Code 3 - The Firefighters Podcast

One of the least exciting jobs for a firefighter is the dreaded Community Risk Reduction assignment.

In an urban environment, CRR may mean doing a meeting with the people you serve. Or maybe you’re changing smoke alarm batteries.

Either of those—not exciting, but not so much work, either.

But if your department covers urban and rural areas, where you could be tasked to fight a brush fire, well, now you may have to do some physical lab...

Incident commanders, here are some questions for you:

How much thought do you put into where you set up your command post?

Is it usually on the alpha side of a structure? Why is that? Routine? Street access?

What about distractions? For example, noise. That can not only give you a headache but also make you miss an urgent radio call, right?

My guest on this edition of Code 3 has been considering questions like this for a while. He ha...

This week’s show is related to last week’s. If you haven’t heard episode 344 with Jennifer Stanislaw, go ahead and listen to it—it dovetails nicely with this one.

On this episode, we’re talking about the importance of setting standards for probie training.

Years ago, that training consisted of handing the probie a mop as often as a ladder. It was designed to “teach a solid work ethic.”

But just as hazing has (mostly) faded away in the...

Firefighters around the country are looking at the possibility of a new OSHA ruling very carefully.

I’m talking about the two-in/two-out rule, contained in NFPA 1500.

There’s a new report written by five prominent members of the fire service that says two-in/two-out doesn’t make firefighters any safer. Instead, the time wasted waiting for a RIC crew to get ready makes it more likely that civilian victims will be killed.

The report use...

From Day One in the fire service, the lecture is the standard teaching method.

Sometimes, it seems like fire departments must keep Microsoft in business, what with all the PowerPoint software they must be ordering.

And you know the instruction -- notice I didn’t say “learning” – keeps going like this until you retire. Want to be a Battalion Chief? There’s a lecture and PowerPoint for that. An Engineer? Yep, got it covered. Captain?...

Every firefighter who rides an engine has a favorite tool: The Halligan Bar. As nearly all young firefighters learn, it was invented in 1948 by an FDNY Deputy Chief named Hugh Halligan.

Not long after that, he created the Halligan Hook. Sometimes it’s called a New York Roof Hook.

This six-foot bar is a favorite of truckies who need to open up roofs.

But there’s another way to use the Halligan Hook: as a rescue tool.

It takes a little ...

If you were among those fortunate enough to be in the audience at the opening of FDIC 2024, you heard something special.

I’d say it was a call to arms… a call to take revolutionary action.

Chief David Rhodes spoke for about a half-hour, laying out a case for change in the fire service.

His main argument: that the fire service has become too risk-averse. That the leaders of departments are so afraid of injuries—and of course, lawsuits...

Fire departments around the U.S. are approaching a tipping point.

At the same time career departments are seeing a drop in applicants, they’re also losing existing firefighters.

This is a problem.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, it was tough to get a job in the fire department.

But now, fewer people line up for those spots.

Maybe it’s generational, maybe it’s just a natural cycle and it’ll change.

Or maybe it’s something more.

Here t...

There’s a constant battle between firefighters who believe that safety on the fireground precludes aggressive tactics.

The opposite is also true.

What’s the compromise between the two?

It seems as if firefighters don’t believe that it’s possible to be both aggressive and safe.

It is, of course, and my guest today is here to offer some suggestions about how you can implement both.

He’s no wimp—he puts Mrs. Smith first, his crew second, ...

What’s potentially harder to locate victims in than a hoarder house?

A stuffed-full self-storage locker.

But that’s exactly what can happen. And even if the victim’s not inside at the time of the fire, their activities may have caused it.

Those storage spaces are frequently climate-controlled, and they’re cheap…maybe $100 a month for a small one.

That makes them seem like a great place to live for someone who can’t afford to rent an a...

Are you ready for this?

There’s a whole class of hazardous chemicals that can damage your hearing, and they’re by-products of your average structure fire.

Yes, that’s right: When you burn home furnishings, you don’t just get carcinogens. You get “ototoxic” chemicals.

Now, the PPE you wear routinely for firefighting protects against this.

But—just like the stuff in smoke that causes cancer—ototoxic chemicals are a threat when you least...

A recent study done at North Carolina State University took a look at PFAS chemicals used in turnout gear and came to some interesting conclusions.

PFS layers are what give current turnout coats and pants their oil and water repellency.

They're also a known carcinogen, so donning PPE made with PFAS is dangerous even before you step onto your engine or truck.

Unfortunately, when the study looked at alternatives, it found that all oil ...

One

of the best ways to learn anything is by experience.

A

better way, though, is to learn from others’ experiences.

That’s

why we’re talking with today’s guest—to get some insight from someone who

learned the hard way.

Captain

Jeremiah King has been with the Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority for

more than 20 years.

But

the story of this response takes place when he was about four ...

Anyone who has ever fought a wildland fire knows situational

awareness is critical to safety and effectiveness on the fireground.

But visibility, a key part of that awareness, is often limited by thick smoke in the wildland fire environment.

Call it the fog of war, if you like.

No matter what you call it, it’s tough to fight a fire when you can’t see through the smoke.

That lack of visibility can lead to all kinds of trouble—especially...

The National Fire Protection Association seems like a pretty important

organization. For example, Its reports are routinely used by fire departments

to justify staffing requests.

But not everyone is satisfied with how the NFPA operates. Some members of the fire

service believe the standards for equipment service life are too inflexible.

And there’s the question of who writes the standards in the first place.

One of the NFPA’s loudest cri...

If you’ve ever known a firefighter who committed suicide, you know how it can change your life.

It may have come as a complete surprise to you. Or maybe you had been worried about the firefighter’s state of mind.

There’s been a lot said and written about what we can do for ourselves to prevent suicide.

But today, we’re going to talk about a program designed to help you intervene in another firefighter’s emotional crisis before it beco...

Friday, June 30, 2023, is the 10th anniversary of the deaths of 19 wildland firefighters in Arizona.

They were hotshots, the kind of people who really do fight fire with fire.

Led by a consummate professional, the team made a move that no one expected and no one can explain.

That move caused the deaths of the entire crew except for a lookout, who was stationed some distance away.

To help me tell their story today, I’ve enlisted the he...

It’s getting hotter outside, and that traditionally signals the start of wildland fire season in the U.S.

Nowadays, of course, there’s no real “season” when wildland fires burn. The season can be all year long in some parts of the country.

We won’t argue about the reasons why—suffice it to say, wildland fires are growing bigger and more frequent than in the past.

And, as residents of the northeast U.S. can attest, they are starting t...