Just in time for the national stand down for firefighter safety last week, a new TV program recently premiered that could effectively assist training and safety officers. I'm sure it wasn't designed to be a training program, but why miss out on this opportunity?

Thanks to the Discovery Channel, we have "Firehouse USA," yet another television program that tries to capture the "real world" of firefighters. The first show focuses on the Boston Fire Department and offers a great opportunity for playing "spot-the-error."

Based on the number of e-mails I've received from the premiere, a sharp training officer (with the aid of a video recorder) can offer a prize for the most number of safety or operations errors spotted during the show.

"It's not that smoky in here," says one firefighter as they walk around in a haze without their SCBA.

Responding to an alarm, the officer in the front seat -- no visible shoulder strap -- fidgets as the bay door opens. Meanwhile, the firefighter in the back seat is shifting up and down, getting his gear on -- obviously not belted in.

One battalion chief, who sat through the whole program, wrote, "The one-hour show was filled with what not to do on a fire scene or around a firehouse: Firefighters not wearing hoods or masks; firefighters standing up in vehicles while responding to calls; drivers yelling at cars on the road; wearing day boots on structure fires; not wearing the waist belt on your BA; no chin straps in place on helmets; using your ears as temperature gauges, and firefighters on the roof of a working fire using power tools and no gear at all."

How can we ask fire departments across America to have a stand down day for SAFETY and tolerate this kind of show portraying the fire service, the BC wonders. "No wonder there are departments saying they want to participate," he says. "It may make them safer and better, God forbid!!!"

Then again, we should say something nice about the program and the Boston Fire Department. Besides having guts for being the first department to take the heat, they get kudos for creative fund raising for a charity. Auctioning off firefighters in a bar? Well, boys will be boys!

Maybe the Discovery Channel will luck out and help us locate the safest fire department around the country. Boring, you say? I doubt it. In the meantime, we should get some company to donate prizes for the department that spots the highest number of safety and operations errors in "Firehouse" -- the TV program (not our friendly competitor).

It's summertime and time to turn lemons into lemonade!

Janet Wilmoth, Editor