ENGINE COMPANY 22

We are coming to the Great Divide in our sub-culture, the American Fire Service. Many are looking outward to fill our palette with the paramount colors to paint our current and future fire-grounds. As these communities seek beyond our own districts and borders, many seem to build a brick wall stopping all sources of new information.

As with any culture, you will undoubtedly have sub-cultures and even sub-sects of those smaller divides. Even though the “umbrella goal” is still the same, sublte and even obvious difference exist.  You can see this in many aspects of social groups across the states. Politics, Religion, Social and other factions have sub-sects with the main body. Quite a few have differing ideals of how the collective should be ran, stand for and operate. While others simply fit into the mold but deviate just to stand out.

“A barking contest does nothing to improve our fire service. Engage in meaningful debate and conversation.”

The American Fire Service is no different. With about 1.8 million individuals, we will see and will always see differing opinions on how we should operate. Our priority or main intent, Life Safety of the Public we serve will continue to drive our service based industry. What we must do to maintain the integrity of the oath most of us recited, is to work together as best as we can to create, perfect and perform BEST PRACTICES. Whether you are “talking shop” at a conference, getting down and dirty on the drill ground or researching new theories being tested in the lab, keep an open mind- more importantly open ears and eyes. A barking contest does nothing to improve our fire service. Some feel they need to argue, or play “devils advocate” just to to be heard. Their is nothing wrong with engaging in a meaningful debate and conversation. Just do not speak simply to be heard, bring value with you.

This next paragraph may have you stand back a bit and possibly even piss you off. Bare with me and let it digest. Accepting our shortcomings can either destroy all that we have worked for or be rocket fuel to propel us to new heights. Unless you have only two years in the fire service or live under a rock, you have seen changes to some of the ways we conduct business. Buzz words such as “transitional attack”, “victim survivability profiling” and “culture change” have caused more arguments because of a lack of clear understanding than solid point for point debate.  But let us look at this another way. We jump the gun by throwing away tried and true tactics in the trash for new shiny ones, even though they are simply our old tools all shined up. Were they “repackaged” so that some one can make a name for themselves or to maybe put a different spin on something to get those who are not open to change, to see them in a new light? One such argument is the VES vs. VEIS. Same thing, simply added to the I to reinforce the importance of isolating the door. At 2am does it matter? Yes and no. Yes because if you for get to isolate the door, its a problem. No, if you train your ass off on the proper technique and execution. But to argue over a simple vowel- is our shortcomings destroying hard work and really only breaking apart the brotherhood. We should not be fighting ourselves, but the enemy; fire. Which brings me to my next point. Our duty is to provide fire protection to the communities we serve. They expect a level of service, but with any service industry you also get what you pay for(literally and non-literally). When you take away funding and resources from Fire Safety Education and Prevention, the instances of fire will increase. When you take away resources from Code Enforcement the severity of those fires will increase. Where does this extra burden fall? On us, those who respond. When the numbers and availability of those responders decrease, even more burden is rested on those who do. The domino’s start to fall, we are left trying to stop them from falling, while attempting to provide quality services. Where will it end? We can only do so much, we are not all knowing, all powerful.

This leaves us counting on each other more than ever before. We must either strengthen them or accept them (our shortcomings), we can only do so much. Taking the most progressive approach we can, we must take the fight to the fire – “Our most aggressive form of fire attack is FIRE PREVENTION.” We cannot stop all fire emergencies, so do not allow a shortcoming to be fire ground operations. Get out study, learn, train and drill. All while keeping an open, yet cautious mind to new information.

We have so much we can learn from others, while we have so much to share with others. We tend to get ahead of ourselves these days. We can receive and share information before the story is even complete or the research is finalized. We are all guilty, even this author. The only way to close the gap of this great divide is to take the time to let the story play out. Put new information through a review process before into service, and as always be smart about it. Even though we are all on the same team, we do operate differently. Use these best practices in a manner that is best for the citizens YOU SERVE.

Keep the Faith- HUSTON

The road we travel has its ups, downs, good, bad, happy, sad, admiration, intimidation, offensive, the intriguing and the profound. Along the way we have opportunities to acquire or take, bestow, encounter great people, run from others and have life transforming events happen that we discern, create, and have inflicted upon us. As members of a service industry, more so one that deals with people not by choice in their atypical situation, we have increased chances to take and give.

We take, not through greed or theft but through the promise of giving. Each of us need to take everything we can from those disconcerting rendezvous or moments of pure hell that we have during the course of a day, a shift or a tour. Learn lessons from those we work with, work for and even work against. Keep an open eye, open ears and open mind for any caveat and “words to the wise.”

As time passes, I divulge more and more into the fire service and this notion of brotherhood. Round for round we could debate the sentiment. For me it’s not a tee shirt, “high five-ing” on the front lawn or sitting in a meeting for a local chapter of whatever. When I am at my lowest and need someone to turn to, my brothers will be there. Not because of some secret oath taken right after being ‘sworn in’ onto the fire department or with some act of granduer. This unspoken pact we have develops through the triumphs and tragedies we have faced, even if we did not face them together. The common bond of being Firefighters, is the simple catalyst for life long fellowship; brothers.

“Knowing I have the back of a fellow Firefighter is more important to me than knowing they have my back.”

When you realize Brotherhood is about what you do for others while expecting nothing in return, then you are ready for brotherhood. Life takes work, effort, you get what you give. At times you must take from others what you can so that you may give so much more in return.

With love and passion can come frustration. Anytime you are dealing with others, you must have give and take. We can be making the same point, yet argue on the articulation. One such phrase that has struck me as an oddly shaped moot point is “tools in your toolbox.” Not because of my other venture, but because we must be prepared with plenty of resources for any task and at any given time.

After some self-reflection, I feel I have an answer, well at least for my own purposes. Maybe we do have too many tools in our toolboxes. For the majority of the fire service, if we just look at our base function is fire suppression. We all should be great at this. Yet, somewhere along the line we got side tracked.

“Our duty to those we serve is to provide quality emergency response, based on the needs and desires of the community.”

Looking at a comparison chart from NFPA we can clearly see that as a nation we respond to significantly fewer fires, while our run volume to medicals, alarms, mutual and “others” is higher as compared to 1980. Why? Many reasons could exist and of course this does not mean that your department is aligned with this trend. Many departments have seen an increase in working fires.

As a nation fires are down and we've taken on EMS.

In reality we have made ourselves more marketable, more valuable and more visible. During the course of this evolution some skills have had to take a back seat to the more current compentencies required for our day to day operations. For the members who have a few years in, taking on some new roles may not have been a burden. The possible gap is as new members come in. Where do we send their focus? Our traditional roles or the position we are currently in? As a Training Officer and Instructor, I can sometimes be stuck between “a rock and hard place.” New Firefighters come in hungry for knowledge and training. They take every opportunity to get into a class or hands on evolution. This thirst drives me to be better as well, but the dilemma is the class they take could be everything from SCBA to Technical Rescue to Tactics to HAZMAT and CCEMT-P. Where are they at in their careers? Are their sights set too high? You want them to prepare themselves, however you have to set the pace. This could be the answer to the question “Do we have too many tools in our toolbox?”

“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” da Vinci

Certification and Qualification are different. Being in attendance for a class can get you a certification. Learning, practicing then honing a skill set is being qualified. Many times the latter is overlooked, yet is desired in a member. Our toolbox is overflowing with certifications and “took that class once” implements, tossed in and maintained infrequently. Could we be better off with a smaller toolbox, with well kept tools that are used at regular intervals?

We are taking on more, we want to. Our desire to help our fellow man compels us to do so. Perhaps our approach to the execution should be refined. Each of us should critically look at the systems in which we operate. Define the expectations, define the roles and responsibilities of personnel then get the best out of each team member. Every one of us brings something unique to the table. Find what you are best at and become great at doing it! It does not have to be a specialty it can be an everyday skill. Discover what you bring to the crew, the firehouse, the department that is a complimenting skill set. To spend hours developing proficiency on equipment or techniques that do not serve the mission of your role is wasted time. My area has no high rise buildings. This does not mean that I do not learn some base skills for this arena, but to spend vast energy in honing hose line management in high rise fire operations is equivocal to our organizations mission. Water supply, auto extrication and strategies/tactics in single family residence fires…those are primary areas of daily study.

"Polish the tools most used on a regular basis."

We all need to embrace new skills and increasing our knowledge base. Adding a few new tools to the toolbox, all in all, is good. Just do not neglect the tools you already have because you see a different tool that is simply a shined up, polished version of what you already have. As da Vinci said. “Study without desire spoils the mind.” Have passion to learn and take on new skills while keeping the standard tools in your toolbox polished.

Go big! Say it, mean it, do it - Use YOUR voice!

Even though our numbers dwindle, we still maintain the majority. We are the small town, suburb, rural and part staffed departments. We are middle America, we are in the desert and we are in the mountains. We dedicate ourselves equally to this trade, yet we are the silent majority. The large fully staffed metro departments are leaders of invention and innovation. Their personal experiences in a single day out number others total for a lifetime. But does the scent of 10,000 fires trump the minutes, hours, days and years of service to ones community? They should not even be compared. Whether paid per hour while working a shift as a career or getting a point for directing traffic at 0300 from a deep sleep in your own bed, our mission, the cause we fight for is the same – serve our fellow man, our neighbors our friends and family. To make someones worst day a little better by the actions we can take.

We can learn so much from each other when we listen and not just wait for our turn to speak. Whether you have served on the busiest engine company in the biggest city for 30 years or you make 3-4 runs a year out of your 8 member volunteer department, we all have the opportunity to add value to OUR fire service.

“We are the Silent Majority, No More. We will not allow others to make our work feel insignificant.” Use your voice, be heard.

Photography is a spilt second reaction just like training at your craft as a firefighter.  Why do buffs matter? I can’t speak for all buffs but for me it’s about showcasing the  fireground to the public. The fireground is where I visually create my art work. You have to do a 360 degree walk around the building hoping to catch
an action shot. Capturing moments on the fireground at 1/4000 of a second don’t
always tell the full story. Fire photography is about telling the incident as you see it. Buffing is a lot of waiting around for things to happen. Photographers matter because we are keeping a record of history in a matter of seconds. Photography and firefighters rely on training in order to get better at their respective craft whether it be with a telephoto lens or putting the 2 1/2 line on the fire to darken it down. The purpose of photographing firefighters for me is visually creating images that people can look back on after their careers and say man that was a good job. The photographer won’t be remembered but the photograph will be remembered for a lifetime which is what matters to me. That is why the fire buff matters.

174 Timon St. "Making The Leap" (C) Lloyd Mitchell Photography.

A visit to Buffalo firehouse E, 21,L6 Rescue 1. "Buff"(C) Lloyd Mitchell Photography

I love being a Firefighter. “This is the only life I want to live,” is a song lyric that I think of when I want to share how I feel about being a Firefighter.

The word Firefighter is interesting. How much fire do you really fight? Sure we are taking on all these different roles and we keep the job title as Firefighter. But what does it truly mean to be a Firefighter?

We all have our own reasons of why we chose to do this instead of something else. Inspiration and illumination can come in many forms, but if it driven from a notion or fallacy, you can be left in a one sided romance. A false idea of what you think this job should look and feel like are not the reality, they are not what the modern fire service is. Change will occur, change is inevitable, we must adapt and overcome our current sitatuation, not moving forward with our own ideals of what should be done.

Be your best during your time.

Their is such a romantic feeling that they can only see the relationship as one sided. They do not understand it is about what it best for all – not the few, meaning them. So what do they do, they think that the way they saw Firefighters years ago is the way it should be now. But those guys did it differently than those before them. Not all Firefighting has been done on the inside or even the same. Bucket Brigades fought the fire from the outside and pulled roofs down to stop fire spread. Do you think anyone gave them a hard time about not “going in?”

We must adapt to our current conditions. We are not afraid of going in, we are just dealing with what we have in our time. Tactics that are not completely developed to fight fire on the modern fire ground. Construction that does not hold up to the combustibles that are inside of it. We may or may not have a short window to enter and make sure everyone is out before we spray it down from the outside, so that the adjacent homes do not become involved. We will enter when life is at stake, we will do so with the best training and best practice we can. Some may do this better than others, some may not be able to enter at all. Are they any less of a Firefighter? Not all departments have money for tools, equipment and training. Some departments may have 1 engine, 2 scba ad 5 people that show up. Will they do the best they can with what they have? Instead of looking down on these people, try extending a helping hand. Try to see things from a different perspective than your own.

That is all we can do, be the best we can during our time.

“Ignorance of the rules is no excuse to break the rules, Mr. Huston.”  Heard it many times as I asked for a plea bargain, citing “I didn’t know.” The simple fact is many people do not know, or do not know better. We may think our Fire Prevention message is too “dumb down” but how many times do we arrive at 3am to a fire that started even though “they knew better?”

The following story is true and the guilty will not be identified.

“I didn’t know a bucket of rags could spontaneously combust…” was the story the employee uttered to his Supervisor as the bead of sweat rolled down his brow. When asked what happened the employee revealed he was “squaring” up for the day, picking up thinner and other chemical soaked rags, throwing them into a plastic bucket with other odds and ends of the days labor.  Although the ambient temperature was quite cool, the sun was out and the rays accelerated the drying process of the rubbish in the container.

The supervisor had left the job site to check on another client, when upon his return the trash had melted down and left a clear demarcation line of combustion. Luckily the worker noticed before he left for the day and was able to suppress the flames with a nearby garden hose.

What if the drywall wasn't there?

When the photos were given to me for my “expert” opinion, I was more intrigued by the fact the piece of drywall that was a fire barrier between the remains and the wood sided home. Mr. Murphy stopped by that day and presented us with the Kobayashi Maru.

Our goal is simple – PROTECT THE PUBLIC FROM HARM. In this particular case a major catastrophe was adverted. But what if Murphy’s Law had struck in full force, maybe the wind knocking over the small slab of drywall?

Boots need to meet the streets and educate the public on even the smallest of details. Just reminding users of everyday solvents, chemicals and fluids can prevent a destructive fire. Don’t believe me? Look up the 1991 Fire at ONE MERDIAN PLAZA.

We have a tough decision to make. Either allow people to continually make mistakes(lack of understanding to be more PC) or “put ourselves out of work” through educating the public enough, they no longer need us. If Mr. Murphy causes the tones to drop for you, hopefully you will not have a Kobayashi Maru in front of you.

A view of the finish line can be a great feeling. Diligent work on a project, excitement as the end is near. We may fall into the trap of Summit Fever. The symptoms vary, blindness to your surroundings, rushing, disregarding plans and procedures. The imminent goal accomplishment can cause disregard to certain conditions and other important factors. Cruise control may kick in, we drift into auto pilot.

Keep the blinders off to remedy summit fever.

This is the time to push, maintain your focus and drive, allow your senses to heighten. Keep the blinders off to remedy “Summit Fever.”