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Best of the Rest – Boots, I-Stairs, Some Spirituality, Lexington Eng. 8 Close Call, Helmet Cam Video’s, and more!

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Willie is hanging out with Zach and Kelly down in Daytona, Florida this week. As usual, they are having a blast. Unfortunately, I am not with them. I am still in Virginia. This weekend, the family is heading to Richmond (my old stomping ground) for my daughters cheerleading competition. More than likely, Preston and I will be tooling around Richmond looking for some trouble to get into at some point in time.

If you were paying attention to the Fire Critic Facebook Page (nearing 20k fans), you probably notices all of the pictures of firefighters boots. I cannot believe the outpouring of support for our Brother Willie Wines Jr. The reason for the boots was to show support for our Brother in getting back to work. The good news is that he will be back to work soon and is all set to get back with a note from the City Doctor. The even greater news is that he is on vacation for a couple of days and is down in Florida!

You will also notice two new advertisers on FireCritic.com. Both GloveCrafters.com and FireVideo.net (Fire Cam) are advertising with us now. If you get a chance, check them out. Both have excellent products!

I haven’t had the time to put together a “Best of the Rest” post in several weeks. Therefore, there is a ton of links below…and there are even more that I have missed.

There are only a few days left to get the 20% off at FatIvan. They have a brand new product out as well!

Lexington, Kentucky had an apparatus roll on its side due to icy roads today. No firefighters were injured in the accident. Engine Company 8 is located in the Northside of the City. The images were shared by Captain A of Truckie Talk (FB link).

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lexington


Another fire engine was involved in a wreck down in North Carolina today. Check this link for coverage.

Helmet Camera Video: If you haven’t seen the 1st hand POV rescue in Corinth, MS you need to see it right now. FireCritic.com was first on the net with it.

Helmet Camera video: FirefighterNation.com found this helmet camera footage from Maryland. It is a fire on Coles Drive and the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department was on scene.

Captain Wines is getting back into it at IronFiremen.com:

Our Brother Paul Hasenmeier has the following posts for us on First Due Tackle:

Tiger Schmittendorf has a lengthy, but worth reading post about training your replacements, mentors, and a man who meant a lot to Tiger. It also features our Brother Paul!

On the spiritual side… FromWithinTheFire.com has the following new articles:

Dave Statter continues to put the mainstream fire service sites to shame with his rag STATter911.com. He often scoops the other sites first with the most compelling fire service news out there. Here are a few that you shouldn’t have missed:

Green Maltese has one you have got to see…The new I-Stair

I leave you with two videos of a 2nd alarm fire in Cheltenham at the Melrose shopping center.

The first video by NewsWorking, the second by Mike Nester.

 

 

Posted by on January 25, 2013 • Filed under: Best of the Rest, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighting Operations, Fires, News, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Best of the Rest – Working the Job, Quick Drills, New Orleans, CO2 Rescue, and Tiger

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This past weekend, I was in Nashville with my family. My parents live there. We had a great visit. The return trip home wasn’t all that great…we spent about 5 hours parked on Interstate 81 because of Tractor-Trailer accidents. I thought truckers are always complaining about the 4 wheelers. Needless to say, it sucked. My children did great though. We had fuel, food, wifi, an inverter, and 3 computers plus the tablet.

One slight change to this ever changing column “Best of the Rest”…The shoutout will now be one site instead of potentially 3 separate with site/Facebook/Twitter. It will more closely resemble the old “Monday Morning Shoutout. This column is sometimes worked on all week long if I have time. I add to it when I see something neat to share.

As always, we have a blast over at the Fire Critic Facebook page. You should check it out and click “like” to make sure you stay caught up on what we are talking about!

Shoutout – Working The Job

Web Site: Working the Job – “Work the job, don’t let the job work you” written by Jason Jefferies

Facebook: Working the Job

Feature post: The 2012 Lent Challenge. “If I gave up something I hated then the challenge would be easy, for instance, I’d rather lick a boar’s anus than eat salmon patties, so if I gave up salmon patties there would be not hardship.  This year is a doozy….drumroll…….No cussing.” Read it here

Also noted is his post on the North Carolina Breathing Equipment School. Check it out if you are in the area and attend!

uh oh...yeah, a fill in driver backed through the door. The truck my father wanted to show me was at the garage. Apparently there is a 2000 gallon tanker/engine normally there. They run 300 calls a month in the outskirts of Nashville. See the other photos on Facebook by clicking on the photo.

Quick Drills

You can view all of the weekly drills by FirefighterCloseCalls.com here. Try these two at the firehouse this week:

News and Opinion

Willie Wines Jr. (IronFiremen.com) posted several great articles recently:

The Vampire Diaries Taylor Kinney Lands Firefighter Role - Former The Vampire Diaries werewolf, Taylor Kinney, has nabbed a lead role in new firefighter pilot Chicago Fire. Deadline reports that the NBC drama will be “action-driven” and set amongst the men and women of the Chicago Fire Department. The pilot has been penned by Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas with Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Homeland) directing.

Chili Firefighter LODD – RadioReference.com is claiming that “Firefighter Dies in Fire, City of La Granja (6:37 CST)” Read/listen here

STATter911.com – The Saga continues in DC. DCFD firefighters learn more about a Battalion Chief who might get demoted over his discipline of a crew who had beer in the firehouse. The kicker is that the beer was dropped off by a caring citizen. Read more here

I asked for a photo on Facebook and got a ton...This was the first one. New Orleans Fire Dept Creole No. 9 by Dawn Dawson. Click the photo for more of them.

I Never Wanted to be a Firefighter (Blog) – I would have pawned shit for it. The progression or tolerance I would have built up for fire would surely rival crack, heroin, and alcohol. I can see myself, haggard, unshaven, shaking in the cold and dark. Stumbling down the back ally in the worst part of town seeking a fix.
Me. “Hey what do you got?”
Fire Dealer. “I got some good stuff man. I got a three alarm warehouse fire. I got a, apartment fire, on a winter night.” Continue reading here

I asked and I received. The Facebook fans shared a ton of photos when I promted them for one. You can check out some of the other photos on Fire Critic FB. The photo to the right is from Dawn Dawson. View the other images here. Interesting enough, she also shared this link:

Support New Orleans Firefighters

Volunteer Firefighter Killed in New Jersey Car Accident – (non-LODD) David Gulig Jr., an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter, was killed in a New Jersey car accident when the truck he was driving slid on a patch of ice and slammed into a telephone pole.

FireRescue1.com- Firefighters make CO rescues on routine Maine inspection. Firefighters/inspectors Eion Pelletier and Lt. Shawn Esler went to inspect new store, saved 2 ‘who probably were moments from dying’. Continue reading

Tiger Schmittendorf – Tiger weighs in on a recent post by FireGeezer about Recruitment videos. Word is that he read it over lunch…must have been a long article! Read it here: Video Killed the Recruitment Star

Brotherhood Cuts – We are open for business. This is a very cool event that is kicking off on March 10th in North Carolina.Read more about it here. Brotherhood Cuts is an initiative to support the National Firefighters Endowment. Myself and Willie Wines Jr. are looking forward to more events in the future!

Posted by on February 21, 2012 • Filed under: Best of the Rest, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Firefighter Netcast Celebrates 100th Show Live Thursday Night!

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Thursday May 5th, John and I will celebrate our 100th show on Firefighter Netcast live at 9pm.

The direct link to the show is here

What is Firefighter Netcast?

Firefighter Netcast is the leading edge in podcasting and live netcasts for the fire service today. When we began in January 2010, there was one other show “Burning it Down” run by the guys behind The Bravest Online. Unfortunately they closed the door on their live podcast and left us all alone…until recently.

Nowadays there are other options for live fire service podcasting…but lets be clear that we are often imitated but never duplicated!

While we still have a lot to learn, we have continued to broaden our reach, fine tune our delivery, and offer the best fire service podcasting available.

You might ask why you can’t listen in every night to Firefighter Netcast…the answer is because these things take time. Our hosts have to create the shows and the content has to be rich. If we were running shows every night, our content would be watered down and we would begin repeating ourselves. In addition to all of that, we have families and careers.

Firefighter Netcast - Facebook – Twitter – Itunes - Blog Talk Radio

Who is Firefighter Netcast?

Firefighter Netcast is comprised of many hosts (and a couple more to be added soon). Firefighter Netcast is run by John Mitchell and myself.

Our shows and hosts include:

We will be joined very shortly with host Doug Cline as well.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the tremendous assistance that Willie Wines Jr. has been to Firefighter Netcast. He has helped us out so much and we are very grateful!

We have also done work for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation at Conferences and the NFFF Memorial Weekend. We produce FireHero Radio for the NFFF as well.

But the most important aspect of Who we are is our listeners! We enjoy the live listeners who chat in the chatroom as well as the majority of our listeners who catch up with us on our web site, facebook, twitter, and most importantly itunes!

I must say that I have had a blast since January 2010 when we got started. I have enjoyed all of the people I have met, the ones I have yet to meet, and the places I have been!

In case anyone is counting, we HAVE had more than 100 podcasts, but this is our 100th live netcast! In addition to the live netcasts, we have recorded dozens of other shows at conferences and other places!

Thanks for making Firefighter Netcast the BEST fire service podcast!

Thanks for the memories!

Posted by on May 5, 2011 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, NetCast, News, Podcast, Social Media, Technology & Communications, technology-communications-ems-topics, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FDIC Recap Part II – The People You Surround Yourself With

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This article is going to ramble…I warn you now. It is also not going to be in any particular order of appearance.

I think there is a saying that goes something like…Your character shows in who you surround yourself with. I can say that I am a better person because of the friends that I have. Below are some of them.

More about my trip to FDIC here:

 name dropping turned on…

I was able to bump into, hang out with, and drink some beers with several of the FireEMSBlogs.com group including: John Mitchell (FireDaily.com), Mike Ward (FossilMedic on FireGeezer.com), Jason Hoevelmann (FirefightersEnemy.com), Tiger Schmittendorf (TigerSchmittendorf.com), Dave Statter (STATter911.com), April Saling (PinkWarmDry.com), Chris Kaiser (LifeUnderTheLights.com), Bill Carey (Backstepfirefighter.com), Michael Smith (BoronExtrication.com), Nate DeMarse Chris Collier and others (BrotherhoodInstructors.com), Christopher Naum (CommandSafety.com and TheCompanyOfficer.com), and Willie Wines Jr. (IronFiremen.com). All of them were at the Meetup at Indy on Friday night hosted by Fire Rescue Magazine, FireFighterNation.com, and FireEMSBlogs.com.

Kevin Shea and Willie Wines Jr.

On a side note: I also bumped into Art “Chief Reason” Goodrich at FDIC. He still has a blog on FireEMSBlogs.com but doesn’t update it anymore. You can now find him at FireEngineering.com. He seems to be enjoying himself! He wasn’t at the meetup…he apparently doesn’t hang with us anymore…

I got to meet with several companies both during FDIC and since. Several of which I hope to be doing product reviews for very soon! If you are looking for having a product review for your product, check out more information here. I spoke with Major Mack of The Bowring today on the phone. They are sending me their product to review shortly. There’s was one of the busier boothes at FDIC. I think the product looks like a potential tool that years from now will be a staple in “What’s in Your Pockets” discussions!

I also have more of a review coming for Foxfire soon!

Black Diamond Footwear will be sending me their brand new X2 boot to review soon as well. You might remember my review of their X boot here and here.

I uploaded a bunch of pictures from FDIC here and from the NFFF/FDIC 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb here.

Me and Clayton Kovats

I met the Fire Service Warrior Chris Brennan. He recently had his book published and it was available at FDIC this year. Chris’ name was a buzz word this FDIC…he has a unique perspective of the fire service which goes against the grain of some. This young author is certainly making people take a look. His has some similarities to myself (in my view) that are good and bad…He is young, outspoken, and doesn’t mind telling you what he thinks. I look for a lot more from this guy!

I got to eat lunch and a dinner with Josh Creamer of No Ambition But One. Our time was not ideal for him and I to chat too much because Tiger always has to be the center of everything…the only thing he doesn’t have a handle on is eating his meal…

I once again met up with brothers Robby and Danny Owens of Average Jake Firefighter.

I met Eddie Crombie of Hooks-Irons.com. I also hung out with the author (not sure if he is anonymous or not) of  Too Late to Stop, too Early to Quit!!

I finally got to meet John Broyles!

I spent some time with “The Nick’s” of FDLiveIn.com and Hyattsville VFD. These guys are a lot of fun…and I could not hang with them out until all hours of the morning…wait til Baltimore guys! I won’t have as much on my plate there!

Mike Ward, Bill Carey, Chris Brennan and myself hold court at the floor of FDIC

I got to see Martin Grube of FireRescueTv.com once again this year. It is always a pleasure and he is just so damn nice…he helped settle me in at the classroom ready room when I was preparing to teach my class. He is the coordinator of this area and has been helping FDIC for many years.

I got to meet Kevin Shea. That was pretty cool. The only problem is that I took a pic of Willie and him and didn’t get my photo taken with him. Kevin has a group on the Fire Engineering Community for you hunters out there titled “Off Duty with Kevin Shea. Check it out here.

As always, it is fun hanging out with friends! I enjoyed dinner and more with the guys/gals from Go Forward Media team, Fire Rescue Magazine, and Elsevier teams like Dave Iannone, Chris Hebert, Jeff Berend, Bill Carey, Paul Andrews, Tim Sendelbach, Shannon, Janelle, Cindy, Mary, and others.

I also got to hang out/meet/say hello to Doug Cline, Diane Feldman, Bobby Halton, Frank Ricci, P.J. Norwood, Billy Goldfeder, and Doc Multrup.

name dropping turned off…

I am sure I left plenty of great people off the list. I might have hit on them in other articles about FDIC. Willie and I bumped into people all week long everywhere we went who knew of our sites and recognized Willie. It was a ton of fun and I cannot wait for Fire Rescue International and Firehouse Expo this year!

Posted by on March 30, 2011 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Unwinding at the Meetup at Indy

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Last night, I joined many other friends at the meetup at Indy. The meetup was hosted by Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation, and FireEMSBlogs.com and sponsored by ISI and Black Helmet Apparel.

It is always fun hanging out with friends and meeting new ones.

There were definitly some highlights of the evening, and I will include that in a future post on the event. Don’t worry, I have hundreds of pictures to choose from!

Today is the last day at FDIC. There are a lot of ideas being thrown around, we will see what the future holds!

Posted by on March 26, 2011 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Gearing up for FDIC…The Fire Critic Offers Social Media Training

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I will be teaching a class on Social Media for the Fire Service at FDIC this year. I am excited for my first teaching engagement in a venue as large as FDIC…does it get any bigger? I have many friends teaching at FDIC as well. I will write about their classes in the near future.

The class is titled “Social Media: The Fire Service’s Next Big Innovation”

Thursday, March 24, 2011
1:30 PM-3:15 PM
Room 134-135

Here is the teaser:

Social Media: The Fire Service’s Next Big Innovation
Lieutenant Rhett Fleitz, Roanoke (VA) Fire-EMS Department
Learn the “in’s and out’s” of social media for the fire service. Many questions about these media (blogs, twitter, facebook, MySpace, YouTube, skype, podcasting, text messaging, and so on) will be answered. Learn to be proactive by developing a social media standard operating procedure. Become acquainted with some of the ways departments are using these media for recruitment, retention, informing journalists and citizens, and publishing news. The benefits and potential consequences for personal use of these media by employees are also discussed. ALL LEVELS

Although that teaser only scratches the surface of the information I will share!

Who should attend? Anyone interested in social media, blogging, and branding their department online. Administrators who want to learn about social media, get examples of social media policies, as well as firefighters who want to brand their companies and departments. There will be information for all levels!

I am still working on the presentation. Since social media changes every day and new ideas, tools, and applications are created every day this is an ongoing project.

If you have a social media policy you would like to share or think your Fire Department excels in the use of social media please contact me. I am always looking for examples to share.

I will also be at the Fire Rescue Magazine booth 4244 set up with Firefighter Netcast. John and I will be recording live netcasts while we are there similarly to last year!

I don’t know what else I will get into while at FDIC, but I am certain that we will have fun! Willie Wines Jr. (IronFiremen.com) will be travelling with me once again!

John and I had a blast with FDIC last year. The event was the first major show for Firefighter Netcast. Since then, we have recorded almost 100 shows. We don’t have a solid schedule yet, but we are expecting to record some podcasts for Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Naum, Doug Cline, Billy Hayes, Dave Statter for FireHero Radio, and much more.

Below are some of the shows we recorded at FDIC 2010:

  • Chief Ron Siarnicki- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation – This special NetCast was taped live on Friday, April 23, from the floor at FDIC 2010 in Indianapolis. Firefighter NetCast is very excited to have a chance to present Chief Ron Siarnicki to our audience.
  • EMS Two Dot Oh – On Friday, April 23, Firefighter NetCast had a visit from a couple of leaders in the concept of EMS 2.0. Justin Schorr is an urban firefighter/paramedic in San Francisco and hosts The Happy Medic. Accompanying Justin is Chris Kaiser, a rural firefighter/paramedic in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
  • Firefighter Storytime! Chief Tom Merrill, Snyder (NY) Fire Dept. – From the floor of FDIC 2010 on Saturday, April 24, our final NetCast from the exhibit floor featured two special guests from Erie County, New York. We began our series “Firefighter Storytellers” with author, presenter, instructor, emergency manager and leader in the emergency services community Tiger Schmittendorf.
  • From Blue Shirt to Bugle – The Most Difficult Transition in Your Career - This show featuring Billy Goldfeder and Ray Gayk was originally aired as a live netcast from the exhibit floor of FDIC. John and Rhett enjoy discussion about what to do and what not to do when you get promoted. This is great training for you or your company. Listen in at the firehouse!
  • Challenges on the Modern Fireground – We were eager to turn over one of our shows to the fine folks from FireRescue Magazine, who graciously hosted Firefighter NetCast at their booth along with Firefighter Nation at FDIC.  Without their assistance, our live programming from the exhibit hall would not have been possible.
  • Changes in Building Construction and Fire Behavior – John and Rhett are joined with Chris Naum to discuss Changes in Building Construction and Fire Behavior. Chris is a a fire service leader in the field of building construction and fire behavior. Chris addresses the need to re-visit these core subject areas to bring us up to speed with the many changes facing us today.
  • Distribution of Photos and Videos Taken by Firefighters at Work – John and Rhett discuss legal issues surrounding photographs and videos taken while on duty with Fred Simon. Some of the information will astound you about who owns the material!

I will also be teaching the same class at Kean University in New Jersey (dates below):

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - Somerset County Emergency Services Training Academy
402 Roycefield Rd Hillsborough, NJ 08844

Thursday, April 21, 2011 - Middlesex County Fire Academy
1001 Fire Academy Dr Sayreville, NJ 08872

These will be more in depth 5+ hour classes on social media in the fire service. For more information check out KeanFireSafety.com. However, I don’t believe the classes are posted yet.

Posted by on February 16, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, News, Technology & Communications, technology-communications-ems-topics, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

LODD – Firefighter Jarrett Eleam of the Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company Dies After Training

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Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company Firefighter Jarrett Eleam, 26, passed away Wednesday. He fell ill during training with his fire company on Monday night.

Eleam, who graduated from Erie County’s Firefighter I Boot Camp class this past summer, died at Mercy hospital in Buffalo.

Jarrett is a graduate of Duquesne University and member of Delta Sigma Pi Fraternity

His arrangements are being planned.

More coverage:

The Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company is located centrally in the Town of Hamburg, just south of Buffalo, New York. As one of nine fire companies serving the 49 square miles of the Town of Hamburg, the Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company boasts a central location and high call volume.

FC Note: This LODD has not been ruled a LODD by the USFA at the time of this posting

Posted by on January 13, 2011 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Firefighter Netcast Live tonight at 9pm with Retired Buffalo Lt. Pat Coghlan

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Join Tiger Schmittendorf live tonight on Firefighter Storytellers on Firefighter Netcast.

Visit Firefighter Netcast online here

The direct link for the show is here

If you have never listened in to a show on Firefighter Netcast you should check it out! You can even call in and share your stories!

Tiger’s 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, Patty is a real character with a bit of a crusty exterior — but when you peel that away — you find a big guy with an even bigger heart and a very special fondness for telling stories and preserving the rich history of the fire service.

Posted by on December 8, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, NetCast, News, Podcast, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

In Retrospect…The FireEMSBlogs.com Meetup

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The FireEMSBlogs.com meetup was a huge success. The event was hosted by Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation, and FireEMSBlogs.com. The event was also sponsored by Black Helmet and Black Diamond Boots.

My time at FDIC was a blast. We managed to pack the week full of friends, fun, and work (Firefighter Netcast). The people I have met through this blog, twitter, facebook, etc. will stay with me for a long time. Our occasional chance to meet is always fun!

L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Justin Schorr, John Mitchell, Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey

L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Tiger Schmittendorf, John Mitchell, Justin Schorr, Chris Hebert, Mike Ward (if you look close between Chris and Dave in the back), Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey

Whether it be through commenting on each others blogs, following each other on twitter, being friends on facebook, or any other of the many social mediums we stay connected. We know when each other are having a bad day, working, having a birthday, or whatever.

There may not be an exact core of the fire/EMS interwebs, but it grows daily. Mostly it is championed by several leaders. And yes, the Fire and the EMS interwebs are connected. The leaders are not self proclaimed or “formal” leaders. They might not even realize they are leaders. However, they have a following and stay connected to others through social media. These leaders have “tribes” or followers and the various tribes are interconnected as well. I would name a few but I would probably leave out many. The point isn’t the leaders, but the followers. Most of the leaders are followers in other tribes and so on… You get the point.

We all have a stake in this and we are all working towards the same goal…connecting.

One way of connecting is by meeting up. One of those meetups was held this past weekend at FDIC.

The night began with a get together for several of the bloggers. Consider it some down time for the guys/gals to network before the crowd arrived.

I had a great time meeting and talking to everyone!

I was honored to be asked to announce the winners of the raffle items. There were Black Helmet Hats, $100 gift certificates to Black Helmet Apparel, Firefighter Monopoly, and a pair of Black Diamond Boots given away.

A lot of thanks from John and myself to Chris, Dave, Bill, Paul, Jeff, Tim, Shannon, Olga, and everyone else!

All in all it was a huge success… I will give the rest via photos of the night!

Here is an overhead shot of the crowd! It was a great time!
Here is an overhead shot of the crowd! It was a great time!
L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Justin Schorr, John Mitchell, Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey
L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Justin Schorr, John Mitchell, Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey

Some guys I met...I told them I wouldn't remember their names but that I would post the picture!!! I am a man of my word!
Some guys I met...I told them I wouldn't remember their names but that I would post the picture!!! I am a man of my word!
The same booth babes from Black Diamond Boots who were hounding me apparently were also into the owner of BD! I knew it was too good to be true!
The same booth babes from Black Diamond Boots who were hounding me apparently were also into the owner of BD! I knew it was too good to be true!

James from Black Helmet Apparel and firefighter Carrie McAtee (not one of Black Helmet's models as we previously posted...but she could be!!!)
James from Black Helmet Apparel and firefighter Carrie McAtee (not one of Black Helmet's models as we previously posted...but she could be!!!)
An anonymous blogger behind Justin Schorr, Chris Kaiser, April Saling, and ?
An anonymous blogger behind Justin Schorr, Chris Kaiser, April Saling, and ?

Rhett Fleitz, Susan (@SusanABI), and Peter Kirk from SaintGobainOneSuit
Rhett Fleitz, Susan (@SusanABI), and Peter Kirk from SaintGobainOneSuit
Mike Ward, John Mitchell, Chris Kaiser, Tiger Schmittendorf, Justin Schorr, and Dave Iannone (in the back)
Mike Ward, John Mitchell, Chris Kaiser, Tiger Schmittendorf, Justin Schorr, and Dave Iannone (in the back)

Here is the fun pic...I was never in drama in high school. Actually I was taking the photo.
Here is the fun pic...I was never in drama in high school. Actually I was taking the photo.
This is the entire crew of bloggers, Fire Rescue Magazine, FireEMSBlogs.com, and more! I will not even attempt to identify everyone.
This is the entire crew of bloggers, Fire Rescue Magazine, FireEMSBlogs.com, and more! I will not even attempt to identify everyone.

Chris Hebert, Tiger Schmittendorf, Art Goodrich, John Mitchell, Bill Carey
Chris Hebert, Tiger Schmittendorf, Art Goodrich, John Mitchell, Bill Carey
Tiger Schmittendorf, Rhett Fleitz (in the back), Shelly Wilcoxon, John Mitchell. Tiger and John are sporting the Black Helmet hats they won!
Tiger Schmittendorf, Rhett Fleitz (in the back), Shelly Wilcoxon, John Mitchell. Tiger and John are sporting the Black Helmet hats they won!


Posted by on April 30, 2010 • Filed under: Must Read, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FDIC in Retrospect…Great Time, Great People, Great Netcasts

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I managed to attend FDIC this year for the first time. I was there in the official capacity as co-host of Firefighter Netcast along with John Mitchell (FireDaily.com). I was also there representing The Fire Critic and many other projects I am in.

I must state first and foremost…

Tim Sendelbach, Shannon Pieper, and Paul Andrews at the Fire Rescue Magazine Booth

Tim Sendelbach, Shannon Pieper, and Paul Andrews at the Fire Rescue Magazine Booth

A sincere thanks to Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation, and FireEMSBlogs.com for sharing their booth with Firefighter Netcast. Special thanks to Dave Iannone, Chris Hebert, Tim Sendelbach, and Jeff Berend as well as the rest of the crews of the aforementioned companies. The hospitality, networking, assistance, and conversation was very much appreciated!

Firefighter Netcast made its debut at FDIC pulling off 2 live netcasts from the show floor as well as around 10 hours of total audio. The first live netcast featured Ray Gayk and Billy Goldfeder and the second with Tiger Schmittendorf and Tom Merrill. We had to scratch on the live netcast with Ron Siarnicki and Cathy Hedrick on Friday, although we did tape the podcast. The netcasts are online and the other audio will be presented as podcasts and should be published on FirefighterNetcast.com once we complete editing this week.

The rundown of the week…

Rhett Fleitz, @Fire_Captain (twitter), Chris Kaiser, Justin Schorr, and John Mitchell

Rhett Fleitz, Jason Quimbly aka @Fire_Captain (twitter), Chris Kaiser, Justin Schorr, and John Mitchell

The hijinx began with John picking me up at the airport…. This guy is like my wife (not always right, but never wrong). We get a long well and it only took a little while for me to piss him off! Then again, and again, and again!

We had lunch with Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, and Bill Carey and enjoyed the company. These guys are a riot to hang out with unless you get Bill riled up and he starts yelling!

John and I picked Tiger up at the airport where the real fun began. John and I were both meeting him for the first time. If you were in the truck with us, you would think we had known each other for years (years I will continue to try to get back).

Tiger’s wife couldn’t understand how he would just get off a plane and into a vehicle with people he has never met. That is how we are. We wondered the same thing… especially with us! We were going to take him to dinner at Chucky Cheese! That would have sealed the deal!

Rhett Fleitz, Ron Siarnicki, Cathy Hedrick, and John Mitchell

Rhett Fleitz, Ron Siarnicki, Cathy Hedrick, and John Mitchell

We also met up with Fred Simon (FirstResponderLiablility.com). He is a lawyer and a firefighter! Our first show on Thursday was with him and we plan on having more commentary with Fred in the future!

Just to show how well we get along with others… I ended up sharing my room with Fred for two nights. He had intentions of commuting back and forth to Louisville, but I wouldn’t have it. Fred is a great guy and we had a great time hanging out with him!

John and I had a very busy show. As a matter of fact, we were so busy that we only had a little bit of time to get around to many other exhibitors at the show. I never did make it over to the Lucas Oil Stadium to see all of the apparatus. That was a bummer.

Rhett Fleitz (The Fire Critic) poses with the booth babes at Black Diamond Boots!

Rhett Fleitz (The Fire Critic) poses with the booth babes at Black Diamond Boots!

As I said before, I did make it to one spot and these booth babes hounded me to have their picture taken with me! What can I say… The Fire Critic is on the up and up!

Sorry I wasn’t able to get around to taking a ton of photos with the babes…work had to be done.

However, you can check out the following links for more pictures and information on our time at FDIC!

Justin Schorr (The Happy Medic) and Chris Kaiser (Life Under The Lights) met up with us and became part of the entourage that is many of the bloggers, followers, and twitter friends of FireEMSBlogs.com blogs.

Chris McCorkle (BlackJack Holder) and Rhett Fleitz

Chris McCorkle (BlackJack Holder) and Rhett Fleitz

I also got to meet and hang out with Chief Reason Art Goodrich (ChiefReasonArt.com). To me, this guy is somewhat of a Fire Service Legend. He is one of those guys who emboddied the great things about Firehouse.com forums, then a creator (If I am not mistaken) of IACOJ, then on to Firefighter Nation, and finally culminating with his own blog. Art is a GREAT guy! He is opinionated and sticks to his guns. He is very articulate with his comments and his depth of knowledge shines through when he talks. You would think this guy has an entire research team that provides him with a thesis before he opens his mouth… It is that good! Many thanks to Art for snapping a lot of the photos we got at our booth!

The team at Fire Rescue Magazine was very helpful with Firefighter Netcast. I am not sure they understood what it is we were planning on doing, but they seemed to be impressed with our delivery!

Brandon Roark and Rhett Fleitz

Brandon Roark and Rhett Fleitz

I got to meet up with a ton of guys who stopped by to see me and what we were doing as well. Some of these guys I have known through the internet for years. Guys like Brandon Roark (South Bend Indiana), Jason Quimbly (@Fire_Captain on twitter), Robbie and Danny Owens (Henrico Division of Fire, VA), Some guys who know me via VAFireNews.com from Portsmouth, Chris McCorkle of BlackJack Holder, Martin Grube (FireRescueTV.com), David Furtado (The Battalion), and many others.

I was able meet up with Jason Hoevelmann (FirefightersEnemy.com), who presented his class and actually had to turn people away it was so packed. Jason will be a future guest on our show!

Tiger Schmittendorf took John and I to the ISFSI party and I got to meet Dan Shaw and Nick Martin (Traditions Training). We recently had them on Firefighter Netcast and enjoyed meeting them in person!

At the ISFSI party, I got to meet Billy Goldfeder for the first time as well as Christopher Naum (CommandSafety.com and TheCompanyOfficer.com). Chris was a guest of our show on Friday and has been on our show as a caller in the past. I spoke with Doug Cline who will be presenting in my area in September.

The Wild Beaver...Our office in the late night!

The Wild Beaver...Our office in the late night!

Our late evenings were spent at the Wild Beaver. The Wild Beaver is kinda like a Coyote Ugly and was packed with firefighters! Plenty of networking and drinking went on there!

If you are in Indianapolis, the best steaks we had were at St. Elmo’s and Harry and Izzy’s.

Not to worry, if your name doesn’t appear in this post it will in the future. I still have to do a post on the FireEMSBlogs.com meetup! That will be coming soon!

Then we will have several posts up here and at Firefighter Netcast on the netcasting and podcasting that was done! Come back often to check it out! There are also a ton of other photos to share!

Posted by on April 26, 2010 • Filed under: NetCast, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday Morning Shoutout – Run to the Curb

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This weeks Monday Morning Shoutout goes to Run to the Curb. Run to the Curb is the brainchild of Tiger Schmittendorf’s and is fitting for many reasons.

We just saw the first published episode of the First Due Blog Carnival right here on Fire Critic. The theme “I am a firefighter because…” sparked much story telling which is what Run to the Curb is all about.

Tiger also joined us on the past two Firefighter Netcast episodes to talk about two different topics which encompassed Run to the Curb and other topics Tiger is passionate about.

There are some great stories on Run to the Curb already and look for more in the future. Be sure to send Tiger your story to share.

I just realized on Saturday how great it is be able to share stories from the old guys whom I have had a pleasure to know. Many new guys don’t get to meet them or listen to the stories.

Go now and visit Run to the Curb! I believe we have gone full circle on this topic now!

run to the curb

Posted by on March 29, 2010 • Filed under: Monday Morning Shoutout, News • Tagged: , , , , ,