The firefighter dressed in Black is a 36 year vet in an Urban department he does not have to look salty

While participating in a burn with brother firefighters the question came up about how nice and shiny my new helmet was. Although I knew the firefighters I was with where just kidding it made me think.

For firefighters who have not been in the business long or still think it is acceptable to look salty, let me impress upon you are wrong. The salty look means nothing. Stop and THINK. The set of gear that looks so worn could be gear that is used to conduct live burns in, which is a controlled environment with heat and smoke concentrated on it for long periods of time. Also, all it takes is that one hot fire that the individual showed up to all year-long.  Looking Salty also comes with the most hefty price. When you don’t clean your gear, and you look so salty, those are incomplete products of combustion left on your gear. Think about that.These incomplete products aid in breaking the materials down in your gear and making YOU flammable as well as the cancerous products that get into your pores when you sweat. 

These are just a few thoughts for those who feel they need to look salty. It is not about how you look that makes you salty. It is, however, how you perform in the way you train and perform on the fire ground. Just remember the salty ole dog just might be the cleanest guy you see. This does not mean wash your gear every time you get smoke on it. It means at least rinsing away dirt, grit, and grime. Washing your gear needs to be done at least twice a year just for the environment it is exposed to of diesel fumes and other things from apparatus. But, if it is heavily soiled it should be washed following the manufacturer’s guidelines.

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The topic for Flashover Friday is: Marginal Firefighter

1 . How do you deal with them

2. Tips for improvement

3. How to handle the rest of the crew tired of the marginal firefighter

We want to hear from the Senior Man all the way up to the Officer’s

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Often times firefighters will wonder why during an advanced topic such as rappelling they are struggling with rigging and rope work in general. The answer to the question is because during Fire I they choose to not work until they can’t get their basic knots wrong. When you see an engine company who arrives first but is not the first line in the door it is because there is a lack of Basic skills training to deploy the line. The point I’m trying to make is no matter who you are if you have not mastered the basics you will not succeed when called upon to do advanced operations.  Firefighters to often believe after finishing fire school they have mastered the basics; I can not even began to tell you brothers and sisters with less than ten years on the job that are not constantly drilling on the basics how you are doing yourself a disservice.  I use the ten year mark because you have had a decade of time to practice until you can’t get it wrong. There are some who will read this that don’t fill the bill, but for the most part everybody believes basics are for the rookie. I challenge you to stop hiding behind what you feel is seniority and get up and do some more drilling on the basics.

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On Wednesday  Dave Celebrated his birthday with our Copy Editor Kelly and it was an oversight on my part. Dave thanks for all you do and a Very Happy Birthday to you.  Hope it was a great day!

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Why is it whenever we find out we will be receiving a probationary firefighter we get all excited and say we are going Back to the Basics. When truth be told you have enough equipment and topics to stay on the basics all year-long and then some. What I have found is that when you are getting back to the basics, seasoned firefighters have high anxiety for this also because they have not always kept up their skills. I have also found that seasoned and veteran firefighters love to teach for the fear that they too may have to do the skill and look like a blundering mess. Ensure the Veteran (Seasoned) firefighter demonstrates the skill so that it is known that he or she can still perform the Basics Skills also. It is high time to quite chomping at the bit when a probationary firefighter comes through the door and start asking the question Why just the probie. Recent events are showing that it’s not just probationer dying in fires and a great majority of deaths you can most likely attribute the lack of continuous basics skills training to a death. Don’t believe me review reports and tell me I’ m wrong then.

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While enjoying the discussion on Personal Escape Systems.  Bill Carey from BackstepFirefighter really got me to thinking. Why are we always so reactionary to problems and want to fix them with gadgets when the problem does boil down to training. Don’t take me wrong I wrote the post and strongly believe personal escape systems should be included of some form with the next NFPA 1971. With that said I noticed another standard was created based on fatalities while firefighters are working in the roadway. Chevron’s are now apart of NFPA 1901 and I want to know if you all feel it is effective or just another costly knee jerk reaction?Are firefighters getting hurt because we are not seen or because we are not properly placing apparatus? Has this really solved our problem or just become another merchandising frenzy. Make sure you go to backstepfirefighter to read Bills post. Very insightful

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I once heard the saying “why pay a man two dollars when he will work for one.” We all know in the fire service very few administrations are safety minded when it comes down to asking for more money for equipment that does not make someone look good or get them re-elected. For years fire departments suffered without pass devices on their SCBA’s and eventually in 2002 the revised NFPA standard for SCBA included Head’s Up Display and Universal Air connections. NFPA 2007 incorporated the integrated pass. We all remember the fight for pass devices. So now it is time to take it a step further with the next edition of turnout gear to include a professional grade personal escape system. The mindset that oh we will never need that or that only happens in the big cities is going to get more firefighters injured or worse killed. If we went as far as pushing for a DRD that gets covered up most of the time because of improperly worn SCBA it is that important to include personal escape systems on the next NFPA 1971 2012. It would be much better if this was an OSHA mandate or AFG funding was provided so that fire departments could all meet this standard. What are your thoughts and feelings on this? Let your voice be heard contact members of the NFPA committee for 1971.

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1. If  your going to be on a Truck Company throw the damn ladders and throw them correctly. If you don’t know how to throw them and are not willing to practice get off the job.
2. If you see a firefighter doing a head first ladder bail, they do not need your help, they need you to get out of their way.
3. Engine Operators and OIC pull past the structure you might see something that the other two sides did not show.
4. If the DRD could get included in an NFPA standard why in the hell can’t personal escape systems.
5. Do not sit personal escape systems in a box or at your warehouse put them on the firefighters train them and they might just save a life.

This is a way to vent frustrations incurred during the weak. Feel free to add to the list. The only rule is not talking about a person directly.

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