The AFD was, by any measure, a safe department. We had the paperwork to prove it. Reporting rookies received a binder full of SOGs and SOPs covering everything from flag raising to water use. We had a safety chief heading a safety committee that met to discuss any potential safety issues.

We had a comprehensive seatbelt policy and buzzers that let us know when they weren't fastened. We had everything we needed to save Brian except the capacity to see our own vulnerability. We looked ahead, planned ahead, rushed ahead. We valued speed. We kept our eyes on the task down the road and, somehow, lost sight of the one in front of us.

This wasn't the lapse of an individual firefighter; this was the lapse of a culture.

That had to change. We had to change.

What we needed couldn't come in a memo or mandate. Our problem was not a lack of rules; it was an issue of "group-think." In a profession where every call carries huge risks, we had learned to ignore the small ones. We created the problem together-solving it would take a team effort.

In 2006, we formed one. We called it Team Brian.

The group's members came from every rank in the department and each had an equal voice in the discussion. In examining the underlying causes of the accident, the team considered a key question-why do firefighters behave the way they behave?

The answer was they reflect the firefighters who came before them. We needed to change the paradigm. Crews were brought in one at a time and asked to identify the department's core values. Using their responses, the team initiated classes on mentoring, decision-making and the role of leadership-followership.

More importantly, each firefighter took responsibility for their own safety and the safety of those around them-and every member was empowered to make decisions within the command structure. The changes were immediate and measurable. Crews at incident scenes reported seeing greater risk vs. benefit analysis. Drivers said they were more aware of their speed at intersections and on Code 3 calls. In one instance, a firefighter was ordered off a truck because of a malfunctioning seatbelt-an unheard of action just a few months earlier.

Things were changing. We were changing. The only remaining question was whether we had succeeded in forming a new culture, or if old habits would return.

On an icy, snow-blown day in 2008, we got our answer. Several units were responding to a weather-related, 30-vehicle accident with multiple injuries. One of the units, Engine 6, topped a hill in a near-zero visibility or "whiteout" and encountered a stopped car. Forced to swerve, the engine slid off the interstate and rolled over. The cab was crushed. One by one, the four members of the unit wiggled free from the vehicle and went to work assessing the condition of the injured they'd been called to treat.

Every crewmember had been wearing a seatbelt and were uninjured. Before Brian Hunton, that outcome would have been far less likely.

Since April 24, 2005, not a single AFD fire truck has moved one inch until every crewmember is in a seatbelt. It's our commitment. It's our culture.

It's a promise we made too late to one of our own.

Team Brian isn't about seatbelts. It's about recognizing dangers large and small-the ones that lie ahead and the ones close enough to touch us without warning. Safety is a moving target. To follow it, you may need to change your point of view.

Our story isn't about the Amarillo Fire Department; it's about every fire department. We urge departments across the country to empower your members; listen to their insights and start your own team. We call ours Team Brian. We hope yours never has a name.