Multiple Calls Podcast

Ryan Gallagher is a father, a husband, and a firefighter. He is a member of the City of Burlington Peer Support program and has helped raise more than $80,000 for charities in his community. He attends the Professional Addiction Studies program at McMaster University with the goal to better recognize and understand people’s struggles so he can give them better support, on the job and in his everyd...

Dena Ali is a Captain with the Raleigh (NC) Fire Department where she has worked her way up the ranks. She previously served as a police officer for five years. Ali has a degree from North Carolina State University and an MPA from the University of North Carolina—Pembroke, where her research focused on firefighter suicide. As a graduate student, she was awarded the 2018 MPA student of the year. Sh...

Mahlon Joined the Navy in 2003 as a Hospital Corpsman stationed at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda MD. He received orders to Iraq where he was assigned to 18th Battalion 7th Brigade Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq. Located in the city of Fallujah on March 2005, he was the only medical provider for this battalion. After 6 months, he returned home and finished off the remain...

Rob Backer is an 18-year veteran of the fire service, having served with Thornton Fire Department in Thornton, Colorado since 2004. He is currently the Captain of Engine 76, protecting the city’s northeast side. He has been delivering The Art of Reading Smoke and The Art of the First Due for Dave Dodson since 2016. His writing has been published in Fire Engineering and various fire service blogs a...

Jay Bonnifield is a firefighter with the Everett Fire Department in Everett Washington, assigned to the tailboard of Engine 5 in south/central Everett. Jay has been a firefighter for 12 years, starting in suburban communities to the north of Everett prior to getting hired with EFD. Jay teaches engine company operations for the Snohomish County Fire Training Academy, along with West Coast Fire Trai...

Jarrod Sergi is a 20-year member of the fire service. He started his career in the US Navy serving as a Damage Control-man where he was responsible for all shipboard firefighting operations and the training of ships crew.  After his time in the Navy, he was selected to join the ranks of Norfolk Fire-Rescue in Norfolk VA where he has been for the last 15 years. Currently, he serves as the Captain o...

A 16-year veteran of the fire service, Zapp holds the rank of Lieutenant at a suburban Chicago Fire Protection District and operates FireSQFitness, a coaching business dedicated to the physical and mental health and wellness of firefighters worldwide. She is honored to have the opportunity to help Firefighters live their best lives. Holding a master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology f...

Jake Hoffman is a Private with the Toledo (OH) Fire Department where he is assigned to Rescue Squad 7, one of the city's two heavy rescue companies. He has also spent time detailed to the Special Operations and Training Bureaus.  Jake is a co-owner of Squad 5 Fire Training and is an instructor for Take the Door Training.  He works as a HAZMAT Specialist with FEMA Ohio Task Force 1 Urban Search and...

Mark vonAppen, a member of the fire service since 1998, is assigned to the suppression division where he holds the rank of captain. He is a committee member for California State Fire Training and has contributed to the development of Firefighter Survival and Rapid Intervention curriculums. Mark has been published in Fire Engineering Magazine, Fire Service Warrior, and is the creator of the fire se...

Scott Chisholm is a career first responder; professional firefighter for the past 27 years and former land-based (6 years) and air paramedic (10 years). Scott is also a photographer, storyteller, and CEO and founder of the Collateral Damage project. The Collateral Damage project started as a series of compelling portraits that will be part of a book and gallery exhibitions of those who have lost l...

Marc Aloan is a Captain with the West Columbia Fire Department and creator of The Fire Inside blog. He has been a member of the fire service for 16 years, both volunteer and career, and is an active instructor/presenter. Marc has taught at Firehouse World, Firehouse Expo, and numerous state and local conferences. His writing has been published in Fire Engineering, The Firemanship Journal, and the...

Nathan has been a firefighter with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services in British Columbia's Lower mainland since 2011 and was a volunteer firefighter for 3 years prior, on Vancouver Island. He has been a member of an Internationally deploy-able, Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team since December 2015. He saw the need for advanced RIT training to be provided to firefighters across B.C. and began designi...

It is crucial to learn at least some of the deep history of our service. Not only does it give us a window into the struggles and efforts of the giants before us, whose shoulders we stand upon, but it also shows us the progression that has always been driven by the necessity of innovation. As technology opens up the ability to manifest possibilities into realities at greater and greater speeds, in...

There are many experiences that will slip your memory but being hired as a Firefighter isn’t one of them. It’s a powerful and unique experience that stands the test of time. Earning that moment can often be a struggle, but it’s also an opportunity to begin a growth mindset that will serve you both in your life and in the service. There isn’t one path, there are many and that’s both encouraging and...

Andy MacDonald served with the City of Brampton Fire and Emergency Services for over 37 years, starting as a Volunteer Fire Fighter in 1977. After graduating from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Science degree, he began his career as a professional Fire Fighter in 1979.  Andy rose through the ranks in Brampton.  He was appointed Assistant Deputy in 1999, Deputy in 2003 and Fire Chief in Jan...

No stranger to goals, setbacks, missteps or success, Amber has fostered, nurtured and honoured the voice within her that says, you need to do this, and found a way. An accomplished hockey player, an established instructor, and coach, the most decorated female in the sport of Firefit and the Combat Challenge and recently named Top Trainer on the Dr. Oz Show, she is a prime example of not letting yo...

Mike is a Captain assigned to a Special Operations Team in one of the largest cities in Canada. Mike brings 20 years of operational rescue and command experience through his heavy involvement in technical rope, confined space, vehicle and trench rescue teams. He has also has been a clinically active paramedic for over two decades and has worked part time as a Critical Care Flight Paramedic on the...

Work-life balance is equal parts corporate adopted catchphrase and prophetic tenet and we are awash in a confusing eddy of snake-oil peddlers and genuine healers as we seek the relief of a promised land we can't see. Getting to this place of peace and contentment is a journey of trial and error, success and setback and requires self-awareness, reflection, faith, and perseverance, all as our lives...

Acknowledged by his peers at Seattle FD as Firefighter of the Year in 2011, awarded the Fire Engineering/International Society of Fire Service Instructors George D. Post Instructor of the Year award in 2017, and creator of the Nozzle Forward Program, Aaron has been described as articulate, dynamic and magnetic. He identifies most as a 'Sharer of ideas'. He and his Cadre have taught over 20, 000 me...

There are a lot of great words being used in the fire service again; fundamentals, basics, work, drilling, passion, dedication, focus, them, and brotherhood. More and more we are coming upon those within our own departments and others that are taking these concepts and putting them to practical use, doing their part to keep our traditions and our mission alive and ever-present. Johnny makes every...

Adopted and raised in the beaches area of Toronto, with 5 older sisters, in a loving but regimented and religious family, my dad grew up with a desire to prove himself in the world, have a family of his own, and to discover his roots. Having worked as a tradesman, and run his own cartage business he discovered the fire service by chance and never looked back. We talk about respect, work ethic, fri...

Quiet professionals work diligently to help their communities and for the betterment of their departments and members, in firehouses around the world; you just have to seek them out. With 18 ½ years in the fire service, a Captain, and a father of 3, Rob strives to serve and help individuals and teams thrive on and off the job. From coaching hockey and baseball after playing at a high-level in each...

Firefighting runs in the family and so does a strong work ethic and seeing yourself as a part of your community. Joanne has been paying it forward and giving back throughout her life and the years so far in her Firefighting career are no exception. From helping get her Department's Peer Support Team up and running to working with the support group for all First Responders, Wings of Change, to sitt...

At 15 years of age, Chris crashed rapidly and painfully into a new reality of addiction and alcoholism. Hired into the Fire Service deep into his struggle, he lived a double life. After years of fighting to get clean and sober he found himself at the crossroads of either his fourth and final attempt at suicide, or asking for help at his lowest point. Everything from that moment on was different. H...

Whether you are trying to get into the Fire Service or completing your 20th year, there are certain instructors that you should seek out to help you bolster your skillset. Andrew is one of those guys. 17 years into his professional and volunteer fire careers, he is still grinding it out. He has sat at the kitchen tables, instructed, and rode on the rigs with some of the best departments in North A...