Origins

I’d like to take a few minutes to discuss how and why I began writing as well as the meaning behind the name of the page.  First and foremost I am by no means some salty old fireman with 3,000 fires under my belt.  In fact, I am quite the opposite.  I have been in the business both career and volunteer for about a decade.  I work for a medium sized, mostly suburban department.   I have been to a few fires over the years but my resume is nowhere near as extensive as some of the other pages out there.  I say that because I don’t think you need to have 3,000 fires to understand the job or speak about it.  All you need to have is desire, heart, knowledge, and the ability to learn from others in order to make a difference.  So after a little help from a fellow brother I decided to take the plunge and begin this adventure hoping to gain and share information to improve myself and anyone who takes the time to read my page.

The name of the page has two meanings.  First I will discuss the more obvious meaning.  When we are summoned for a structure fire, more times than not the “fire” is “inside” the structure.  I am a firm believer that that best means for controlling a structure fire is to put a well trained crew with the appropriate sized hose line, pumped at the appropriate pressure, inside the building as fast as possible.  This does not mean I am against defensive operations or “transitional” operations.  What it means is I feel that the best option is aggressive, interior operations.  Is this possible at every fire?  Absolutely not.  However, I think the fire service as a whole has gotten away from such tactics under the guise of safety and science and quite frankly it is time we get back do doing what we signed on to do.

The second meaning is more on the personal front and that is the passion that I have inside of me for this job.  I love the fire service, always have and always will.   I was that kid that grew up chasing the engines down the road when they caught a job.  I was the kid that was glued to the window when the station siren sounded hoping to grab a glance of the rigs as they raced down the road.  I am also one of the fortunate adults who get to do what I have always dreamed of for a career.  I am passionate about this job and by no means do I feel that is something that I should apologize for.  I am tired of hearing things like train less, get a hobby, slow down, etc.  Screw that, there is nothing wrong with being excited and into the job and I am tired of hearing a passion for our craft being used as a negative.  So hopefully my page can serve as a safe haven for others who share this passion to share their thoughts and experiences which will allow all of us to grow.

I thank everyone who takes the time to read my thoughts and encourage anyone passing through to share theirs as well.  I dream of this page turning into something that will help other young, passionate, rising officers in developing themselves into future leaders of the fire service.