to my own home cuz I'm not.
It's just you want I, I love it,you know, I'm, I'm a nerd for
the job. I want to be involved.
I want to see things get better.I just, I love it, man.
It's sleep and breathe this stuff.
And dude, you're you're in like minded like company.
I mean, that's what the fools isall about is just a
collaboration of dudes that justlove this freaking job in every

(41:53):
aspect of it, which is the job itself and then the people,
which is really what makes it. But it's funny, like we, we talk
all the time and it is literallyhalf of us because I did the
same thing. I fell into this job kind of by
accident after the military, butit was like, and then it was the
best job in the world. I didn't know I was meant to be
a fireman until I became one. But I would have been, I

(42:14):
honestly at one point would havebeen happy probably being a cop
too. But it's like not not in the
long term. Well, you won the lottery.
Oh, dude, it, it, it's crazy because it, it's same deal.
It's like we busted our fucking asses.
Like when I say this, like we fell into it, we fell into
deciding we wanted to do the joband then you, you marched it
out. It's it's a process to get

(42:35):
hired. It's very hard.
And then now it's crazy because it's, you know, it's, it's a lot
easier, you know, so we're, we're dealing with the cultural
shift to try to make sure that we, we hire the right people and
then maintain these cultures. So kind of with that said, going
into the next question, culturesare huge.
And you said that you love this job, you love the cultures and

(42:56):
the history. So the second question is your
favorite American fire service tradition.
And again, it doesn't have to beyour fire department could be
anywhere. But what do you love the most
tradition wise about the American fire service?
But why? Why it is it?
Why does it hold such a special place in your heart, brother?
You know, honestly, pipes and drums man for for line of duty

(43:17):
deaths and services. You know, I, I play in the pipe,
in the state pipe and drum band and that has always been
something to me. That's just been incredible
again, right, giving back all these guys and gals that get
together to go honor their fallen brothers and sisters,
right? Like, I mean, you've been to
line of duty deaths, unfortunately, services, right
when the band comes in and they strike up and they come in and
we're honoring those people thatgave their lives for the public

(43:40):
man. Like that's the coolest thing.
And then the history behind the pipes and drums, how it came,
you know, like from back East, right, with the culture and
tradition of all these people, these immigrants coming and
taking these jobs, these dirty, hard, low paying, blue collar,
nasty job that nobody else wanted to do.
And then their culture coming inand influencing the American
fire service to being what it istoday.
I mean, now look at what pipes and drums does.

(44:02):
I mean, go to Colorado Springs, you know what I mean?
Like it's, it's incredible, man.That's by far my favorite, my
favorite tradition. And, and it again, it's a way to
give back, right? It's a small way to give back.
You can never, you can never repay a family for what they
gave the public when somebody iskilled, right?
But this is a small way to honorthem and give back and, and show

(44:24):
your appreciation, right? You know what other cool way to
honor your brothers and sisters that have fallen by going out
there and having some beautiful traditional music.
It's just, it's cool. It's I really enjoy it.
And no one has actually said that before, which is crazy
because I know every single one of us feel the same way.
Well, I do, so fuck everybody else.

(44:44):
But when those pipes and drums start, we just graduated in
Academy class and that's a joyous occasion.
And it's still like is an emotional feeling when you when
you as soon as you hear those, the bagpipes start to blow up,
right? And you're like, Oh my God.
And you hear the first beat of the drum.
It is an experience as a firemanthat I I can't put words to.

(45:08):
And the fact that you're involved in that is just
amazing. But yeah, tradition wise,
there's nobody else out there that has.
It is a very distinct. Anybody in the world can hear
that and be like, oh, it's for firemen, you know?
And they have no idea what the song is, anything else.
But they understand that, which I think speaks volumes to our
traditions. And the fact that it's so

(45:30):
ingrained and it does, it just gives me goosebumps every time I
hear a band come out there to start playing for, for good or
bad. Yeah, and this, that's stuff we
have to hold on to, you know, tradition as the generational
shift comes in the fire service,it kind of seems like the
traditions, we have to hold on them, right?
We can't let that go. People have to continue to put

(45:52):
in effort to keep those things alive because if you don't,
they'll disappear. And then what do we have then?
It's just another job, right? There's so many things that make
this profession the greatest jobin the world, in my opinion.
And traditions and things like that and the effort that guys
put in to hold on to those traditions and values.
That's that's what makes this sospecial, right?
Like you can go anywhere in the world, anywhere in the country,

(46:13):
right here in Canada. And you know that like all
firemen are the same for the most part, right?
And you'll get the same thing nomatter where you go.
Like, it's just so cool, right? Like, you can go to wherever and
you got a brother. You're in need.
Go to the fire station, you got a brother there, and they'll
help you out. They're going to give you some
guff, but they'll help you out, you know what I mean?
That's how you know they like you, right?
If they don't, if they don't sayshit to you, they don't like

(46:34):
you, right? If they all make fun of you.
Yeah, this guy, dude, I love it.All right, so last question, my
favorite question. So again, magical lamp, king of
the day, wherever you want to put it, right?
But you snap your fingers, 0 sweat equity, instant
gratification. You change something in the

(46:55):
American fire service that couldbe implementing deleting
whatever it is. What would it be for you?
But more importantly, why would you insert, delete, change, add
whatever this is? You know, I think the easy thing
is say like no cancer, right? But it is what it is, right?
Like that's that's not going to happen.
That's just an inherent part of our job.
But something that that you could actually change like kind

(47:18):
of like you and I were talking about off cameras is policy
driven tactics and assignments, right?
Like on our crew, for example, we have writing assignments on
my truck. So we know, hey, you're the
tools guy, you're the nozzle guy.
Hey, we go to the roof. This is how we're setting up the
aerial. This is the saws you're taking.
This is where we cut our inspection hole.
This is what we do like those types of things.
If I think if everybody could get on board with that and

(47:38):
everybody just knew their job and it it would take a lot of
things off the ICS back. It would take a lot of things
off that first thing company officers back guys could just
especially for truck companies, right, like go to the roof.
This is what we do. This is how we give a report.
This is how we identify buildingconstruction.
This is what we do for those cuts for that building
construction. Like we know this is parallel
court trust wood decked roof. We know we're doing pull backs.

(47:59):
We know we're doing center afterlouvers.
Like guys know, Hey, I'm Sawyer one, I'm Sawyer 2.
If everybody could just get on board with with knowing their
positions, knowing their responsibilities without having
to say it. Like, I don't know about you,
but as a company officer, sometimes I struggle
communicating to my crew exactlywhat I want them to do in an
effective and timely manner, right?
So that's kind of one of the reasons we came up with writing

(48:20):
assignments on the crew was like, Hey, I don't need to tell
you. I'll pull an inch or 3/4 of the
front door for search and rescuefire attack.
Like you're sitting in the nozzle seat, you know, you're
pulling the line. I trust you to pull the the
right line and do what you need to do.
I'm going to go do what I need to do.
I'll meet you there. Then we'll go take care of work.
Like if everybody could just geton the same page page standard
actions equal standard outcomes,right?
Just do what needs to be done and just get after, right?

(48:42):
That's to me, that would make everything so much smoother.
You're absolutely right. And again in the yeah, I mean,
we're both suppression officers.But something that drives me
absolutely insane is I have arrived and it might be 5
seconds after the first thing company, but now I have to sit
there and wait for them to do March out orders on the radio.

(49:05):
Even though I know for a fact because I'm watching what the
building's doing, I'm watching what the crew's doing.
I know the time of day, the set back, the building construction
of whatever that is because we're good firemen.
And but I cannot physically act until they give me that
assignment, even though I'm going to do the exact assignment
they're going to give me. And yeah, it's, it's and it

(49:27):
might be unpopular, but it doesn't matter because it's my
opinion. It's my podcast.
So every, you know, I could say whatever I want and I have a
disclaimer that covers my ass onthis.
But it's the crazy thing about it is we under volume 2 is a
micromanaging fire department because you're not allowed to
act until you were told to do the exact function.
Imagine if we have predeterminedrunning assignments where as

(49:50):
soon as you arrive, depending onwhen you arrive, you know your
job unless things are out of thenorm.
And then guess what you have to do Click and we talk and we tell
them something different. My biggest heartache about
having to wait for an assignmentand all the chatter on the
radio, especially on the east side of the state where they
chatter even more than we do, which is amazing because I think

(50:11):
we talk way too much is like if we were God forbid to have a
mayday. I, I always ask the same
question, like, how do I get my mayday across?
And it's not how to talk on the radio, it's how do I get the
radio time because it is just blatantly covered with, you
know, too much additional information.
So dude, I again, I wish we had that magic land because that

(50:35):
would be one of my first things where it's like, hey, bad news,
bad news only, bro. That's all we have to talk about
on the radio. If I'm not talking on the radio,
everything's like gangbusters. We're good.
You don't have to worry about it.
You know, I will say this though, that you know, I've
heard people say that Arizona's the Disneyland of the fire
service because of the auto aid system and all that.
I'm sure you've heard that as well, right?
So I was having, I was having a conversation with somebody a

(50:57):
couple months ago talking about tactics versus, you know,
Pacific Northwest versus the East Coast versus volume to
versus Texas versus blah, blah. And you know, we don't, we don't
kill a lot of firemen in Arizona, right?
Which everybody wants to be moreaggressive, Everybody wants to
get things done, but we don't like we're pretty safe system.
It's pretty popular right now onthe Internet to go, well, if
you're not putting yourself in danger, then you know, you don't

(51:20):
care about the people, which I agree with and I subscribe to
that 100%. But our system does work.
Can it always be better? Percent right.
But we don't kill a lot of firemen here on scenes.
And that's because we operate the way we do, in my opinion.
Do I think that we could do it more aggressively?
Yes. But it's hard to argue with
stuff when you don't kill firemen and other places.
Do you know what I mean? Like I don't know what the

(51:41):
answer is. And I and I agree with you
wholeheartedly because of our system, our accountability is a
lot higher than a lot of other systems and regions.
But just to play devil's advocate on that one, I believe
and again, this is just my personal opinion, I believe our
building construction is why we kill less guys.

(52:01):
I agree more just because, and Itell guys out here because I was
a fireman 11 years back east in the Baltimore region and I tell
guys all the time around here ina house, not commercial building
in a house, I am 0% concerned about being trapped and lost
because our building construction as you know is
garbage. It's stucco.
You know if anyone that lives inthis area, if you have a

(52:24):
neighbor that their dog is barking inside, you can hear it
inside your house, right? Compared to back east where
because of the temperature differences, right, the houses
are a lot more sealed. You will get vent limited fires
compared to out here where you don't run into vent limited
fires. And then the majority of our
fires back east were basement fires and that's where we 'cause

(52:44):
we hurt and kill a lot of guys in basements because we fail to
recognize that the fire had started in the basement and the
kind of that's where we fall in.Plus Lasser and Platt.
I mean, you can go on and on andon, but I absolutely agree with
you. Our system does do a very good
job of protecting us because of the accountability.
But like and, and you hit it. Can we do better?

(53:06):
Yeah, absolutely. Can we be more aggressive?
Of course we can. But I do believe we are
transitioning the direct direction by allowing guys like
us, officers on scene to be ableto make that decision by backing
us up with training more modalities, giving us more
slideshows, and saying, hey, I'mempowering you in the right

(53:27):
front seat as expression officerto pick one of the 20 things
we've trained you on to implement.
Because you're the only one thatknows what's going to work right
now. Because you're the only one
there, you know? I mean, to me, man, it's like
that that company, the company offers inside drive the scene,
right? Like battalion, she's sitting in
a truck. You're, you're seeing a
different view of things from the outside, right, which is

(53:48):
extremely important, but you're not inside.
You don't see what I see. Like if I call for something, if
I'm first thing company officer and I got water on the fire and
like, I'm like, hey, I need vertical ventilation right now.
There should be 0 questions fromthe, from the IC, unless they're
seeing something absolutely crazy that's contradicting
whatever. We're going to make a defensive
shift and we're going to, you know, whatever happening.
But like you, you should drive it and you should, you're

(54:10):
behind. You should trust you to drive
that as, as the interior companyofficers, like you know what you
need to get the job done and getit done correctly.
A I don't think that and I'm nota Battalion Chief.
I've never sat in the BCC. So I could be, you know,
whatever, I could be completely wrong here, which is I probably
am, I'm wrong all the time. But to me, that's what seems
appropriate is like trust your guys, let them do the work,

(54:31):
right? And give them what they need.
If you don't trust your guys andyou don't trust your officers to
make those decisions, then work with your officers until you do
trust them and until you align on the same page, right?
I have tons of conversation withmy Battalion Chief on tactics.
Some we agree on, some we don't.But I believe that that my
Battalion Chief trust me to makedecisions are always right.

(54:51):
I'm not perfect. I make bad decisions just like
everybody else. But like, to me, that's the
number one thing that happens, man, is trust your people to do
the job. And that goes Battalion Chief
too, right? If your senior advisor sitting
in there watching your BattalionChief questioning them make
decisions, let them do their thing.
Let them make mistakes. Let them run the call.
It's their call, you know? Yeah, you're absolutely right.
And you hit the nail on the head.
So all the, all the chief chief officers listen to this and we

(55:13):
have a bunch because trust me, they text me on, on the regular.
It it's like if you again, like Riley, hit the nail on the head.
If you don't trust your crews, put your fucking gear on and go
out and train with them. And then if you still don't
trust them on what you're doing,guess whose job that is to get
them up to? It's your battalion, right?
So get them up to where your standards are.

(55:33):
That way you can empower them ormore importantly, they will feel
empowered and not micromanaged and they will do exactly what
that chief wants done. Because you've all, you know,
everyone's got their gear on together, training together.
So we're all on the fucking samepage for instead of when there's
a little bit too much, you know?Yeah.
And like you said, man, the building construction out here
lends itself. Everything's, at least in our

(55:54):
area, everything's new, right? The houses are old.
But look at the difference in building construction versus all
this new stuff that's being built, these massive tilt slab
buildings, even these. Oh my God, and these block, even
these block buildings, everything's sprinkler,
everything's safe, it's all B deck, AQ deck roof or whatever,
right like then go to go to a place like Casa Grande, right
where it's old construction, thehouses are old commercials are
old, like different tactics, Dr.different things, right Go to

(56:17):
these small town, go to like globe, right.
Go look at imagine what globe fire has to deal with and their
tactics and they're probably short staffed.
They probably don't have they don't have all the resources we
have in the valley, right Those guys help cowboy up and get work
done like it's just a different job everywhere you go.
But kind of went off topic there.
That there is no such thing. Often, if we're talking about
firemen stuff, we're exactly on topic.

(56:39):
I mean, we can spend hours talking about this stuff.
You know how it is. That's why that's podcast.
And that's exactly it, right? So yeah, I love, like I said, I
love the firemanship. I love talking about it.
So dude, again, so we're at an hour.
I know you're busy, we got a bunch of stuff going on, but I
really want to thank you again for taking time out of your day.
This should post tomorrow, so let's just call it the 19th of

(57:00):
August. So I'm going to edit it out, put
it out there for the boys. And again, before we sign off,
please, anything about the stairclimb that you want to include?
Again, I'll tag everything in the notes.
Do you guys have the things we haven't talked about?
Do you have an Instagram, Facebook page things on those
lines? And how do you, how do you guys
find you on that? Yeah, just Instagrams SRFD stair
climb and then just Facebook is I don't have Facebook terrier

(57:22):
runs that I think it's just SaltRiver stair climb.
But I mean, if you Google like 911 stair climb or Salt River
stair climb, it's the first thing that comes up.
It's it's everywhere on the Internet.
Excuse me, just Google it. Go sign up Salt River stair
climb.com. Please sign up before the 22nd.
Yeah, man, just thanks. Thanks for having me too.
Thanks for taking the time to dothis.
I know both of our schedules area little hectic.
So, you know, if if a little bitof good comes out of this and

(57:42):
we're both winning, right? Yeah, no.
And like I said, and that's, that's what we're doing.
We're just trying to spread gooddudes doing good things for the
American Fire Service. So again, thank you so much.
And guys, if you made it this far, thank you.
Please sign up. The fools will be there.
Obviously you're going to see Riley and his Co parts, right?
So please, if you see him shake his hand, thank him for what
he's doing, and then I hope to see all you guys out there on

(58:06):
the 13th. Is that correct?
6:00 or 6:30. Opening ceremony start at 6:30
PM. 6:30 PM on the 13th of September, Opening ceremonies.
And then we'll all embrace a suck and just have a good
firemanship afterwards. Sound good, brothers?
That's it. Thank you, brother.
I appreciate you man. Absolutely.
All right. We'll catch you guys again.
Well, I shouldn't say another two weeks.

(58:27):
It's a special drop, but please catch the next episode, like and
subscribe and then please leave a review.
It helps drive traffic to our podcast.
We'll catch you guys again soon.Thank you.
Thanks for listening, We'll be back in another two weeks.
Remember to like, share, review if you can.
Helps drive traffic to our podcast.

(58:48):
Remember, let's leave our ego out of the fire service.
It's amazing what we can accomplish when no ones looking
for credit. Much love.
Let's stop eating our own. Become better firemen.
Catch you next time.