Fire Chief

As a still-grieving Charleston, S.C., prepares for a memorial next month to honor the nine firefighters who died last year, the analysis and fallout continue.

Next month, the American fire service will remember the nine Charleston, S.C., firefighters who were killed in the Sofa Super Store fire on June 18, 2007. The local media will carry reports and tributes. The fire service media, however, will be asking questions.

It had been a long, hard winter, but finally Chicago has spring fever. Temperatures have reached the 70s five days in a row. It’s the perfect weather to sit outside with a good book.

April is a strange month. It starts off lightly with April Fools’ Day, becomes stressful midway through the month with tax day, and ends with anticipation while waiting to see if all those showers will give way.

How many free baseball caps, buttons or thermal cups do you really need? Trade show freebies are nice, but one company came up with a different approach to attract show attendees to their booth.

Firefighters and fire trucks bring out the child in adults. There’s just something about those big red (or yellow or white) fire trucks that draws people like bees to honey.

The Congressional Fire Services Institute couldn’t have come up with a better way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the annual National Fire Services Dinner than to take over the National Mall on Wednesday, April 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., to display fire and emergency service personnel and apparatus.

With five significant opportunities to spring into action, April is shaping up to be a pretty busy month for the fire and emergency service industry.

I was surprised to see how quicky the rig became a dot in the distance. I sped up to see just how fast the tanker was going and guessed 60 mph in the straight aways and 50 mph on the curves. I thought, this must be some fire.

If you asked your firefighters one on one what they know about the Everyone Goes Home campaign, what would they say to you? Have they heard of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s 16 Life-Safety Initiatives. Are they part of your department safety program?

It looks like the Dayton (Tenn.) Fire Department will be looking for a new fire chief. According to the Rhea County Herald-News, Fire Chief Jack Arnold has quit after 29 years with the fire department.