If you’re a firefighter or medic, especially a volunteer, you’re able to do your job because the law grants you the ability to do it without fear of legal reprisal if someone decides you made a mistake. That’s thanks to “qualified immunity” laws. But two states have passed new laws that have the effect of eliminating that protection. And it could mean firefighters and medics in those states are in major legal trouble if a taxpayer believes they did something wrong. My guest today is Brad Pinsky....
Feb 17, 2022•20 min•Ep. 291
There’s an unusual fire department in Fairbanks, Alaska. It’s called the University Fire Department. It serves a University of Alaska campus and nearby North Star Borough from two stations. What makes this department special is that all the rigs are staffed by full-time University students, over 50 of them. They work side-by-side with 11 career firefighters, who act as mentors. The students work 48 on/96 off shifts and are certified in firefighting and ALS. And they can make up to $30,000 a year...
Feb 10, 2022•22 min•Ep. 290
Once upon a time, there was VES. Then, thanks to the FDNY, came VEIS-vent, enter, isolate, search. Problem is, while the concept is still sound, it’s becoming harder to isolate rooms. The so-called open floorplan is eliminating walls and doors. It's also making searches tougher because following the walls won’t let you reach far enough into the room. My guest today has some thoughts on the merits, and some limitations, of VEIS. Eric Dreiman is a captain with the Indianapolis Fire Department. He’...
Feb 03, 2022•18 min•Ep. 289
If you want something done, sometimes the best solution is to do it yourself. That can apply to fire service training, too. My guest today was a young firefighter when he was assigned to slower station after being at a busy one. He found a crew that wasn’t much interested in training. About the time he was starting to get lazy, he realized he could do his own training even when no one else wanted to participate. At first, his DIY approach didn’t have much impact, but slowly, the rest of the crew...
Jan 13, 2022•18 min•Ep. 288
If your department doesn’t operate its own ambulances, a third-party operator is transporting your patients. But what happens when that company doesn’t meet your standards for response time? It can become a real problem, our guest today says. And it isn’t always easy to solve. Fire Chief Scott Freitag has been on Code 3 a couple of times before. He heads up the Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority, or CAFMA. Chief Freitag has been pushing his local ambulance provider to improve their resou...
Dec 30, 2021•27 min•Ep. 287
Today, we’re talking electric vehicles. If you live in Los Angeles, like I do, you see them every day. Teslas and hybrids are everywhere! But there are a lot of places where electric vehicles –called EVs—or hybrids still aren’t common. Problem is, these cars can be really dangerous when you do find one in an MVA. Time was, we worried about electrical shock. But those were the early days, and the bright orange power cables have pretty well taken care of that. Now, the worry is thermal runaways. T...
Dec 23, 2021•16 min•Ep. 286
This is a special double edition of Code 3. We take a look back at the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York City. By now, you know it’s been 20 years since that tragic day when we lost 343 members of the FDNY. But I still find it hard to comprehend. It feels like yesterday to me, and I’m sure if you were around for it, you feel the same. Today, I have interviews with two members of the FDNY who were part of the recovery efforts at ground zero. Tom Dunne is a now-retired deputy chief...
Sep 09, 2021•49 min•Ep. 285
Fighting wildland fires is very different than structure fires. For starters, wildland guys sleep on the ground for days at a time. And then there’s the lack of hydrants on their firegrounds. They have to carry in all their gear, often walking miles to reach their assigned areas. But wildland firefighters, by and large, wouldn’t trade their jobs for structure firefighting. Today, we’re talking with a man who joined a Type 2 handcrew when he was in his thirties. That’s pretty old for a wildland f...
Aug 05, 2021•18 min•Ep. 284
Sitting in the right front seat of a rig means a lot more than giving instructions on the fireground. In fact, that’s a small part of the job. Sure it’s important—I mean, lives are at stake—but you need to be equally good at the rest of the job. Company officers need to understand that not only will they be in charge at scenes, but they will become parental figures, coaches, counselors, and much more to their crew. And that’s something that is rarely taught in company officer training. My guest ...
Jul 15, 2021•21 min•Ep. 283
Just about everyone in the fire service will—at some time—have the opportunity to be an Incident Commander for a few minutes at least. Then the Battalion Chief, or another chief officer, arrives and takes over. Whether you’re a firefighter in a small department and you end up in that position or you want to promote to chief officer, today’s guest has some tips for you. Tom Dunne will be giving his class on “Thinking Like an IC” at FDIC 2021 on August 3, and he’s here to preview that class for us...
Jul 01, 2021•24 min•Ep. 282
Does your department require firefighters to be EMTs or Paramedics? Seems like most career departments do these days. What if it doesn’t? Does that mean you don’t need to get certified? Today, we’re talking about the need to be EMS-qualified. Think about this scenario: you respond to a structure fire along with a rescue ambulance. Almost immediately, you find a burn victim, package him up, and send him to the hospital. Now what happens when one of your firefighters is injured making the secondar...
Jun 24, 2021•19 min•Ep. 281
On this episode, we’re talking EMS history. I’m embarrassed to admit I was unaware of this background until I heard it on another, non-fire-related podcast. It’s the story of the first civilian EMS program in the U.S. Nope, not New York. That was 1968. Not Miami. That was 1969. Not even L.A., home of the “Emergency!” TV show. The law that allowed them to practice was passed in 1970. No, the first U.S. paramedics were from the Freedom House Ambulance program in Pittsburgh. In 1967 . And they face...
Jun 10, 2021•14 min•Ep. 280
There’s a lot of advice out there about how to get promoted. There’s a little less about what to do when you are promoted. Suddenly, friends on your shift are your subordinates. So how do you work with them? Your first couple of days will set the tone for how you’ll relate to them for some time to come. If you screw it up, it could take months to repair the damage. My guest today has some insight about what they expect of you … and what you should do when you arrive at work in your new role. Ian...
May 27, 2021•18 min•Ep. 279
My guest on this show, Dan Rogers, created a firestorm online with his article, “’And that’s okay:’ Not all volunteers want to operate like FDNY.” Here’s a quote from the article, which appears on the FireRescue1.com website: “We often try to ‘push’ pride in our department onto the younger members. But many of them weren’t raised with the same sense of community as we were, so they will likely never carry that pride. And that’s OK.” Readers, as they always do, came to different conclusions about...
Apr 23, 2021•20 min•Ep. 278
When you set up your burn building, burn room, or burn trailer for training, what do you use for fuel? In my experience, sometimes it’s just a few old wooden pallets or some leftover 2x4s. And, sure, that makes smoke and flames, but how realistic are they? Modern furniture burns faster and hotter than the older stuff. Since structure fires are becoming less common, it’s important that the training simulations are as realistic as possible. That’s where our friends at Underwriters Laboratory come ...
Apr 01, 2021•16 min•Ep. 277
Just about every firefighter enjoys reading about the experiences of other members of the brotherhood. That’s why books written by veteran firefighters are so popular. Plus, they give potential new recruits valuable real-world information on how to get into the fire service. My guest today is Stan Tarnowski, who is back on Code 3 to talk about his new book, “Firefighting in the 21st Century.” It’s part memoir, part textbook, and it’s all interesting. This is Chief Tarnowski’s third book. Stan ha...
Mar 22, 2021•23 min•Ep. 276
Your department has probably been described, at least informally, as an all-hazards department. That usually means things like water rescue, hazmat, high-angle rescue, and so on. But over the years, and especially since the time of the late Chief Alan Brunacini may struggle with it. It may not relate strictly to firefighting. My guest to discuss the value of customer service –and what it is --- has been on Code 3 before. Chad Costa is a battalion chief with the City of Petaluma, California Fire ...
Dec 03, 2020•20 min•Ep. 275
If you’re not a career firefighter in a major city, this is going to be a familiar topic. If you do work in a major city, get ready to hear something a little scary: A lot of volunteer and smaller combination department ladder companies are just two…or fewer…people. And given the declining numbers of fires we’re seeing, those firefighters may not have much experience setting up their apparatus. As always, training is the key. But it has to be worthwhile training. Here to talk about how to get so...
Nov 12, 2020•17 min•Ep. 274
It’s not easy to be married to a firefighter. Whether you’re the wife or a husband of one, you know it can be tough to deal with emotionally. And if you’re thinking of marrying a firefighter, you need to understand that there’s more to it than the one-hour orientation class the department offers you. A lot more. That’s why Mike and Anne Gagliano wrote a book and frequently speak around the country about how they’ve made it work for 35 years. Mike retired as a captain with Seattle Fire after 30 y...
Nov 05, 2020•32 min•Ep. 273
This time, I’m doing something a little different. It’s been a tough fire season here in southern California and it’s not over. I’m helping out my friends up the road at the Los Angeles Fire Department. They’re doing a fundraiser, selling "LAFD Strong" t-shirts to buy more and better equipment. So, if you’re in SoCal, listen up. If not, you are, of course, welcome to listen too, as I talk with Assistant Chief Wade White, who oversees the LAFD’s Supply and Maintenance Division. I think this certa...
Oct 29, 2020•13 min•Ep. 272
How would you grade your most recent Incident Commander’s performance? Solid or...timid? Solid is an IC who has been trained and seasoned—and one more element: practiced. Timid is someone who is maybe trained, but not especially seasoned, or inexperienced, and especially – a little scared. They’re afraid someone’s going to get hurt or killed. Today’s guest argues that a timid IC is worse than simply inefficient: they’re incompetent. That’s what Nick Martin posted on Facebook recently. If you wan...
Oct 15, 2020•24 min•Ep. 271
The way we used to train newbies, in lots of jobs, not just firefighting, could best be described as “tough love.” That’s being charitable. We were downright mean to them, and if they came back, then maybe they were suited for the job. But newbies, or in this case, probies, and different nowadays. They’re smarter. And if you treat them the way we used to, they’re likely to quit. You may say “Good riddance,” but if we built these folks up instead of trying to tear them down, we could end up with ...
Oct 08, 2020•23 min•Ep. 270
You probably know that recruiting has become a real problem at many volunteer fire departments. That’s true. But what’s worse is when you get someone to join, get them qualified, and then in a year or two they quit. The NVFC says its happening at least partly because volunteers are being lured in by the big red trucks and then find they’ll spend a lot more time doing EMS work. That makes sense. If they joined because of the video or poster of firefighters in turnouts at a structure fire, they’re...
Oct 01, 2020•20 min•Ep. 269
I just had Pete Van Dorpe on the show, a couple of weeks ago, talking about his article from 2015 titled, “Mounting an Intelligent Interior Attack.” Coincidentally, Nick Salameh, a previous guest on this show, wrote an article this month for Fire Engineering that referred to Pete’s story. He called it, “Why Aren’t More Firefighters Making the Change to Intelligent Firefighting?’ In it, he suggested that some of today’s firefighters “after a decade of findings, are still doing the same things the...
Sep 24, 2020•22 min•Ep. 268
There is always an on-going discussion about how aggressive firefighters should be at structure fires. Inevitably, the argument gets into interior attacks vs. transitional. That discussion bypasses a real question, which is, how do lives get saved fastest? Today’s guest says the answer to that is: Get the fire out first. If that sounds like an old-school answer, you’re right. Because this guy is old school—but not always. Peter Van Dorpe is vice-president of the International Society of Fire Ser...
Sep 17, 2020•20 min•Ep. 267
This episode previously ran on Sept. 11, 2019. I talked with retired Fire Chief Rick Lasky about the events of that horrible day in 2001 and what he recalled about it.
Sep 11, 2020•28 min
How do you select a handline when you arrive at a fire? Do you have an all-purpose go-to that usually gets pulled? Some departments routinely pull the reel line. You know, the booster line? Or so I’ve heard. Of course, if you choose the wrong line, there’s rarely a chance to correct the mistake. Using a line that’s too small will make a quick knockdown into a major hassle. But you also don’t want to have to lug a 2-1/2 around the fireground if it’s not necessary. Here to give us some ideas on ho...
Sep 03, 2020•19 min•Ep. 266
If you spend any time on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the videos posted by Fire Department Chronicles. If you haven’t, you need to. Go there right now and look them up. I’ll wait.The man behind these videos is Jason Patton. Jason’s covered a lot of ground on these videos, from whether TV shows about firefighters are realistic … what do YOU think he found? …to how to get fired. But the one that caught my attention most recently was one in which he critiqued a Wall Street Journal video about fir...
Aug 20, 2020•21 min•Ep. 265
You may have heard this oldie-but-goodie already, but bear with me: A smart man learns from his mistakes. A really smart man learns from others’ mistakes. No where is that more accurate than in the fire service, where a mistake can kill you. But the problem with learning like this lies in the way you do it. How many YouTube videos have you seen where something goes wrong and there are dozens of comments written explaining how this would never have happened, if they had just (fill-in-the-blank). ...
Aug 13, 2020•22 min•Ep. 264
This show is a little different. We’re going to talk about prehospital care from the point of view of an EMS liaison. He sees the results of good treatment in the field. He sees what happens when treatment is done poorly. And he’s also able to see the differences between the care provided by career and volunteer departments. He can tell you what results in the best patient outcomes. Roger Dyjak is a firefighter and an EMT-B for the Memphis, Michigan Volunteer Fire Department. He works at two Mic...
Aug 06, 2020•20 min•Ep. 263
