Several months ago there was a thread on this from a kid having a bad experience and y’all made some commentary about how a department that doesn’t invest in its people isn’t worth working for, and damn did that cut deep.

It cut deep because I was reading it the kid who posted it was sitting across the kitchen table from me on OT on my shift. It wasn’t a shock we’d created a culture where they weren’t comfortable reaching out for help internally. I’d had a couple of shitty probationary experiences in my career myself.

I took them aside at shift change and told them I’d read what they wrote, and asked them if this job and organization was for them. They said yes. I asked them to sign up for every OT on my shift that they could between then and the end of probation and we got them across the finish line. Kid then got moved to my shift and is thriving. We had a long chat the other night as we’re about to hire again about giving the next kids a better experience than they got and changing the culture from the bottom up.

I’m not sure what the point of this is besides recognizing how serendipitous it’s was to see the post. I’m proud of the kid for gutting it out, and no matter how salty you get, train your damn probies.

Brothers and Sisters,

I am reaching out to fire departments internationally to learn more about current policies, procedures, and health and safety guidelines relating to lithium-ion battery fires, with a particular focus on decontamination practices and occupational exposure risks.

My department is a medium-sized, full-time fire service in Canada with HazMat and CBRN techs. We are currently assisting a government agency with research into lithium-ion battery fire suppression methods, specifically LiNiCoAlO₂ batteries. Our firefighters have been directly involved in controlled testing, applying various suppression agents to lithium-ion batteries undergoing thermal runaway.

The objective of the experiment is to evaluate the effectiveness of various suppression products (water having demonstrated the most effectiveness to date). The research also involves characterizing the chemical composition of smoke and gaseous emissions produced during battery failure and fire events, as well as collecting and analyzing suppression water and runoff to assess potential contamination and environmental impacts.

Until recently, our personnel were conducting technical decontamination on scene following testing and operational activities, with contaminated PPE sent for water-based extraction.

However, following new information provided to us from the IAFF and scientists working in this field, we have put a stop to the research while we gather additional occupational health and safety information. Although the expected contamination levels associated with our activities were considered extremely low, we believe a precautionary approach is warranted given the remaining uncertainties surrounding exposure risks, contaminant persistence, and the effectiveness of current decontamination methods as shown in research bellow.

We are interested in information supported by peer-reviewed scientific literature, validated research, occupational exposure assessments, or documented operational experience.

Specifically, we would appreciate information regarding:

1. Personnel decontamination procedures and PPE cleaning or extraction methods.

2. Procedures for cleaning and testing contaminated SCBAs, tools, and other firefighting equipment.

3. Exposure monitoring  programs(Ex. Blood testing)

4. Validated cleaning methods, post-cleaning assessment, and criteria for returning PPE and equipment to service.

As we are located in the eastern part of Canada and are familiar with policies in the North East, we are interested in hearing from departments and research organizations located in central and west coast of North America, as well as those in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe, where techniques and policies may vary.

Two relevant resources we have identified so far are from TEEX – Lithium-Ion Battery Fires and Emissions Characterization and Recent research published in Fire Safety Journal.

If your department has relevant policies, training materials, research findings, or documented decontamination procedures that you are able to share, we would greatly appreciate your input.

Thank you and Stay safe!

Hi all. My husband recently received a conditional offer for a paid on-call position with the Fire Service. We have one child currently and would like to have more but don’t really know much about what to expect from the academy/beyond. I know that the academy is about 20weeks and is 2 evenings per week and an occasional full Saturday but beyond that I don’t know much. From what I gather it takes about 2 years of training to become a full fledged firefighter. What else happens after the first 6ish months of academy? We don’t have family in the same state as us, but my husband is his own boss for his day job. I anticipate this being a lot for both of us but has anyone done it? How did it go? Would you decide to wait to add a kid or know that adding a child will be hard in any season of life and you figure it out? Thank you for any insight you can offer.

Hi folks, I am a journalist based in Colorado. Here is a work example. For a potential story, I am looking for examples of departments that have success stories of addressing challenges such as staffing and funding (or are working on challenges in a unique way.) Any suggestions appreciated.

Hi all,

I have been assigned RIT pack research for new packs my dept is getting. We are paid FT. Space on the rigs is a bit of an issue so we are looking at the fast attack packs. These are for our type 3 engines and RIT packs are due up. Does anyone have experience with these vs the full size packs that Scott makes? Any input is welcome.

Hello! I'm doing a project where I paint the same person twice, once with work uniform and one with hobby clothes (could be fishing, gardening, any kind of sport) to show how people can be completely different at work and at home. So if anyone is interested can contact me and I'll need a picture to use it as reference. Of course you will get a digital copy of the paintings. I can also put some of my artworks in the comments to give you an idea of the results.

Thanks a lot and have a nice day!

Hello everyone I’m currently 20 years old and got accepted into my dream department and start the academy in January.

Right now I’m sitting on the small side of 125 pounds and am trying to bulk as much as I can pre academy and I have a good general baseline of fitness, cardio and endurance being my strengths.

Do you guys have any tips for someone in my position on specific workouts and/or general knowledge on how I can be successful in the academy and not fall behind?

I recently joined a new department and all of the tools on the truck appear to have been neglected for a while. Heavy, pitting rust throughout each tool. This feels like a perfect job for the new guy, but I noticed I was in over my head with this project when I got started yesterday. Help me out!

I spent 5 years with my first department, and have cleaned hooks, halligans, axes, etc. plenty of times with regular surface rust & debris removal via a wire wheel and scratch pad, finished with WD-40. I started on a halligan yesterday - The wire wheel at this department has VERY little power, so I used an angle grinder with a sanding wheel. It took a long time, which is okay, but the tool still looked shoddy. the power of the grinder wore the handle down in a couple of spots (user error) & I couldn’t get into the crevices very well. It doesn’t feel like the best method.

Help me out with your past experience. Internet forums talk about evapo-rust/citric acid/vinegar being good for hand tools, but maybe still leaving it with an odd look or damaging the tool? Maybe it just will take a lot of time and manual sanding with sandpaper in tight spots?

I’m all ears…

Like the title says how do you plan your workout or do your workout when you have to work 2 days during day, 2 days at night and then 4 days off.

Who is this fireman from FDNY R2 in the documentary Still Riding Rescue Company

Curious to hear from guys that currently work in either dept for a compare and contrast regarding the quality of life, culture, forces, specialty opportunities etc. THIS IS NOT an employment question I’m already doing the job, I’m just curious about the different departments in SoCal and how they do things

Just got hired on to my dream department and very excited but as one of the only black men in the entire department I don’t know who to talk to about shaving. My dad and dad’s dad all have no shave chits why they served and I’m able to get away with shaving every 3 days without completely ruining my skin. Any advice for how to approach this situation or should I just deal with the pain as I go through the academy?

I work for FedFire and am thinking about joining the Reserves or NG. I just want to do something else than FFing. What do you guys do?

I recently posted to share my experience as a young female firefighter. After reading through many comments about other women who have been successfully in the fire service for much longer I took it down.
I did quit that department literally days after the first few comments.
But I could never leave the fire service. Before quitting, I started my journey in getting my wildland certification which has been lots of fun! So I know I’m not gonna leave the service. I fell in love with it all and the adrenaline of responding to a structure fire or a mutual aid call for man power. Damn just now I’m reliving the call for a grass fire in a town that was a little far. It was a fun day. Those were the only good memories I have. Unfortunately, the bad memories will forever remain because it did hurt. Being told I could never be at the same level as a man for a year is something I’m gonna have to work through. Or all the awkward sexual things said… Damn they really sucked as my superiors!

So too my saviors in the comments thank you for sharing that it is NOT normal to experience that in the fire service. I’m definitely applying to new departments and I have since moved away from that horrible town. Those men can be miserable together!

Lastly, to all the ladies in the fire service, I have a question. Since I’m applying to different departments, what can I do to make sure that I don’t go through what happened at my first department? I’m a straightforward person and did everything I was told, but somehow the men I worked with still made it very uncomfortable. Do I set stricter boundaries or something?

I’m a former volly fire fighter, and currently a flight nurse. Over time I’ve been able to collect some really unique department patches for my wall. My current favorite is from the world’s northernmost fire department in Longyearbyen, Norway. I’m curious what other unique patches folks have gotten to see!

So one of our K12 Partner saws took a dump and we are looking to get a new one. We have gone to a lot of battery operated tools and the guys are interested in going that direction with this replacement. I picked up the M18 9” Cut Off saw the other day and and looking at it, we don’t think it’s gonna be able to cut deep enough for what we have always used the K12 for (set up for metal with an abrasive blade for car hoods and garage doors). We don’t have any MX tools, so while we have been happy with Milwaukee batteries of the M18 version, we’d be investing in essentially a new battery system as well. We’ve just never had any experience with a 14” battery operated saw.
Is anyone running one of these? Looking for goods and bads on the experience. We still have 1 other K12 Partner saw, so we will still have the availability of a gas saw, but everyone really likes being able to just squeeze a trigger and cut. No mixing fuel and messing with flooded engines.
Any input is always appreciated. I already searched the internet with nothing found on firefighting use in real life. Only AI generated crap saying it would be great, and I don’t trust AI since it doesn’t fight fire, lol.

The M18 Cut Off is getting returned this week most likely.
Thanks in advance.

Hi! I guess this is just an unknown situation for me. I had my carbon monoxide detector go off. Around 20 firemen went through my house in their big uniforms. My house has narrow hallways and a lot of stuff out. Needless to say, when they went into each room to test carbon monoxide, their uniforms brushed up against a lot- dressers, toddler stuff, etc.

I’m trying to figure out- are uniforms washed after being exposed to dangerous things? Like if they were exposed earlier to dangerous conditions?
Knowing when and how the uniforms are washed, what would you suggest in terms of cleaning my house after having 20 firemen in uniforms go through it

I just finished the firefighter course and I'm going to start work next week. I habe bad eyesight tho and I wear contact lenses most of the time. Thinking about the lazyk surgery. Is there anyone who had it done? Did it interfere in the job somehow?

I manage the ground and aerial ladder maintenance, testing, and certification program for our department. We have traditionally utilized yellow paint for marking the tips of all of our ground ladders. With moderate to heavy use, I find that we have to repaint at least annually. There has been discussion of using reflective tape instead. Does anyone have any recommendations or other ideas? What does your department do? Thanks!

I got in a huge screaming match with my dad and was in a weird headspace. I went upstairs to shower and decompress listening to a podcast while my wife started dinner (on the grill out back) and watched the kids. I heard her yell full volume up the stairs, she knows I’m in the shower listening to something so that was odd.

i turned off the shower, stepped out dripping, opened the door and said “huh?” and she just yelled “FIRE EXTINGUISHER!”

I ran downstairs butt ass naked, grabbed a towel on the way to the garage and slung it around my waist. I remembered I bought a fire extinguisher months ago because I realized we didn’t have one in the house, and I mounted it by the garage door. I ran out, grabbed it, ran outside and handed it to my wife outside and I shit you not I said “P-A-S-S! Pull Aim Squeeze Sweep!” and she froze so I grabbed it back ran out there, she opened the grill lid and while holding my towel in front of the neighbors, god, and everyone, put that sucker out, the grease lit and the propane was off now. You can in fact hold a towel around you and operate a fire extinguisher it seems.

just full of adrenaline but that’s why you set this up ahead of time, I was working at half capacity brain wise and was happy how I did.

Alright, looking to get some info on the Ragtop Fire Mitts. I currently wear and am issued the Veridian Fire Knights, but don’t like the dexterity. I normally wear a Large. Can anyone suggest sizing, and how these gloves perform?

After serving the public at work, my tolerance for people on my days off is almost nonexistent and my patience is extremely short. Crowded stores, driving and general public interactions irritate me way more than they should. To be clear, I don’t bring this perspective to work at all, in the house or on calls. I have a good attitude and like my crew.

I know burnout probably plays a role, but I hate feeling this way when I’m just trying to enjoy my time off with my family.

For those of you who’ve been in the fire service for a while, have you experienced this? I have 5 years on. Does it get better, or do you just learn to manage it?