For the next week, today (Monday January 23, 2012) through next Monday (January 30, 2012) Zach will donate 50% of all online sales of MN8 FoxFire products to the Rescue 2 MAYDAY fund!

This is the second shield I had made by Box Alarm Leather. The first one, I wear on my new leather helmet at the firehouse. I am not sure exactly which helmet I will be putting this one on, but it is the one I will be traveling with for sure! I just can't see wearing this one out the door every day on the engine. Who would want to mess up something this nice?

In all the hustle and bustle of our lives, getting children to and from school events, sporting events, the parents events they (the children) get to enjoy a wave from a firefighter in a big red fire truck! Your fire apparatus IS red isn't it?

Dallas fire and police were called to the scene of a vehicle, parked in a parking lot, with dogs apparently in the trunk. The firefighters forced entry to the trunk to find two yorkshire terriers. The temperature was 61 degrees. The call came in from two brothers who were concerned when they heard the barking coming from a car parked. The owners were celebrating a birthday.

Here is some humor for you...perfect timing since I have been posting serious stuff recently. Enjoy... A funny skit about a police officer showing up first at a structure fire. Warning: Language...and no offense intended towards America's Finest. Just the Bravest having some fun...

Best of the Rest - Rescuing Myself, Fat Firefighters, FF Certification, Kenny Hendrick Memorial, 2 House Blog, Complacency Kills, Quick Drills, and much more!

To what do we owe the men who founded our department? The honor, respect, dignity, integrity, pride, tradition, loyalty, and brotherhood that created it? Why am I sitting here almost 125 years after the first fire department in Roanoke was created seeking ways to bring back the best of what it has been? What has been lost? Where can we find it?

150 firefighters from 14 are fire companies are battling the stubborn fire. The flames are working their way through the large series of connected buildings that once housed the Firth mill company of Cornwall.

Low morale, bad attitudes, lacking leadership, loss of traditions, lack of pride, no honor, too little integrity, loss of camaraderie, too little respect, no discipline...I could go on. Hopefully the building blocks are still there and I can help salvage the hull of what is a great fire department.

Here is a decent video showing a complicated, involved, and presumably very well choreographed rescue of a woman and her two daughters. The three family members were rescued. The driver of the semi died in the collision. The incident happened in Buellton, California.