Once our organizations realize that volunteers who are happy at home will be happier, more productive firefighters at the firehouse — we all win.

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 Rescue One and Vice President of the Buffalo Fire Historical Society. More than that, […]

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 world every day. To that end, I thought it appropriate to tie […]

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 and passing down our rich history and traditions. That’s why I […]

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.

It’s been a great, long, hot summer — causing me to take some time away from blogging to spend with my family and friends. Although I haven’t been writing much, I have been doing a lot of reading and observing. And, it’s my observation that the need for effective story telling in the fire service has […]

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 between firefighters. “Storytellers” is an open-format radio show in which listeners are encouraged to call in with their own stories of what brought them […]

Jason Borton is not your typical Run-to-the-Curb kid.  Not only was he a volunteer firefighter, but he wrote a book about it too. In fact he tells a story of how he once ran to — and through — a window to see where the fire trucks were going in his neighborhood. Growing up, he didn’t just visit […]

Despite the fact that I wrote this piece for Fire-Rescue Magazine last year, I’m pretty sure its content is still relevant as we ponder recent and not so recent events during Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/usfa-reminds-you-that…. As I stated in comments to another blog by John Mitchell (www.firedaily.com) titled: “The Charleston 43” (http://www.firefighternation.com/profiles/blogs/the-charleston-43) […]