Fire Chief

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Late Chicago Chief Honored 

Chicago-area firefighters and emergency personnel joined representatives of The Dow Chemical and Union Pacific Railroad to honor the late John Eversole, the former chief of special operations for the Chicago Fire Department....

Higher Calling 

By Glen Mayhew & David Hoback

A Virginia department partnered with an allied-health college to create a degree and internship program for firefighter/paramedics....

Safe Practice 

By Pano Koukopoulos

Staying safe means embracing the ABCs of safety and treating a drill like the real thing. ...

Structural Integrity 

Janet Wilmoth janet@firechief.com

Thermal extremes are a major factor in live-fire training.… Anybody looking to remedy the problem has to understand concrete and thermal movement....

Flawed Progress 

By Rick Ennis

With fewer fires and an arguably misplaced focus on system over solution, fire chiefs may need to revisit fireground strategy and tactics. ...

ISFSI Names New Board Members 

Effective April 11, Eddie Buchanan will take over as president of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors. Buchanan will relieve Chief Timothy E. Sendelbach, who has led the organization for the last five years. ...

Leadership Stopgap 

By Mark Nichols

An Arizona battalion chief academy seeks to prepare the next generation of fire service leaders before they assume those roles....

Filling Member Wants Serves Agency Needs 

Kenneth Richards Jr.

Word travels fast in the fire service, and if a department has a history of treating volunteers like second-class citizens, the department will struggle to get new members....

Inspectors Must See with Firefighters' Eyes 

[ Mike Chiaramonte ]

It is the fire inspectors who get into the community on a regular basis. Every inspector must look at all occupancies they inspect as though they were fighting a fire in that establishment....

Study Group 

By Chris DeChant & Jim Higgins

A new joint-use public safety training facility uses state-of-the-art props to enhance both team and individual preparedness....

Braced for Attack 

By Phil Causer

United Kingdom emergency-response agencies drew up a CBRN plan, then put it to the test....

First Breath 

By Michael J. Wallace

SCBA gives firefighters the power to save lives. And although the early versions weren’t as light, durable or reliable as today’s SCBA, their effect on firefighting was just as profound....

No Room for Ad-Lib 

John Linstrom

The attitudes condoned at the training division will infect the entire organization. Are these messages and attitudes positive or negative?...

Disaster Training in the E.U. 

By Holger de Vries

International large-scale disaster training reveals how much is needed to overcome systemic differences....

APCO Issues Training Officer Call for Comment 

The standard specifies the minimum training requirements of all personnel assigned to a one-on-one communications training function in an emergency communications environment while recognizing the need to supplement basic competencies with agency-specific information and existing equipment-use parameters....

Texas Promotes 'Attack from the Black' Program 

The Attack from the Black program is designed to counter the mindset of many firefighters who feel that grass fires aren’t serious and can be fought without taking adequate safety precautions. ...

USFA Offers New Online Training System 

The U.S. Fire Administration's National Fire Academy has launched a new Web-based online training system called NFAOnline, which offers free training and education programs....

FEMA Announces $29.1 Million Available for Preparedness Training 

The Competitive Training Grant Program provides funds to support training initiatives that are national in scope and further the department’s mission of preparing the nation to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from catastrophic events. ...

Chicago Fire Department Goes on YouTube 

The Chicago Fire Department has posted videos to YouTube to promote fire safety programs to a younger generation. The instructional videos discuss saving lives in dormitories and commercial and residential high-rises. ...

Hot Drills 

By Pat McAuliff

Training officers often miss the point of live-fire training — learning....

DHS Provides First Responders $34.6M in Equipment, Training 

The Department of Homeland Security will award $34.6 million in equipment and training to first responders across the nation as a part of the FY 2006 Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program. DHS awarded more than 2,000 direct assistance grants to ensure that law enforcement and emergency responders receive specialized equipment and training to meet their homeland security mission. ...

Web Site Offers Lightweight Construction Info 

The American Forest & Paper Association, in partnership with the U.S. Fire Administration, is offering a comprehensive Web-based educational program developed to enhance firefighter awareness of the performance of different forms of lightweight construction components during fires to create a safer operational environment for the fire service....

DHS Launches Online Infrastructure Training 

The course addresses the importance of protecting the critical infrastructure and key resources, and provides an overview of many of the key concepts of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. ...

Dupes of Complacency Head Back to Basics 

By John Linstrom

In the past months, five Southern California firefighters have died and two were seriously burned in two separate fires. Although the fires themselves...

Industrial Strength 

By David White

Firefighters don't always need an alarm tone to know it's time for work. Suddenly, a terrible concussion echoes across the equipment bay. Every pane of...

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