Code 3 - The Firefighters Podcast

Earlier this month, about 400 members of the fire service-from more than 20 states—got together for the Phoenix Firefighters Symposium. They were gathered to hear about Mrs. Smith. Back in 1996, Chief Brunacini—Bruno, to his friends—came up with the idea of Mrs. Smith. She represents why the fire service exists—she’s the first priority for firefighters, the customer they serve. She stands for all...

If you do enough training evolutions, you will inevitably come up against a trick scenario. You know, the ones where the instructors design something totally implausible into the scenario. They usually fool the firefighters doing the training…and then that allows the instructor to say something that seems wise. Like, “expect the unexpected.” Sometimes, they’ll simply judge a specific thing with un...

As a firefighter, you have probably developed some strong opinions on at least a few topics. Some people call them “the hill you’re willing to die on.” But no matter what you call them, you need to pick your battles when it comes to spouting off about these points of view. My guest today wrote an article about his experiences fighting the smooth bore vs. fog nozzle debate. He finally realized, yea...

We’re getting close to the end of another year, and this one, like the last few, seems to have been pretty difficult in a lot of ways. Things are looking a little murky as we try to see the future of the fire service. Of course, firefighters in general can be just a bit pessimistic. But is it justified? That’s why I’ve asked today’s guest to give us some insight into next year. I figure, if we hav...

Do you detect a lack of willingness among your firefighters to take risks? Have company officers –or your department policy—made “2-in-2-out” a hard-and-fast rule? Are they lacking passion for the job? Today’s guest has been noticing that trend, and he’s concerned. Now, let’s be clear: no one is advocating that firefighters freelance or even take uncalculated or foolhardy risks. But whether it’s m...

If you’ve been listening to this show for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I talk a lot about realistic training. It’s because there are fewer actual structure fires these days for younger firefighters to see first-hand. That means they need to learn both skills and understanding in training. And to absorb the concepts well enough that it doesn't take thought to do them. They become automatic...

Today’s episode is going to be a little different. It’s a look back at a major learning event in a firefighter’s career. But, as you’ll hear, the lessons taught weren’t necessarily clear. And years later, the firefighter involved is still trying to sort out all of what she should take from the experience. It's not cut-and-dried by any means. But it’s worth hearing about, no matter how long you’ve...

No matter how large—or small—your fire department may be, it has one house that’s just not as busy as the others. Sometimes, that house is really slow. And it may feel like you’re missing all the action if you’re assigned to it. If you’re new to the fire service career, you may wonder if you’ll ever go on a structure fire run. If you’re an officer, you might worry that your career is stalled. But...

On this show, we’re going to explore some of the unique experiences of a firefighter who is in the minority on two fronts: She’s a woman and she’s Black. Jennifer Osborne is a 16-year veteran of the Clark County, Nevada, Fire Department. They cover an area in and around Las Vegas. She first became a paramedic in Colorado in 1999 before heading to the fire academy. So she’s been around long enough...

If you’re about to promote to company officer, this show is for you. Most firefighters want to move up and take charge of the crew. It’s natural to assume you could do it better, right? And there’s the pay bump. But once you pass the test and are selected, you may find it’s a whole different ballgame than you thought. Especially these days, there isn’t a whole lot of fireground commanding involved...

I started out today’s interview intending to talk about the conflict between fire officers and lower-ranked—but certified--paramedics. It wasn’t long before I got caught up in a discussion about the “state of the Union” of Fire vs. EMS. It’s a hot button issue, for sure. My guest on this edition of Code 3, Wes Ward, says there’s a “ridiculous gap” between the two, one that’s totally unnecessary. A...

Usually, I talk with a member of the fire service on this show, but today’s a bit different. Brian McDonald is an author, but not a firefighter. He’s written several books about New York City, and his latest is about the FDNY. Five Floors Up focuses on two firefighting families, and one man specifically. William Feehan worked his way from probie to Fire Commissioner. He lost his life on September...

What do you think of your city’s news media? Maybe you think of reporters and photographers as an annoyance. Perhaps you view them as a necessary evil. Or—and this is the best, I think—do you look at them as professionals just doing their jobs, reporting the news? I’ve been a journalist for 30-plus years, and I can tell you that, while reporters sometimes make mistakes, very few are out to “get” y...

If you’re thinking you’d like to try for a company officer or to move up to a chief officer position, I have a question for you: Who has been your example for how you should lead ? I ask because the leadership landscape has changed over the last few years. Even in my business, TV news, I was once told that you can’t just tell people to jump and expect them to ask, “How high?” anymore. So you can i...

Some people call it auto-pilot. It’s that ability to arrive at a scene and immediately go to work. That’s a learned skill, and it has a place on the fireground. But another learned skill that may be even more important is the ability to analyze decisions before they’re made. You may know it by a more familiar term, situational awareness . Most firefighters believe they have it already, and many do...

Every firefighter can recall the worst incidents in his or her career—you know, the ones that made a serious impact on their psyche. They may not have realized it at the time, but these are the days that helped shape their philosophy. You might remember that I was a helicopter pilot years ago. In flying, we called these kinds of days the times we “scared ourselves.” You invariably learn some lesso...

I have a question for you today. Why did you become a firefighter? I know, you probably haven’t had to think about it since you were interviewed before hiring. But why did you choose this career? If you’re like most people, you’ll probably mention something, at some point, about saving lives. And that’s great. It’s noble. It’s important. Now, a second question: when was the last time you trained o...

Smaller fire departments often work with less personnel than they need. That means there are very few specialists in a volunteer department or a rural agency. One of the specialists you’ll miss right away if you join one is the truckie. While city departments are having (good-natured) arguments over who’s better or more important, small town engine companies need to do both jobs. And, sometimes, t...

Firefighters are athletes. You may be part of the culture that already knows and accepts this truth. But if this is a foreign idea to you, or if you disagree, consider this: Even if you mostly run medical calls, physical conditioning is critical to your career. In fact, you need to be in top condition because you mostly run medical calls. And it isn’t just because patients are getting larger and h...

Now that the wildland fire season lasts pretty much all year long—and homes continue to be built further from city centers--the focus is turning to homes in the wildland-urban interface. Fires that threaten homes along the edge of cities and towns have turned some metro departments into wildland companies as well. It's not always a comfortable fit for crews that usually wear turnouts and expect a...

I have no idea how many times I have heard the old phrase, “Practice makes perfect.” Of course, nowadays, we understand that it’s wrong. If practice is going to be worthwhile, we need to practice the right things the right way. Practicing the wrong things is a waste of time. And practicing doing things incorrectly only leads to learning bad habits. And in this job, that can get you killed. So how...

There have been several unfortunate mass-casualty incidents recently as the result of an active shooter. Although the public’s attention is usually focused on the police response, these events ask a lot of a fire-medical incident commander as well. If your department’s training schedule doesn’t include MCI-specific training, you could find yourself in trouble when you arrive at a real-world MCI an...

A few weeks back, we talked with Eric Hille, a San Miguel, California firefighter about his plans to take a team of volunteers to Ukraine. The mission, called Task Force Joint Guardian, would be the first-ever effort to send civilian firefighters and paramedics to an active overseas war zone. Eric served two tours in the Army, and coupled with his experience as a firefighter, has the right skill s...

A while back, firefighter Cindie Schooner-Ball started a blog where she wrote about her time as a “Sister in a Brotherhood.” She had plenty of material to work with–for 28 years, Cindie was a career firefighter in Broward County, Florida, Fire-Rescue, promoting to Captain before retiring. I spoke with her for a Code 3 episode in 2018. Since that time, she realized she had enough stories to fill a...

There’s a lot of advice floating around that explains what a firefighter needs to do to get promoted to an officer position. And there’s quite a bit about leadership and what to do once you ARE promoted. On this edition of the show, we’re going to look at a couple of different sides of the promotion equation: How to prepare yourself for a promotion…and what impact on the department promotions may...