NFPA 1851 can be overwhelming with knowledge about a pretty boring topic…laundry, but how you wash your bunker gear matters! Cleaning you bunker gear is very different than doing your home laundry. The reason being is that bunker gear is made up of many different man-made fabrics that are responsible for protecting you in a […]
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Help a Brother Out
You made it here. YOU are the one that has the knowledge in your firehouse or on your shift about physical fitness, diet, and how to make them work to benefit yourself as a better firefighter and to support a better lifestyle. You’ve noticed a few others taking interest in what you are doing every […]
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Turnout Gear and Radio Straps
Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and turnout gear properly is a fundamental skill that is often overlooked in many fire departments around the country. This constant routine of complacent actions ultimately leads the firefighter to believe that how he or she wears their gear is perfectly acceptable. Then, as these individuals move through the ranks, […]
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Auto Extrication: School Bus Anatomy
School Buses exist throughout every community in the United States and even more I suburban areas where students use the transportation to get to their schools. According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2011) there were over 370,000 fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes and of those, over 1,200 were classified as school […]
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The Fire Ground Size Up
It’s 1500 hours on a bright sunny day. You are dispatched for a residential smoke detector activation. You and you crew respond and like most days, this should just be another routine call, right? While approaching the scene you see a column of smoke, you realize this is a working job. When you arrive on […]
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The BEST Exercise for Firefighters
The best, single exercise for firefighters has been a long debated subject among many in the fitness world. Not as bad as smooth bore and TFT nozzles, but close. Many trainers tell you body weight exercises, or calisthenics, while others proclaim certain weighted exercises are the most beneficial for our jobs. This has not only […]
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No one told me…….
I remember sitting in our living room and telling my wife I wanted to join the Fire Department. I’d seen the look she gave me before. Married guys know exactly what I’m talking about. I told her “I like helping people, and it sounds like fun.” She had reservations, but after a few days and […]
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The Fire Chief and the Union, why can’t we just get along!
I’m sure we have all seen the headlines at some time. The city names have been left out but you might find one to put your city’s name in. Here are just a few; fire department and union spar over station closures fire chief states weekend sick use is ‘disturbing, costly’ Judge sides with firefighters […]
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Shift’s Night Out
We’ve been there time and time again, it’s the night after shift or a night off and the group makes plans to go out to the favorite bar for drinks and food. But you’ve been doing good with your diet and have been getting gains in the gym, and are finally seeing the results you’ve […]
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Building Brotherhood Through Fitness
You work with a great group. We all do. We go through literal hell together, see terrible things, and sometimes beautiful things like the birth of a child, but either way, through thick and thin, we are there for each other. You go out after shift or off shift and have a beer at the […]
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