Firefighter Wisdom

Tradition should live in our pictures, parades, and patches not our procedures, practices, or PPE.

“A leader without followers is just a man taking a walk” -Abraham Lincoln

Union and civil service rules can often be the bane of high achievers

What saved you yesterday can kill you today if conditions change.

Leadership is a responsibility to do more, not an excuse to do less.

You’ll be criticized if you do everything by the book, and you’ll be criticized if you take shortcuts. But only one of those habits pays off when things go sideways.

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To err is human. To worry about those errors is compassion. To take action to prevent those errors in the future is professionalism.

You need luck on this job, but skill is more important. Luck runs out, skill does not.

One of the most offensive statements that an officer can have said about them: “He’s going to get someone hurt.” It characterizes carelessness, ignorance, or indifference.

The actions and decisions in the first 5 minutes of any incident often determines the success or failure of that operation.

If a chemical name ends in -ate, -ite, or -ide, avoid putting water on it. Most of these salts will react violently or give off toxic byproducts when mixed with water.

If you don’t have a tool in your hand and an SCBA on your back, you aren’t a firefighter; you’re a well informed bystander in expensive clothes.

Professionalism isn’t always apparent from radio traffic, but inexperience always is.

Men can never be managed into battle, they must be led.

A firefighter sees a viable victim rescue as a win. A fire prevention officer sees it as a loss.

You can’t expect your firefighters to be nice and courteous to citizens if the leadership isn’t nice and courteous to the firefighters.

If you provide a new firefighter with inadequate training, you don’t just short them but also every person they train in the future.

It takes only one harrowing experience to clarify the distinction between minimum practical knowledge and proficiency.

It's hard to save poor early decisions with good late decisions.

“The most improper job of any man, even saints, is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.” -J.R.R. Tolkien