2013 Year in Review – The Best of The Fire Critic for 2013

On June 7, 2009, I welcomed you all to this blog FireCritic.com.

Today, I welcome you to version 3.0…more on that later. Let’s just say that it is change I have wanted for a long time and the benefits will pay off in the long run.

2013 proved to be better than the last for the web site as well as for me personally and professionally. As far as travel, speaking, fellowship, Brotherhood, and overall growth for FireCritic.com this year was a banner year.

I really want to thank my advertisers for making this year a banner year for enabling me to continue reinvesting into the site. I couldn’t have done it without you…This includes Black Diamond Protective Equipment, Glove Crafters Fire Gloves, Utah Valley University, Crosstitched, and FireVideo.net.

I simply cannot sit here and do a complete rundown of what I did, where I traveled, and the people I met…I would leave out too much accidentally. From FDIC to Firehouse Expo to Captital Region FOOLS to the NFFF Memorial to MSNBC’s “Caught on Camera” to the Country Music Awards…just to name a few. You rarely saw me without Captain Willie Wines Jr. We had an absolute blast this year. 2014 is already set up to be another amazing year.

I think the easiest way to show success for FireCritic.com is to point out that at this same time last year there were merely 16k fans on The Fire Critic Facebook Page. As I write this, there are over 89,000 fans. That is amazing!

Below are some other interesting parts of 2013.

Top Articles for 2013

1. “I’ve Just Got This Car”…Hilarious Music Video of How Cops Really Want to be Firefighters
2. Video: No Firefighter Ever Wants to Be Caught on Camera Doing This at a House Fire…
3. Top Ten 2014 Female Firefighter Calendars
4. LODD – 19 Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots Firefighters Dead in Arizona’s Yarnell Hill Fire
5. Audio: Dispatch Audio Released in Beardstown Fatal Fire Where Family and Mayor are Critical of Response…For Good Reason!
6. Close Call: Dramatic Video as Houston Firefighter is Rescued by Others at House Fire
7. The Fire Truck Christmas Light Show Video
8. Amazing Video: Helicopter Pilot Grabs Water from a Backyard Pool for a Water Drop on Nearby Fire
9. Firefighter & EMS Tattoos – Our Honorable Ink (50 Images)
10. Must See Video: This is Humanity at its Best. A dying child, a distraught father and a tattooed stranger
11. Do You Stop? Today I Drove up on a Bad Wreck on the Interstate
12. Improving Fire Department Morale at the Company Level
13. Prescott, AZ Firefighters Identified: Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew LODD’s
14. LODD – Knotts Island Fire Chief Scott Morrison Dies in the Line of Duty
15. Houston LODD: 4 Houston, TX Firefighters Dead After 5 Alarm Motel Fire. Others Injured
16. Top Ten 2014 Male Firefighter Calendars
17. “Get Off The F$@%ing Radio!”…I think we have all said this at one point in time, just maybe not on camera
18. Cyber Monday Deals for Firefighters & EMS (2014)
19. Top Ten Christmas Gifts For Firefighters List for 2014
20. Video: Despicable Me 2 Firefighting Minions (I think they nailed it!)

Top Referring Web Sites for 2013

not including social media/search sites

1. STATter911.com
2. IronFiremen.com
3. FireEMSBlogs.com
4. FireGeezer.com
5. Reddit.com
6. VAFireNews.com
7. FirefighterNation.com
8. Report on Conditions Blog
9. Backstep Firefighter
10. Call The Cops

Top Readers by Country for 2013

1. United States
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom
4. Australia
5. Germany
6. France
7. Netherlands
8. New Zealand
9. Mexico
10. Belgium

Top Keywords for 2013

1. Fire Critic
2. Moonshiners
3. Granite Mountain Hotshots
4. Climax Virginia
5. Firefighter Tattoos
6. Gifts for Firefighters
7. Fireman Calendar
8. Female Firefighter Calendar
9. Firefighter Monopoly
10. Invisible Fire