P.J. Norwood is the Director of Training at the Connecticut Fire Academy. He is a retired deputy chief from the East Haven Fire Department in Connecticut and has served four years with the Connecticut Army National Guard. Chief Norwood is a FDIC classroom, workshop, and HOT Instructor, a Fire Engineering Advisory Panel Member, a Fire Engineering book and video author of “The Evolving Fireground - Researched Based Tactics” and the “Tactical Perspectives” DVD Series. P.J. is a Contributing author ...
Oct 17, 2021•49 min•Ep. 43
Listen to Jim Moss' interview from the "Fire & Iron Podcast," where Matt, Ryan and Jim discuss the Firefighter Success book, personal leadership, living intentionally, and much more. Make sure to subscribe to the Fire and Iron Podcast and listen often. Learn more at FirefighterSuccessBook.com .
Oct 10, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 42
Benjamin Martin currently serves as a captain with a large metro fire department in Virginia. He provides leadership training workshops and keynotes internationally and throughout the United States. Ben blends over 18 years of public safety experience with his ongoing Ph.D. study of human behavior and motivation to provide an entertaining and unfiltered view on a variety of leadership topics such as communication, command and control strategies, conflict management, and emotional intelligence. B...
Oct 03, 2021•42 min•Ep. 41
Benjamin Martin currently serves as a captain with a large metro fire department in Virginia. He provides leadership training workshops and keynotes internationally and throughout the United States. Ben blends over 18 years of public safety experience with his ongoing Ph.D. study of human behavior and motivation to provide an entertaining and unfiltered view on a variety of leadership topics such as communication, command and control strategies, conflict management, and emotional intelligence. B...
Sep 26, 2021•49 min•Ep. 40
Ali Rothrock has been a firefighter and emergency medical technician in the volunteer fire service since 2005. She has delivered more than 500 presentations nationwide and she is the Founder and Lead Instructor for 'On the Job and Off,' an online platform dedicated to building more resilient first responders. Since its creation in 2018, its training programs are regarded as some of the best first responder mental health courses in the country. Ali is a CISM Team Member, Behavioral Health Special...
Sep 19, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 39
Mike Dugan is a 27-year veteran of the FDNY and served as the captain of Ladder Company 123 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. As a lieutenant, he served in Ladder Company 42 in the South Bronx. While assigned as a firefighter in Ladder Company 43 in Spanish Harlem, Dugan received the James Gordon Bennett medal in 1992 and the Harry M. Archer Medal in 1993---the FDNY’s highest award for bravery. Captain Dugan is also a longtime instructor at FDIC. He is a contributing editor to Fire Engineering magazin...
Sep 05, 2021•49 min•Ep. 38
Jason Sautel entered the fire service at the age of 18 with CAL Fire in Riverside County. Shortly thereafter, he became an Alameda County Paramedic assigned to the city of Oakland and then joined the Oakland Fire Department. He spent 22 years on the frontline as a first responder followed by an additional five years of teaching at a private training center. He now spends his days writing, speaking at events nationally, and podcasting. His first book, The Rescuer: One Firefighter’s Story Of Coura...
Aug 29, 2021•43 min•Ep. 37
Based on their popular FDIC class, Jim Moss and Dan Kerrigan give firefighters and fire departments 11 steps to creating a culture of firefighter fitness and wellness. TOPICS DISCUSSED: Fire department culture change Personal accountability Positive peer pressure Medical and fitness evaluations Physical agility assessments Fire department fitness committees Functional fitness equipment Fitness training/education Firehouse gyms Fitness/wellness policies Incentivization Get their bestselling book ...
Aug 22, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 36
Mike Gagliano has over thirty years of fire/crash/rescue experience with the Seattle Fire Department and the United States Air Force. He retired as the Captain of Ladder 5 and remains a proud member of Fire Station 31. Captain Gagliano has written numerous fire service articles, and is co-author of the bestselling books: Air Management for the Fire Service and the Challenges of the Firefighter Marriage. He is a member of the Fire Engineering/FDIC Advisory Board, Firefighter Air Coalition board m...
Jul 25, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 35
"Credibility is the currency of the fire service." Host Jim Moss shares his thoughts on why credibility is an essential quality of successful firefighters and leaders. Jim shares why credibility is critical at every level, and how every firefighter can build credibility through trust, respect, and example. Jim reads Chapter 12 - Credibility from the Firefighter Success book, and offers some closing thoughts on credibility for the promotional process, as well as how mistakes affect credibility. L...
Jul 18, 2021•17 min•Ep. 34
Jim Silvernail is the fire chief of the Kirkwood Fire Department of St. Louis County, Missouri, and a 25-year veteran of the fire service. He is also a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program and is internationally accredited as a Chief Fire Officer through the Center of Public Safety Excellence. Chief Silvernail is the author of Suburban Fire Tactics and the co-author of Suburban Fire Tactics from the Right Seat. In addition to Suburban Fire Tactics, Jim has written...
Jul 11, 2021•48 min•Ep. 33
Brian Soller has been an active volunteer firefighter for the last 31 years. He currently serves as the assistant chief of the Rock Hill Fire Department and was their fire chief from 2018-2020. Soller also served as chief of the Monticello Fire Department from 2001-2002. Brian is a nationally certified level 2 fire instructor, nationally certified fire officer, an advanced swift water / flood rescue technician and instructor. For the past 17 years has been a New York state fire instructor assign...
Jul 04, 2021•59 min•Ep. 32
Kara Judd is a fire lieutenant in upstate New York. She is also the only female in her fire department and the first to hold a line officer position. Additionally, she is a firefighter/EMT for Clark Burn Center at Upstate Hospital in Syracuse, New York, where her role is outreach and education. Kara is the founder and owner of St. Florian Fitness, where she brings education and awareness to reducing firefighter line-of-duty deaths. It is her passion and mission to help firefighters get healthy a...
Jun 27, 2021•40 min•Ep. 31
Jeremy Sanders has served for 19 years on a suburban career fire department in central Oklahoma where he currently holds the rank of Captain. In 2020 he created Crew 1st Culture and the Crew 1st Culture Podcast in which he shares the importance of the pursuit of daily personal growth. This daily growth has helped him to not only become a better firefighter and officer but also a better dad and husband. He is married with 7 kids and lives on a small farm just outside of Tulsa. Listen to the Crew ...
Jun 20, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 30
Craig Stalowy started his fire service career in the Chicago area in 2004 before eventually moving to Colorado in 2009. He worked for the City of Colorado Springs for 6 years and is currently a Firefighter/Paramedic on a truck company for East Metro Fire Rescue (CO). Joining John Spera and Tom Johnson, Craig became a member of the Fit to Fight Fire team in 2019. He is the primary author of Fit to Fight Fire’s newest book: The Backstep. He has completed the Ironman race and multiple ultramarathon...
Jun 13, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 29
James Geering was born and bred in Bath, England. After moving to the United States in 2002, he began his journey in the fire service, ultimately serving for fourteen years as a firefighter/paramedic on both the East and West Coasts. James started The Behind the Shield Podcast in 2016 after losing multiple first responders to a host of physical and mental health issues. In 2020, James released his book: “One More Light: Life, Death and Humanity Through the Eyes of a Firefighter ” to make even mo...
Jun 06, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 28
Robert C. Owens Sr. is a captain and EMT intermediate with the Henrico County, Virginia Division of Fire. He began his fire service career with the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department and previously served as a career firefighter in Stafford County, Virginia. Owens is a certified Fire Instructor II and Fire Officer IV by the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, and a Mass Casualty Incident Management instructor for the Virginia Office of EMS. He graduated as a member of the Charter Class f...
May 30, 2021•58 min•Ep. 27
Josh Chase is a lieutenant with Norfolk Fire Rescue in Virginia, and is a 15-year veteran of the fire service. He has a passion for leadership and strengthening firefighters to lead at the informal level. Josh is the author of Jump Seat Leadership: The Guide to Informal Leadership in the Fire Service, and also Take the Lead: The Guide to Taking Ownership of Your Life . He currently runs the Jump Seat Leadership Facebook page and teaches informal leadership in the fire service. Josh is also the r...
May 23, 2021•55 min•Ep. 26
101 Rules For Firefighter Success is the Special Report download, available for free at FirefighterSuccessBook.com. It provides readers with a taste of what is inside the pages of the #1 bestselling book: Firefighter Success: 20 C's to Firefighter Excellence. Download the free Special Report at: FirefighterSuccessBook.com
May 16, 2021•13 min•Ep. 25
John Dixon is currently serving as the Chief of Training and Safety in the Teaneck Fire Department in New Jersey and has over 23 years in the fire service. He has earned his Fire Officer (FO) credentials from the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Graduate Grade from the Institution of Fire Engineers, Training Officer credentials from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors, and is a National Fire Academy alumnus. Chief Dixon has a passion for training, mentoring, and inspiring u...
May 09, 2021•49 min•Ep. 24
Cayla Harper is a firefighter/paramedic for the Virginia Beach Fire Department on a heavy rescue, and has been in the fire service for 10 years. She has also been part of an ocean rescue lifesaving service for 14 years. Cayla is certified at the technician level for rope rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue, vehicle rescue and structural collapse, and she is also a hazardous materials technician. Cayla’s mission is to always be better than the day before and to never lean on excuses for ...
May 02, 2021•36 min•Ep. 23
Captain Brendon Trayner started his public safety career 15 years ago, and currently works in the town of Gilbert, Arizona. Brendon is the author of the Amazon #1 Bestseller: Fire Interview - The Storyteller Method. He is passionate about firefighter recruitment as well as assisting firefighters with the promotional process. Brendon is always seeking to find ways to innovate and make the process better. He has also been a recruit training officer, health and fitness instructor, Haz-Mat technicia...
Apr 25, 2021•54 min•Ep. 22
Gary Ludwig currently serves as the Fire Chief of the ISO Class 1 Champaign Fire Department in Illinois and he has 43 years of fire, rescue, and EMS experience. Chief Ludwig started his career with the City of St. Louis at age 18, just two months out of high school. He eventually rose through the ranks and retired as the Chief Paramedic of the St. Louis Fire Department after 25 years of service. He has also served 10 years as Deputy Fire Chief for the Memphis Fire Department, managing EMS and th...
Apr 18, 2021•51 min•Ep. 21
A.B. Turenne is a 22-year veteran of the fire service and currently a career firefighter in Middlesex County, Connecticut. Starting in 2017 at nearly 40 years of age, A.B. made an amazing personal transformation to his health and fitness, losing over 150 pounds. A.B. is also a certified fire instructor II at the eastern Connecticut Fire School and a graduate from the Master of Public Administration program at Anna Maria College. Lastly, he is a contributor to the Fire Engineering Training Commun...
Apr 11, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 20
Chief Aaron Heller is a 37-year veteran of the fire service, beginning his fire service career in 1984. He is a Deputy Chief in the Hamilton, New Jersey Fire Department. He previously served as the Fire Chief for the Hamilton Township Fire District #9. Deputy Chief Heller is a NJ Level 2 instructor, fire official, and EMT. He is a past chief of the New Egypt Volunteer Fire Company and past chairman of the Plumsted Township Board of Fire Commissioners. Chief Heller is a senior instructor with the...
Apr 04, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 19
Forest Reeder is a 43-year veteran of the fire service and is currently the Fire Chief in Tinley Park, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. He has instructed at FDIC for over 20 years and teaches nationally on fire service training, safety, and officer development-related topics. He is a previous recipient of the George D. Post Instructor of the Year award. He is the co-author of Foundations of Instructional Delivery; Fire Instructor 1 and Fire Service Instructor, Principles and Practices . He is ...
Mar 28, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 18
Ryan Rodriquez is a firefighter/paramedic who has been on the job for 15 years. He is the founder, owner, and operator of IGNITEd, a company where he provides public strength training and nutrition coaching services as well as private leadership and teamwork consulting services. Ryan is also in the podcast arena where he writes, produces, and hosts the IGNITEd Firefighter Podcast. On his show he talks about all things fire service related in order to help his audience deal with the mental, physi...
Mar 21, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 17
Devon Wells is a 30-year veteran of the fire service and retired Fire Chief of Hood River Fire and EMS in Oregon. He has been on the Board of Directors of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors since 2008, serving as the President of the organization from 2018 to 2020. Chief Wells is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program, serves on several national advisory boards for conferences, magazines, and college programs and manages the Facebook page the ...
Mar 14, 2021•56 min•Ep. 16
Steve Prziborowski is the author of 101 Tips to Ace Your Promotional Exam. He is a 29-year fire service veteran currently serving as a deputy chief at the Santa Clara County Fire Department in California. He received the 2020 Ronny Jack Coleman Leadership Legacy Award from the Commission on Professional Credentialing/Center for Public Safety Excellence. He was also named the 2008 California Fire Instructor of the year, and has authored three other books on entry-level and promotional fire servic...
Mar 07, 2021•56 min•Ep. 15
Paul Combs is the editorial cartoonist for Fire Engineering Magazine and is the author of three books: Drawn by Fire, Drawn by Fire, Too , and Drawing Lines: The Art of Making a Difference. Paul joined the fire service in 1995, and has been a fire service instructor since 2000. He is a former Lieutenant for the City of Bryan Fire Department in Ohio, retiring in 2019, where he was a Firefighter, EMT, HazMat Technician, and instructor for the City of Bryan Fire Training Academy. Paul is an FDIC pr...
Feb 28, 2021•50 min•Ep. 14
