Bad behavior, regardless of fun plans and the desire to kiss and make up, must have consequences. To not have consequences invites repeated poor performance.

“Zero defects” is a pretty lofty goal, but in our business, zero defects may be the difference between life and death.

The results of technology can produce wonderful results, and conversely, be misapplied and create major disaster.

If this doesn’t illustrate the live-saving capability of residential sprinklers, I don’t know what else to tell you. You can dry things off after they get wet. You can’t unburn your family or your home.

With the exception of knock-off Rolexes, almost everything must meet specific standards.

If the people we are recruiting can’t even solve the simplest of daily problems, what makes us think that at 0200 with the roof falling in on us that there will be sudden improvement in judgement and reasoning?

I hear about all-hazards response all the time, but do we draw the line at “hazards”, or do we raise the bar a little?

While the supervision of children isn’t that much of a stretch from my real job (supervising firefighters), it does bear discussion here, since it doesn’t seem that all fire officers have the same understanding.

People are individuals, but just the act of watching someone who is engaged, inspiring, transformational, and positive will translate to the subordinates because they can see that this is the expected norm. If coached and mentored correctly, personnel often manage to reach a high bar because they are interested in doing well unless there is a factor which causes them to do otherwise.

It’s that time of the year that we hear the word “presents” often enough to make your ears bleed, so I was wondering if my misuse of the word “presents” got your attention. Apparently it did, or you wouldn’t be reading this now.  Or maybe you didn’t notice.   If you didn’t notice, go and […]

What is our mission in the fire service? How can we go on in our lives without a suitable title for what it is we do?