These guys have what I call “the drive”… they want the job so bad they can almost taste it and have kept themselves in good shape and a positive mental attitude.

We’ve got good companies and good people in this county, no matter what patch is on their shoulder.

If we continue to advance an agenda that any action that is unsafe is unacceptable, we will pigeonhole our nation’s fire departments into a position where doing their job, what the public expects us to do, is unacceptable.

Are you this kind of firefighter? We hope not.

We have to get our act together to break this vicious cycle, or there will not be an American Fire Service to pass on to the next generation of firefighters.

How many times do we have to shoot ourselves in the foot with “bullets of negativity” until we realize that it hurts?

These basics are so simple, even a caveman could follow them.

An enlightening look at the makeup of our fire service.

“You think I am brave because I carry a gun; well, your fathers are much braver because they carry responsibility, for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers.” Charles Bronson as O’Reilly in “The Magnificent Seven”

“We are disinclined to acquiesce to your request.”