Fire Engineering Podcast Network

The mission of Mayday Monday has always been simple: Learn from the past so every firefighter has the best chance of going home after every call. That mission never takes a summer break. Every month provides another opportunity to share lessons learned, reinforce firefighter survival skills, and encourage conversations that can make a difference on the fireground. In this replay of a 2021 episode...

On this episode of The Backstep Boys, hosts Ron Kanterman and Tom Aurnhammer sit down with Dr. Dan Madrzykowski, senior director at the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), to discuss how modern engineering is revolutionizing fireground tactics. Madrzykowski breaks down FSRI’s expanding research initiatives, including plans for a massive 200-acre campus in White Oak, Maryland, aimed at testing l...

On this episode of Generation Engine, host Anthony Rowett and guest Mickey Farrell discuss the skills that don't fit on a checklist but decide survival. They also get into low-level vs. high-level thinking, time management, using forcible entry as a bridge to position-based firefighting, and reading smoke. During their discussion, they cover academy training that builds stress inoculation and ment...

In this episode of Point of Origin, hosts Billy Hux and Bobby Drake speak with Steve Weissman, cancer survivor and Virginia state director of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network. They discuss occupational cancer risks for firefighters, with Weissman detailing how modern, synthetic materials create persistent carcinogens and volatile compounds that can linger for days after a fire, why investiga...

Firefighters absorb carcinogens on every call and even during training. In this episode of The Training Officer, host Dave McGlynn sits down with Tara Cornett, founder of FLAME Natural Decon, to explain the science behind effective skin decontamination, why regular soap often fails, and how a blended activated‑charcoal formula pulls contaminants from pores. Cornett walks through product developmen...

Battalion chiefs and company officers: station rounds aren’t optional. They’re mission critical. In this episode of The Command Post, hosts Rick Lasky and John Salka break down why chiefs must leave the office, visit firehouses, and engage crews. They cover real-time readiness checks, rumor control, rapid problem-solving, informal training, morale and accountability, targeted roll calls, and bette...

In this episode of Two Vollies and a Guest, hosts Jerry Knapp and Tim Pillsworth get to the grit of fireground tactics with Brian Brush. The training chief of the Midwest City (OK) Fire Department and Fire Engineering board member shares critical insights. The discussion covers the realities of modern search operations, highlighting victim location patterns, and how pet behavior can guide searcher...

In episode 100 of The Professional Volunteer Fire Department, host Tom Merrill speaks with Brandon Fletcher, chief of the Gilt Edge (TN) Fire Department, about building and sustaining a professional rural volunteer department. They discuss practical leadership, recruiting and retaining younger members, holding people accountable, and in-house and hybrid training. Fletcher shares how small departme...

Capability is what the command team knows how to do. Capacity is whether the system has enough trained people, structure, trust, and communication discipline to actually do it under pressure. This episode of Command Show, hosted by Anthony Kastros and Brian Brush, reveals the reasons why fireground success requires both.   This podcast is brought to you by Tablet Command.  www.tabletcommand.com/ge...

On this episode of Fireground Strategies, hosts Anthony Avillo and Jim Duffy break down the 'W' from John Norman’s "COAL WAS WEALTH" size‑up acronym and translate it into practical tactics for extreme heat, storms, and flash flooding. They cover preincident planning and hot weather policies; front‑loading alarms and one‑bottle/short‑shift strategies; crew rotations; on‑scene rehab; recognition of...

In this episode of Perspectives on Leadership, host Steven Shaw speaks with Retired Battalion Chief Andy Starnes. They unpack how thermal imaging became a mission, not just a tool in the fire service, and how relationships and critical thinking shape the fire service. Starnes details his start in volunteer firehouses, an injury that led to the launch of Insight Fire Training, and how sharing hard-...

In this episode of In the Books, host David Rhodes sits down with respected fire service leaders and co-authors Sean Gray and PJ Norwood to discuss the newly released second edition of The Evolving Fireground: Research-Based Tactics. From the groundbreaking UL FSRI fire research studies to modern fireground decision-making, this conversation explores how evidence-based tactics continue to shape th...

In this episode of Fire Service Data and Tech Talk, host Eddie Buchanan welcomes Division Chief Tom Marvel and Maura "Mo" Shea, both from the Carmel (IN) Fire Department, and Michael Oldham from Texas A&M to discuss innovative projects that are currently underway. During their discussion, the panel unpacks two cutting-edge projects reshaping firefighter safety and wellness and talk about a liv...

Marc Aloan joins Doug Cline to get back to realism on the fireground for this episode of Fire and Training. They discuss why classroom time is only one component of preparedness and why company officers—not compliance checklists—own most daily training. The two also share the importance of learning practical guidance on training, having structured feedback after drills and incidents, and prudent u...

Retired chief Scott Thompson joins Larry Conley to cut through buzzwords and show how culture, defined as "how things get done," directly affects safety, trust, recruitment, and daily performance in the fire service. Learn why the company officer role is the tightrope between administration and the crew, why roll call and mentoring matter, and how a deliberate 18-to-36-month program including visi...

Hosts David Polikoff and Sam Villani have an in-depth discussion about tactics on this episode of Talking Tactics. They cover outside-in fires, disciplined company assignments, and decisive engine work to darken the C side before committing to interior crews. They also break down building challenges and high-rise issues like failed self-closing doors and hallway smoke travel. Throughout the discus...

Hosts Jim Silvernail and Jason Hoevelmann welcome Rick Barron and Steve Olswanger to Tactical Impact. The panel discusses a high-stakes residential rescue. They break down a challenging fire in an old, 100-year-old balloon-frame home that was converted into a multifamily dwelling. At this fire, heavy fire was venting from the first floor, where an elderly man was trapped. Barron and Olswanger desc...

In this episode of Hooks & Hoses, host Eric Dreiman breaks down the ways stress and tunnel vision degrade situational awareness on the fireground and at all emergency scenes. He shares the three-step situational awareness model—perception, comprehension, projection—and practical signs that improve size‑up and prediction. Dreiman explains common failures: task fixation, auditory exclusion, poor...

Host Christopher Naum wraps up his Fireground Blueprint series with a focused, practical analysis of building predictability, habitability, and size-up for modern structural firefighting. Naum reviews the five building domains—anatomy/era, occupancy risk, collapse/compromise, methods/materials, and fire dynamics. He critiques prescriptive SOPs and stresses adaptive, multilayered incident planning,...

Latosha Clemons, chief of Forest Park (GA) Fire and Emergency Services, joins Lisa Baker, Women in Fire's Southwest Trustee, to share a look back at Clemons's 30-year career for this episode of Women in Fire. Clemons details her personal journey from probationary firefighter to battalion chief, deputy, and now chief. They discuss staffing, line-of-duty death response, mental health, and why mentor...

Want to learn how to close the generational gap in the fire service? In this week's Humpday Hangout, the panel welcomes Creston Ludlow to unpack the hidden curriculum in the fire service. They detail how unspoken expectations, traditions, and communication styles often leave new firefighters confused and create generational fiction. The panel offers advice on how to have honest conversations, appo...

In this episode of Two Vollies and a Guest, hosts Jerry Knapp and Tim Pillsworth welcome veteran firefighter Jeff Shupe to discuss the importance of "senior man." They explore how experienced firefighters preserve departmental knowledge, enforce the chain of command, and mentor younger crew members. They cover practical culture-building steps: story time on drill night, after-action reviews, stand...

For this episode of The Backstep Boys, hosts Ron Kanterman and Tom Aurnhammer welcome fire service veterans Doug Cline and Stephen Shaw. Together they assess a troubling trend: healthy, capable captains and chiefs retiring after just 20 years. While many blame the younger generation, they argue that the real culprits are administrative fatigue, shifting community politics, and the relentless menta...

Hosts Todd Edwards and Anthony Rowett welcome Candace Ashby to this episode of Generation Engine. Ashby discusses her 36-year career, breaking down how standard certifications fail to train actual officers, and arguing that the push for agreeable leadership undermines necessary accountability. They discuss confronting administrative disconnects to ditching formal paperwork for honest, face-to-face...

For this episode of Fire Service Court, John K. Murphy breaks down critical legal issues facing the fire service:    1. Discrimination in hiring and promotion. 2. Wage compliance. 3. Disability. 4. Medical fitness drug policy. 5. First Amendment limits on free speech. 6. Off-duty conduct.    He provides practical steps and encourages taking a proactive approach in matters of legal protection.