Posts Categorized: Brotherhood
Firehouse Expo in Balty!
A perfect opportunity to latch onto an autographed Firegeezer mug, press some flesh with the living legend that is Dave Statter, and check out Firefighter NetCast!
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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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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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Tis’ the Season
One student was D.O.A. and the other seriously injured, requiring extrication and transport to the trauma center by helicopter; while the teenage driver was put through a full set of field sobriety tests, arrested and hand-cuffed in front of his peers.
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Tiger’s Weekly Twitter Updates for 2010-05-09
RT @blackhelmet: Firefighter dies during training http://bit.ly/9yINmC #
RT @FiremanRich: Firehouses looking for volunteers http://bit.ly/bqbxOM #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire #
RT @FiremanRich: Volunteer services host open houses http://bit.ly/aE7…
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@Run-to-the-Curb: Planting a Seed.
It should be no secret by now that I have a passion for story telling, and especially telling of the importance of sharing stories in the fire service as a means of passing down our history, traditions and values.
It's almost an obsession.
It's got…
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The FDIC Experience: Returning Home
For the next four long hours I felt like I was in a scene from "The Terminal" --- the movie about an eastern immigrant stuck living in the airport with nowhere to go and unable to leave because he had no country to return to, and therefore no official citzenship anywhere.
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Live, from Indianapolis, it’s Saturday Morning!
[caption id="attachment_1732" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="ChiefReasonArt, Chris Naum and some other guy at FDIC 2009"][/caption]
Join Snyder NY Chief Tom Merrill and I for a live broadcast from the show floor of FDIC on Saturday-April 24 fr…
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Run-to-the-Curb Kids: Collect the whole set!
Rhett Fleitz at FireCritic.com has compiled one of the greatest collections of firefighter stories in hosting his first edition of the First Due Blog Carnival which asked our brothers and sisters to answer the question: "I am a firefighter because..."
…
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They found their brother.
The body of Donald "Donnie" Adkins, a Glasgow, WV firefighter was located just after noon on Friday, following nearly a week of searching after he was swept away while attempting a water rescue in Raleigh County.
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It was in the cards.
The Evans Center Fire Hall (as we called it) was just down Bennett Road and around the corner on Route 5, maybe a few hundred yards away from my house, as the crow flies. Closer than that was the rear entrance to the sixteen acres of fire company property, directly across the street from our driveway.
Growing up so close to the firehall, it was an obvious choice as a place to hang out with my friends. We played baseball on the ball fields the fire company leased to the Little League for a dollar a year. We helped out at and patronized the carnivals and other fundraising events. When the fire company added on a large banquet hall in 1971, we helped the contractors move supplies and materials. My initials are carved in the concrete sidewalk they poured. I was eight.
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Re-Enlist.
I don’t know if it’s the fact that my father served in the US Army in two wars, my self-inflicted guilt for not serving in the military, or simply my love for country; but over the past several years I’ve experienced a growing appreciation for – OK, almost an infatuation with – our US Military and the men and women who serve in it.
My logical side admires these ordinary people who perform extraordinary missions in defense of our freedom.
My creative side is in love with the marketing machine that is the US Military.
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LIVE: Casting a Net over Recruitment and Retention Challenges
I've been asked by FireCritic and FireDaily to join them as their special guest on this week's edition of Firefighter NetCast.
Naturally, we'll be discussing volunteer recruitment and retention along with an overview of my presentation at FDIC in April and my cover story in the March edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine featuring my online book project: Run-to-the-Curb.com.
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Don’t I Know You?
So much occurred last week that was funny, funnier, downright damn funny, and friggin’ hilarious. Much cannot and should not be shared, if for no other reason than to guarantee future similar escapades in the future. That’s what happens when friends get together- even those who have known each other for a long while, yet have only met for the first time.
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@RuntotheCurb: I remember my first time…
I hung around after drill and talked with two good friends, Dave and Jack. Jack has been a volunteer firefighter on and off over the last 20 years, and with a few different departments. All three of us are within a few years of each other in age but Dave is a probie, and we remind him of that constantly. In fact, we have a pet name for him that I won’t put in writing.
He just joined the department in the last year as a result of the peer pressure we amply applied. The Probie’s gear rack is positioned smack-dab between Jack’s and mine, so we can keep a close eye on him and hopefully keep his rookie blunders to a minimum.
Dave started asking questions about the scenes depicted in some of the photos that hang on the wall outside of our training room.
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If You Had Something Valuable, Would You Share It With Your Crew? You Do! And You Should!
Your tailboard training ideas are pouring in- keep 'em coming! Keep your commitment to training alive during the cold (busy) season. Share the wealth!
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Fire Chief Blogs His Way Through Fire Academy Experience
Not only is he hanging it out on the line for all of his firefighters to see if he's got the right stuff to be considered one of their own, but he's exposing his fire academy laundry for the public to see through his blog. Both take a lot of guts for a 50-year old fire chief and I give him a lot of credit.
It's good reading and contains fire service and life lessons for all of us. Check out "On Scene with Car 1." See for yourself.
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Flight 3407 Responders Recognized for Recovery Efforts
My kids will verify that we rarely swear in front of them. Foul language is unacceptable in our house. My involuntary response to the pager message was: "Holy S***!" Alex immediately sensed something and asked me "What's wrong Dad?"
I said, "I can't believe I'm saying this but... I'm going to a plane crash." I grabbed my laptop backpack and my go-bag for extended deployments and headed out the door.
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Brotherhood this, Brotherhood that, bla bla bla…
FireYesterDaily- Check out this story of how one firefighter decided to put an end to his outstanding 27-year career.
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What is Truly Important
May you all be able to do what is important to you for many many more years to come.
Merry Christmas to you all.
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360 Burn Size-up of The Fire Web 12/22/09
It took a Freedom of Information Act to obtain yet another official report outlining a delay in aerial support of the Station Fire - Chicago's Gold Badge Society - what tool should you use to force this door - all on today's 360 Burn.
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We Are So Eager to be Offended. Well, Get Offended About This.
It will take firefighters that have the cojones to stand up to the tiny minority of bad apples who think it’s OK to spew the hatred that we all should have grown out of so long ago.
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