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Memorial Weekend
A brick with the names of the three generations will be placed in the Memorial Walk of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. Giving "Generation 1" the certificate
View ArticleUpcoming Radio Show Appearance...
Hosted by Chief Dennis Rubin...... "Please join me for the next "Contemporary Issues in the Fire - Rescue Service on Fire Engineering Blog Radio. We "Go Live" on Monday, November 11, 2013 at 7:30 pm...
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Smoke Detectors and 10 Years: What's So Special?
Great to have the cover story of Connections Magazine in the November edition!Connections Magazine
View ArticleA New Way of Training: Changing How We Think
Just about two weeks ago, I had the great opportunity to discuss fire service training on the Fire Engineering radio show hosted by Chief Dennis Rubin along with Chiefs P.J. Norwood, Jonathan Riffe,...
View ArticleA Throwback Thursday Video
A fire from Chapter 16 of Fire Men: Stories From Three Generations of a Firefighting Family.Pallet Plant Fire
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The Birth of a Legend: The Snorkel
The once common Snorkel long ago became the fire service “Xerox” of articulating platforms. If it bent in the middle, that’s what it was called. One normally thinks of design, particularly of...
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Arson: It ain't like it used to be...
Arson is considered by most, and particularly firefighters, to be a serious crime. Pennsylvania treats it as a first degree felony. Federal sentencing guidelines call for as little as five years in...
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Nice article with a mention of Generation 3
First Responder News-Montgomery County 2nd Alarm in Burtonsville
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From the Hayloft to the Horses: The Birth of the Fire Pole
Getting out of the station fast and first isn’t a new or even recent interest for firefighters. It’s something the brethren have worked on for over a century. In the 1800s, multi-floor stations were...
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The most important six inches on the fire ground...
General James Mattis, USMC (Ret.) would have made one hell of a fire chief if he had so chosen. Revered by fighters from private to four stars and probably disliked as much by those less aggressive,...
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The Origin of the Maltese Cross
Although many fire department tools and symbols still in use have historical origins, the Maltese Cross goes back a bit further than most. Around 1113 AD, a Benedictine Monk founded the Order of...
View ArticleGreat New 5 Star Review for "Fire Men."
"Strike the box" is a term from the not too-distant past, used when fire fighters arrived at the scene of a reported car fire only to discover that it's a house that' on fire, and a full "box...
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Upcoming Novel Mayday! Firefighter Down
More announcements in the upcoming months, but....here is the first shot of the cover of my new book the novel "Mayday! Firefighter Down" tentatively scheduled for release by October of this year. The...
View ArticleGet Out of Your Comfort Zone: More Advice for the New Fire Officer
Comfort zones are a wonderful thing. Avoid yours. One of the most important, and difficult, things to do is get avoid simple acceptance of the status quo. “We’ve always done it that way” are some of...
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Coming soon...Mayday! Firefighter Down
My new novel due for release this fall. Mayday! Firefighter Down is a great read in the genre of Dennis Smith’s Steely Blue and shouldn’t be missed. Ryman kept the firefighter in me interested and...
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Now Available for Pre-Order...Mayday! Firefighter Down
My new novel Mayday! Firefighter Down is now available for pre-order on the publisher's website. It should be out on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in a few weeks. Mayday! Firefighter Down
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Book Signing Event Next Saturday
I'll be signing copies of Mayday! Firefighter Down and Fire Men: Stories From Three Generations of a Firefighting Family on Saturday, November 15th from 2-8PM at Maiolatesi Wine CellarsStop by the...
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The Hidden Button
The young couple lived in the house a week, a month, perhaps a year or more before making the mysterious discovery. Inside the closet door in the master bedroom, carefully concealed, was a white...
View ArticleAn End of Winter Teaser
It’s been an interminable winter, good only for one thing, writing. Work on the sequel to Mayday: Firefighter Down! is coming along, up to around 69,000 words so far. Predicting when a project will...
View ArticleIt Won’t Happen to us…Our Treasurer is Honest Harry
Treasurer arrested, fire company president accused, chief steals funds; the newspaper headlines scream and the citizens of multiple communities sadly shake their heads on a daily basis. Why do these...
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A Writing Update
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything here but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. To the contrary, in the last few months I’ve completed the first draft of Fire In His Bones, which is...
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My Top Ten....
Lists of the top ten this or that have been the rage for years, and fodder for great fun and debate. I decided to add to the noise with a selection of my Top Ten Fire Service reads. This is totally...
View Article"Living The Dream"
The experience of being a live-in firefighter is one that most who have ever done it would not trade for anything. “Living the dream,” it is called by many, particularly those who never had the...
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Fire In His Bones
The newest novel in the Dave Michaels series is now available...Get yours now. Fire In His Bones“Dave, we do a great job in this department with every victim we encounter except one, the one in the...
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