Fire Chief

This past week was difficult for the American fire service with the funerals for the nine firefighters from the Charleston (S.C.) Fire Department. A fatal fire apparatus accident in a small town in Belgium also has had an impact on a fire department here in the states.

We all know that June 17-23 was the week set aside for this year’s Fire and EMS Safety Stand Down. Tragically that same week, the Charleston (S.C.) Fire Department suffered the single largest number of line of duty deaths since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

As frequently happens when I’m teaching or facilitating training, my mind suddenly conjures up a story that makes a difficult concept much more easily understood by both my audience and me. While working with this particular group, the differences between responsibility, authority and accountability suddenly became crystal clear.

While the acrid smell of smoke still permeates the air, nine families are preparing for funerals in Charleston, S.C. Wives, children, parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, relatives, and friends — lots of friends — are in various stages of grief. The Charleston Fire Department and surrounding departments are preparing to bury these men with […]

Earlier this month I was privileged to attend a meeting in Kansas City hosted by the International Association of Fire Chiefs as a member of the NRP ESF-4 sub-committee. That stands for the National Response Plan’s Emergency Service Function 4 (Firefighting), which translates into how fire service assets will be dispatched and deployed to major incidents across the country when there is a declared disaster.

After witnessing a code hearing for the first time, I found it an intense but understandable process with which fire chiefs need to be actively involved. To get to a national requirement for residential sprinklers, we need to be involved in this code process.

In preparation for the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Stand Down for Safety next week, I asked Dr. Burton Clark, training specialist for the U.S. Fire Administration’s Management Science Programs, about his goal to have one million firefighters sign a National Fire Service Seatbelt Pledge by the end of the month.

I’ve been very fortunate, especially in this male-dominated profession, to have worked with several outstanding female leaders and managers. Those experiences have helped immeasurably in the development of my “soft skills” — people skills — which is why I believe the research findings of the Hagberg Consulting Group.

The quint owes its evolution as a piece of fire apparatus to a lineage that began almost a century ago. The “triple-combination” engine — a vehicle with a pump, hose bed and a water tank — first appeared on the scene around 1910. The “city service” or quad, which added a full complement of ground ladders, soon followed, with the quint and its 55- to 100-foot aerial appearing just prior to World War II.

It is my hope that this blog will facilitate an exchange of information on current topics such as interoperability, 700MHz, NFPA 1221, trunked radio systems in the fire service, tactical radio systems, Project 25, Next-Generation 911 systems, and other topics that you ask about.