Smart Firefighting

Education EN ↓ 329 episodes

Smart Firefighting Podcast covers real-world deployments of smart technologies through conversations with technologists, innovators, companies, and forward-thinking public safety and government agencies. Learn from interviews with leaders as they share their insights and offer their expertise every week! Host Kevin Sofen is a co-founding member of the Smart First Responder Community who loves to explore change management and technology in public safety.

Author

Smart Firefighting

Episodes

Episode 322: Inside Panasonic Tough Command: Connected Vehicles for Emergency Response with Kjeld Lindsted 25.06.2026 42:21

Most first responder vehicles are full of technology that does not talk to itself. A dash cam here. A radio there. An MDT, a license plate reader, lights and sirens, all from different makers, all siloed. The data exists. It just never lands in one place where anyone can use it. Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fi...

Episode 321: Building for Chaos, Not Compliance with Bailey Farren – Perimeter 11.06.2026 28:13

Bailey Farren is the co-founder and CEO of Perimeter . In 2017 she was evacuated from the Tubbs Fire, and what she saw that night, people with no way to know where the danger was or where to go, became the problem she has spent the better part of a decade solving. Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and...

Episode 320: He Missed the Hydrant, Then Built the Tool to Ensure No One Else Does. Rapid Response Co with Bobby Banome 21.05.2026 54:54

Bobby Banome is an FDNY firefighter from Staten Island who got tired of arriving at fires without the information his crew needed. So he built something. Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Eleven years...

Episode 319: How Garage Is Fixing the Broken Secondary Market for Fire Apparatus with Martin Hunt 14.05.2026 46:29

The secondary market for fire apparatus runs on Facebook groups, newspaper classifieds, and local auctions. A small town in Texas budgeted $100,000 for a used truck sale. Garage got them $1.3 million. That is what happens when you put infrastructure behind a market that has never had any. Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via intervie...

Episode 318: Training Is Lived, Not Lectured - VR Training for Firefighters with Evan Sitler-Bates and Drew MacNeil from XpertVR 07.05.2026 34:43

Firefighters train all year, but most of it is death by PowerPoint. Evan Sitler-Bates and Drew MacNeil , co-founders of XpertVR, are building a different answer: immersive virtual reality simulations where firefighters actually do the work instead of watching someone describe it. Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with f...

Episode 317: Bridging Firefighters and Engineers Through Leadership and Trust with Mark Reilly 30.04.2026 12:37

What does leadership really look like when lives are on the line? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, a...

Episode 316: Why Mental Health Conversations Matter in the Fire Service with Max Cottingham 23.04.2026 21:56

It’s okay to not be okay. The question is, who notices? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, and Austral...

Episode 315: When Fire Protection Has No Rulebook with Alex Starkey 16.04.2026 12:11

What happens when fire protection standards do not apply? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, and Austr...

Episode 314: Reducing Risk Before It Becomes Disaster with Emma Whale & Amanda Leck 09.04.2026 18:11

What does risk really mean when the stakes are rising for entire communities? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the A...

Episode 313: Why First Responders Need One Global Language for Safety with Kurt Vollmacher 02.04.2026 11:44

How do you prepare firefighters for risks that did not exist 10 years ago? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC...

Episode 312: From Close Call to Safer Fireground Operations with Matt Simmonds 26.03.2026 10:29

What starts as a routine task on the fireground can quickly turn into a life threatening moment. For Matt Simmonds, that moment came while rolling hose after a fire, when a passing vehicle nearly struck his crew. That close call sparked a question that many firefighters have quietly accepted for years. Is this really the safest way to do this job, or is there a better way? Hello Smart Firefighting...

Episode 311: Moving Communities Out of Harm’s Way with Gavin Smith 20.03.2026 14:07

What happens when a community faces the reality that staying in place is no longer safe? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alon...

Episode 310: Bridging the Gap Between Fire Engineering and the Fire Service with Fiona Perrin 12.03.2026 21:25

What happens when the people who design buildings and the firefighters who respond to emergencies inside them stop talking to each other? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institu...

Episode 309: What Aviation Emergencies Teach Us About Coordination and Preparedness with Greg Pobar 05.03.2026 17:27

Aviation is one of the safest forms of transportation in the world, but that safety depends on careful preparation for events everyone hopes will never happen. Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Record...

Episode 308: A Global Alliance to See Fire Before It Spreads with Karen O’Connor 27.02.2026 18:45

What if every fire agency could detect a wildfire within minutes of ignition and track it in near real time? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE)...

Episode 307: Why Cooking Fires Still Drive So Many Fire Calls with Kevin Callahan & Will Boake 22.01.2026 13:47

Why do cooking fires keep happening even when people know better? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, a...

Episode 306: Why Time Matters Most in Fireground Decision-Making with Peter Dekkers 15.01.2026 18:34

How many decisions do you make in seconds on the fireground, and what happens if technology slows you down? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2...

Episode 305: What Experience Teaches Us About Risk And Resilience with Sophia Curnow 09.01.2026 18:13

What does a farming background teach you about firefighting, risk, and resilience? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside...

Episode 304: When Fire Engineering Fails, Firefighters Pay the Price with Richard Mills 22.12.2025 24:24

What happens when a building is not as safe as everyone assumed it was? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, W...

Episode 303: Global Fire Leadership and the Power of One Voice with Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell 22.12.2025 20:33

What happens when fire leaders from around the world sit down with one shared purpose: to protect communities before disaster strikes? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institutio...

Episode 302: How Expert Incident Leaders Think Under Pressure with Claire Cooper 18.12.2025 15:55

When everything feels uncertain, what guides your decisions? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, and Au...

Episode 301: Turning Complex Equipment Management Into Clear Peace of Mind with Rob Stirling 11.12.2025 16:10

Ever picked up a piece of gear and wondered if you could trust it? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA,...

Episode 300: Inside the Mission of Rapid Intervention Teams with Steven Kaiser 04.12.2025 14:12

What protects firefighters when everything changes in an instant? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, a...

Episode 299: Fire Service Leadership, Climate Truth, and the Courage to Speak Up with Greg Mullins 26.11.2025 15:05

How do you stay honest about risk when the world around you is changing faster than the systems meant to protect it? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineer...

Episode 298: Building Safer Communities Through Fire Engineering and Frontline Experience with Jeremy Fewtrell 21.11.2025 22:22

What does it look like when a fire service treats prevention and response as one mission? Hello Smart Firefighting Community! Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy. Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alo...