Posts Categorized: All Blogs
Joining Forces
From our sister site: FireRECRUITER.com
What started out as a vision for a successful joint recruitment project has morphed into a passion to connect firefighters and soldiers of all stripes.
Based on the concept that we're looking for the same peo…
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My Friend. My Brother. Denny Allen.
UPDATE: Eulogy for my friend Denny Allen
With both pain and peace in my heart, I was there with my friend, my brother, Chief Dennis Allen when he took his last breath earlier this morning.
Dennis fought a long and tough fight against pulmonary fibrosis…
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@FireRECRUITER: Rise to the challenge
An article recently posted to FirefighterNation.com outlines the challenges faced by volunteer fire departments in Pennsylvania in recruiting and retaining their members. Although these types of articles are becoming all too frequent, this one in particu…
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Tremendous Loss of a Talented Storyteller
Although I never had the opportunity to meet or speak with the man, I was "in his presence" on a few short occasions and was always impressed by his talented writing abilities.
Today we mourn the loss of fire service and news world l…
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Impact of the Digital Age on Recruitment and Retention
The world is changing rapidly and the fire service is getting caught up in the tornado effect of technology on our society.
More and more fire departments are smartly using web sites, e-mail and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to …
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Going Forward in the Fire Service
I am often reluctant to write about commercial business ventures in my blogs and other platforms as I am sensitive to the trusted relationship between a writer and their readers, and leary about self-promotion. Thus I have delayed writing this post for q…
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Void Space
Firefighter, officer, chief—these are the titles of the jobs we sign up for. But just like “bingo chairman,” “corresponding secretary” or “roads and grounds committee member,”
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Black Diamond X2s to the Rescue
There was about a foot or so of snow on the ground when we got to the house where the fire was reported. The lieutenant wheeled the engine into the driveway and we observed some light smoke coming out of the second story on the 'D' side…
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X-Box Live
That's right!
"From the X-Box to the Box Alarm: Motivating and Leading Today's Firefighters" is back by popular demand at FDIC 2011. I hope to see you in Indianapolis March 22-26, 2011. Look me up if you plan on attending and look for my presentatio…
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Not just a Daddy’s Girl
Her Dad was a fire lieutenant and her two youngest brothers (twins) joined as cadets, then volunteers and eventually became career firefighters.
But when Janet Wilmoth tried to join her local volunteer fire department, the fire chief told her to “Go…
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Bunk-in or just “bunk”?
The concept of fire station live-ins or bunk-ins, depending on what you call them, has been around for quite some time and with quite a bit of success.
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@FireRECRUITER: Are you flush or flushing?
As I do with much in life, I take new experiences and new information and compare it to other aspects of my life in emergency services. Whenever it's the least bit relevant - I try to apply it to the business I love: the fire service.
Such was the cas…
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Not Your Typical “Truckie”
Glenn Usdin was a Run-to-the-Curb kid, growing up in the Long Island New York fire service and rising to the rank of fire chief in Lancaster PA. Like many in the fire service, his career path has taken him in several different directions including a tenu…
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A December to Forget?
Given recent events and all the heartache they've brought, I'm not sure that December is a month to remember but instead, it's one we'd like to forget.
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It’s that time of year.
Once our organizations realize that volunteers who are happy at home will be happier, more productive firefighters at the firehouse -- we all win.
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Christmas Characters
Join me at 9pm on Wednesday-December 8th as I host my Firefighter Storytellers radio show live from the Buffalo Fire Historical Society.
My guest will be retired Lt. Patrick Coghlan from the Buffalo Fire Department. Pat is a 34-year veteran of Rescu…
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Paying Tribute
Today marks the 235th birthday of the United States Marine Corps and tomorrow is Veterans Day. What a great time to celebrate the contributions and sacrifices made by our military service men and women who protect our lives and our freedom around the wor…
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Every Firefighter Has a Story.
It should be no secret by now that I'm big on this whole concept of storytelling in the fire service.
In fact, I'm pretty sure that storytelling has never been more imporant than it is now as a way of sharing our experiences, perpetuating our values…
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My Flag
The next time I look at that flag, it could be a tangled mess – or it could be flowing freely in the breeze. It's different every time I look at it. That’s the beauty of my flag.
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Run-to-the-Curb Radio: Chief Tim Sendelbach
It’s like “Run-to-the-Curb Radio” — but better!
“Firefighter Storytellers” is a natural outgrowth from my popular “Run to the Curb” series — as it offers a radio show designed simply to facilitate kitchen table type discussions bet…
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Run-to-the-Curb Kid: Dr. Jason Borton
[caption id="attachment_1837" align="alignleft" width="202" caption="Dr. Jason Borton: Emergency Room Doctor, Author, Volunteer Firefighter, Run-to-the-Curb kid."][/caption]
Jason Borton is not your typical Run-to-the-Curb kid. Not only was he a vo…
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Get Fit. Get Safe. Make It Personal.
[caption id="attachment_1745" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="My Three-Part Risk Management Plan: Alex, Laurie and Kathleen"][/caption]
Despite the fact that I wrote this piece for Fire-Rescue Magazine last year, I'm pretty sure its content is …
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My Summer Acceleration Theory
Calcium Anthropologists Warn of Effects of Summer Acceleration
Unconfirmed fiction by: Tige R. Schmittendorf
Originally posted: September 6, 2009
Editor's Note: I know it's Labor Day. I should have warned you sooner...
One day while taking a requ…
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Raising a flag about lowering THE FLAG!
It's after Memorial Day-2010 and I've been working on this blog for about a week, in hopes of having it finished prior to the start of the holiday weekend but life got in the way and that didn't happen.
In retrospect, I'm glad I procrastinated. I'm gl…
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Run-to-the-Curb is Top Story
[caption id="attachment_1811" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="That's me with Past Chief John Latimore, one of my best friends in the fire service and the neighborhood I grew up in."][/caption]
It's been more than a month since my presentati…
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