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Firefighters are called upon to do many things. Similarly, each fire department and fire district has to function as an all-hazards response agency, and will be expected to handle whatever [...]

The number of methamphetamine labs and chemical suicides is on the rise in this country. Both involve extremely dangerous chemicals, as well as often unstable and dangerous people. These often-overlooked [...]

Natural gas leaks that result in explosions are a real and present danger in the fire service. Most municipal jurisdictions dispatch several units for an alarm of 'smell of natural [...]

On Jan. 12, 2015 the Sacramento, CA, Fire Department (SFD) responded to a single-family dwelling fire. While operating at this fire, three firefighters from SFD Engine Company 6 experienced a [...]

Once upon a time, the conventional way of fighting fire was passing buckets of water by an endless ribbon of untrained civilians. However, this method could not prevent entire cities [...]

According to the county's official website, Sedgwick County was originally a camping ground of the Osage and Wichita tribes, later explored by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and Christopher Houston 'Kit' [...]

DR. DENIS ONIEAL was appointed superintendent of the National Fire Academy (NFA) in Emmitsburg, MD, in 1995. He completed a bachelor of science degree from New Jersey City University in [...]

While a very practical and efficient fire service tool, the topic of rope for firefighters has been met with a broad range of acceptance (and resistance) within the ranks. However, [...]

HIGHER EDUCATION Leadership in extreme contexts, such as those experienced by wildland and urban firefighters, represents an area deserving of formal study given events such as 9/11, the wildfire in [...]

On Dec. 2, 2012, a four-alarm fire Destroyed the historic Michillinda Lodge Along the shore of Lake Michigan near White-Lake In Muskegon County, MI. The first call to the Fire [...]

Welcome back and thank you for your commitment to the development of a proud history and tradition of aggressive strategy. (You are committed, right?) This article formalizes what has been [...]

Keeping a fire confined to its room, floor, building or neighborhood of origin is a critical objective of every incident commander. Anticipating how a fire can spread from one area [...]

Lessons learned from the Rim Fire After completing a two-week assignment as part of the Incident Management Team (IMT) assigned to the 255,000-plus-acre, third-largest fire in California history, the Rim [...]

Firefighters arriving at a burning building know their first priority is to knock down the visible flames. Yet experienced firefighters know that when those flames are extinguished, the job isn't [...]

The city of Ocala is 80 miles north of Orlando, in north-central Florida. Ocala is situated so that many highways transect through the city, including U.S. Routes 27, 301 and [...]

Fire apparatus and emergency equipment must respond in extreme heat, bitter cold, flooding, dusty conditions, over pothole-filled roads--you name it, it's got to be able to get there. Firefighters and [...]

This is the final installment of a three-part series about ethanol and reviews hazards and firefighter response procedures for ethanol emergencies in transportation and at fixed facilities. Emergency responded have [...]

As you look around society today, it gets more and more difficult to find principle-based leaders. Passing the buck is commonplace as everyone points the finger at someone else. Society [...]

Like all fire and rescue services protecting a major city, London Fire Brigade has many years of experience in dealing with the pressures and challenges of major events. In the [...]

Today's fire stations serve not only as efficient command centers but also as homes for the firefighters, 24/7. Firefighters' ability to protect their citizens is directly influenced by the quality [...]

Flooding incidents have been and will continue to be a topic of much discussion by many agencies until such time that the government make a final decision on whether the [...]

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service's John Wilson, Exercise Director, describes the 'Day Return' major multi-agency incident exercise which took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, followed by reviews from each [...]

As we have seen abundantly in mine disasters in West Virginia and Kentucky, as well as a two-week mine rescue in Australia and several large life-loss mine disasters in China, [...]

No community wants to experience a wildfire, but wildfires are inevitable. They are a natural part of our ecosystem. In areas out west, like our community in Arizona, it has [...]

Firefighters are ready to fight fires every day. They work hard to keep people and pets safe. What do firefighters need to do their job well? FIRE! FIRE! Firefighters need [...]

Like most of my fellow officers, I love the challenge of arriving first-due at a fire. Nothing gets me going like pulling up on a building with flames and heavy [...]

Just before noon on October 21, 2003, a fire broke out in the practice range at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego County, CA. As the threat to […]

The 19th Battlefield Coordination Detachment (BCD) is 'on point' in Central Command's (CENTCOM's) area of responsibility (AOR) and is integrated at the top of the joint effects hierarchy at the [...]

Firefighters, utility workers and other emergency rescue workers must safeguard themselves from electrical hazards. Downed power lines are one of the major causes of injuries and deaths. The job calls for key cooperation between the emergency personnel and the utility workers.

So, your fire department is buying a new piece of apparatus. You will probably want to form a committee because that is usually the first step. Committees seem to be [...]

The topic of leadership has been thoroughly researched and examined throughout history. Researchers have studied the relationship between leadership and a variety of factors, attempting to draw conclusions on the [...]

It's no secret that the economy is in a slump. I am sure this is not a surprise to any fire department in the United States. Furthermore, I predict that [...]

They Initiate It! The old leadership philosophy was that if you wanted to be a great leader, you had to accept change. The new leadership philosophy is that great leaders [...]

THE LOW FIRE DEATHS THAT WERE achieved in England in the last year were not the result of short-term measures to achieve a political result on the part of any [...]

IT IS A COMMON ENOUGH TALE, WORSE in winter but occurring throughout the year and always with the same result: an elderly person in their 70s, 80s or 90s overcome [...]

In 2007, the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System annual report identified situation awareness (SA) as the leading factor in firefighter near-miss events. In studying National Institute for Occupational Safety and [...]

Younger volunteer firefighters don't have to have all of the fun. If you're getting signals that it's time to step back and hand the nozzle over to a younger member, [...]

EDITOR'S NOTE: This fictional account is based on a true story. Today, firefighters around the world remember Ed Pulaski not only as the legendary hero of the "Big Blowup of […]

As the fire service has evolved, so have our tools to deliver the primary extinguishing agent, water, to the seat of the fire. What was once delivered with a smooth-bore [...]

The phrase 'the hood' is slang for a place where people live. The expression is a variation of a simple concept. As we divide our communities into different segments and [...]