Renaissance Rising
The Culture of Extinguishment
If you look up the definition of renaissance you’ll find it means “a revival or renewed interest in something, a rebirth of old ways” I’m here to tell you that’s exactly what is happening in today’s fire service. The motivation for this article came from The Journeyman Fire Conference I had just attended. Over a three-day period firefighters from across the country and Canada came to be with like-minded highly motivated individuals whose message was basically that interior firefighting is not dead, that our primary mission is still relevant as ever and we’re tired of sitting idly by while the degradation of true grit in the fire service erodes away one apprehensive article at a time. Make no mistake there is a silent majority rising up in the ranks of the trade. Its more evident with every new fire conference. Its an unbridled ambition never before seen by those who were sold gimmicks, scare rhetoric and who were persecuted for their convictions by those who never had the intestinal fortitude in the first place.
Additionally the science and studies are fantastic and if anything validated those of us in the street.
We were taught aggressive was a bad word. We were wrong to put ourselves first but yet needed better customer service. Roofs were all going to collapse under us and when someone’s house was on fire that they probably had insurance so don’t go in if nobodies trapped. It was that scare rhetoric which spawned an underground of firemanship. For over a decade many sat quietly gaining experience waiting for the right time. Meanwhile EMS came to the forefront, missions creeped HAZMAT, RIT training and bailout overshadowed the basics while our live fire training became less and less realistic. We were called reckless, dangerous or against change when in reality we were the most ambitious, motivated ones in our agencies. Naturally, many took jobs in busy urban departments doing everything they’ve been previously taught to avoid while seeing first hand the life saving benefits of those “reckless” tactics.
Today’s youngest generation of firefighters don’t have to sit through hours of “Everyone Goes Home” training addressing the 100 firefighters we kill every year being too aggressive. That a culture of safety is the answer and the taxpayers always come second to us. The voices calling for a cultural change aren’t nearly as loud as before. Data has won the day and the street kept us honest. Today’s audiences want intuitive knowledge and facts not rhetoric or opinions. The information at their fingertips is infinite. Millennials don’t want to hear about percentages or numbers they want wisdom, insight and tips they can’t find on a smart phone. Conversely those with the most information are those with the least amount of actual fire experience in a time when experience is at an all time premium. It will be those with it who will have the most influence.
The pendulum swung in the wrong direction far too long and now its our time to set the mission back on track. Those of us who were indoctrinated early in our careers with agendas of change by the apprehensive are now the ones filling the auditoriums. Timid minds are silenced with bold actions and that’s the type of behavior by those out front. You’re going to start seeing more and more classes and conferences focused on getting the strategy back inside the building on fire. Whether it’s the 1st line, 2nd line, search, ladders or overhaul. You can only talk about the “modern fire environment” for so long until you realize we’ve been in it for 30 years. Additionally the science and studies are fantastic and if anything validated those of us in the street. The culture of extinguishment is not only alive and well but gaining momentum. With the shift towards interior tactics comes a need for interior knowledge. In an environment that has become foreign for some it is even more important now than ever to pass on what we’ve learned from those before us. The knowledge skills and abilities honed during the war years are now being reborn and adapted for today’s fire ground.
We were taught aggressive was a bad word. We were wrong to put ourselves first…
With the proliferation of social media connecting 1.2 million firefighters, agendas are being discredited and gimmicks called out. Our youngest members have so much information at their fingertips they’re drowning in it… yet starved for more. For every ludicrous article written from behind a desk… there are twenty more being penned by those actually doing the work. It’s easy to be led astray in today’s fire service by sub par text books and initiatives claiming to be “next new thing”. But fear not. Because when in doubt look to the street, it never lies. It’s that notion fueling whats on the horizon which is a movement by those with the most passionate unrelenting desire to pass on the basics of firemanship
