I’ve often thought that firefighters might make poor employees if they were working at the local Ace Hardware store, business office or factory. In those jobs, you likely know what’s going to happen at work 2 or 3 days ahead of time. For me and many other firefighters, that predictability of what’s going to happen ahead of time would be a killer. The best part of being a firefighter was that you never knew what was going to happen that shift as you drove to work. When I was a county structural firefighter, you might go from an auto accident to a medical call to a fire to a mountain rescue. What fun!!! At least it was for me. And it is for hundreds of thousands of firefighers around the world. But there’s more to the story. If you spent your youth becoming accustomed to the fast pace of fire operations, you start to imagine that anyone who thinks differently than yourself must be weird or somehow “less than”. It’s not them fellow firefighters, it is us. Hope you enjoy this story.

Among older and retired firefighters, I often hear about the “Good ‘Ol Days”. “Why by god… back when we could… bla bla bla.” There are lots of things that were pretty cool about the Good ‘Ol Days. Back then we could ride on the tailboard of a fire engine. That was fun. Of course firefighters died riding back there too. They fell off, got run over, had head injuries, etc. By by god, those were the good old days. I was subjected to some less than professional behavior “back in the good ‘ol days” too. Some things about the good old days really were better. But there is much that I’m glad we left behind. This week, I’ll tell a story about my first controlled burn. I was young and not very experienced, but had the opportunity to try something new. At the time no one I knew was burning in the desert scrub in Arizona to learn from. The nearby Coronado National Forest started their controlled burn program after I started mine.

This story relates how youth and enthusiasm coupled with a little knowledge and experience can accomplish great things… and sometimes be a failure. I would say at the bottom of my balance sheet, my experiences were positive and helped me become an asset as an experienced burner. Over the years I gained more knowledge through agency classes as well as my graduate studies for my Masters Degree. But as in any career, youthful enthusiasm can be a great asset. Hope you enjoy this weeks story and please send comments or suggestions for future stories. Thanks.

Years ago while assigned to a wildland fire, the Operations Section Chief asked me to conduct a burn out operation along a 9 mile stretch of a two lane road in California in order to put out the fire and protect numerous homes. I was successful in the operation but like most things in life, nothing is simple. Personal relationships, past experiences and our professional knowledge all play into the success or failure of any operation. This was especially true in this case. In the end, what had been a very challenging fire with some bleak experiences turned into one of my significant career events. Hope you enjoy listening to this story and get something worthwhile from it. As always, thanks for listening.

In the early 2000s, the Incident Management Team I was a member of was dispatched to a hurricane on the gulf coast. These assignments were always challenging and fascinating to be a part of. I always learned a lot when I responded to a major emergency but this particular one was especially so. There are lessons for all of us in this story no matter what kind of work we do. I hope you find it interesting and educational and as always I appreciate any constructive feedback. Thanks for listening.

This weeks story is about how we might use humor on the job. Often times we have a distorted perception of our own sense of humor. I know for me personally if I was half as funny as I think I am I’d be on late night TV getting the laughs and making big money. When I go back and re-listen to some of the stories here at BobbieOnFire.com I still laugh at the funny ones. Heck, the incident might have happened 30 years ago, I’ve told the story dozens of times but I still laugh at it. At least I enjoy them.

The problem is when you’re working, what kind of humor is appropriate and what is not? In this story I give some insights and perspectives based on my experiences. I hope you get a laugh from hearing some of my examples of what NOT to do. Unfortunately in my life and career, I might have more examples of what not to do as I have what to do.

As always I appreciate any comments and suggestions. Please share BobbeOnFire.com with your friends. Also, please follow all the health recommendations coming out of your state and local agencies. Let’s do all we can to keep our active first responders and medical personnel safe. Thanks.

This week’s story is meant to entertain a little, distract you from our current events a little and also to make you think a little. It takes place in 2001 when I was an Operations Section Chief trainee. My Incident Training Officer had expectations that I wasn’t ready for. Her expectations were correct. Up until that time I just thought about the actual firefighting. The paperwork surrounding it was always just an afterthought to me. She opened my eyes a bit. Not that I ever got good at the paperwork. Years later we worked together often and eventually I was her supervisor. But man… did she make an impression on me. Hope you enjoy the story and share with your friends. Thanks.

In life we don’t always get a second chance. It’s great when we do get that second chance but it doesn’t always happen. Hopefully we learned from an earlier experience and improve the next time. Life is just a series of experiences and opportunities for learning. Sometimes I’m not sure I’ve learned the lesson and maybe that’s why I have to repeat a similar experience over and over. Kind of like Ground Hog day. But in the fire service we use a simple exercise called an After Action Review or AAR. It’s just a simple process where the people involved review what happened and consider what might have been done differently and better the next time. It’s a great way to learn. This is common in the military as well as the fire service. Other groups use the AAR exercise to learn from as well. We would all benefit from conducting group AAR exercises or even just personal ones to improve our performance.

Today’s story is about a time that as a Captain of an engine company I really messed up. But I was fortunate to have an opportunity to learn from my mistakes and get a do-over. I was thinking of how it might be appropriate to think of this story in terms of our current Corona Virus situation. I hope we as a country as well as individually learn how to do better next time. Stay safe everyone and pay attention to the Center for Disease Control and your local officials. The life you save might be that of your firefighters, EMTs and hospital workers. Thanks for listening.

As I write the introduction to today’s story, the United States and really the whole world is captive to the Corona Virus Pandemic Anxiety Syndrome or CVPAS. (I had to make up an acronym since I’ve spent over 40 years working in government.) I’m not suggesting we don’t have anything to be concerned about. On the contrary I believe we had better be listening to the scientists, virologists, epidemiologists and doctors. But even if you’re healthy and have a bathroom full of toilet paper, you might still be anxious. Truth be told, I have a little CVPAS since I’m in the target demographic; I’m a senior citizen now and have questionable lung health due to all these years of breathing smoke and a month of working at Ground Zero (9-11) and breathing all that was in the air down there. But we can’t get crazy about this either. Be smart and listen to the experts.

I chose this week’s topic because it’s just a cute story that I hope lightens your worries. Nothing heavy. No one gets hurt. No one is at risk. Everyone is happy. So take a listen and think about the good things you have in life and be thankful for your blessings. Thanks everyone and leave a comment if you can.

In my career I’ve had some unique experiences. One of them is the number of times I’ve been nearby when a fire has broken out. In a previous story you might have listened to the time I was near a fire start in the city of Sacramento. Well, I’ve had many similar experiences when I was the first person on the scene of a new fire. And if you’re a firefighter who happens to be near the start of a fire, you’re going to find yourself under suspicion of being an arsonist. There’s good reason that we suspect other firefighters. Unfortunately, there have been many firefighters who have been convicted of arson. For this reason, firefighters must be above reproach to protect their own reputation and those of our fellow firefighters. As you listen to the story, keep in mind those times you’ve been accused of something you hadn’t done. Or even more importantly, when you’ve been tempted to talk about someone else. Hope you enjoy the story and please comment and share with your friends.

• PAPEETE, FRENCH POLYNESIA – APRIL 19, 2017 : Polynesian women perform traditional dance in Tahiti Papeete, French Polynesia. Polynesian dances are major tourist attraction of luxury resorts of French Polynesia

Around 2000 I was assigned to a large fire in the northern Sierras as a Division Supervisor. On this particular fire I had multiple 20 person fire crews as well as many fire engines working for me. This story is about one of those fire crews who were from Hawaii. They were a great crew with an outstanding work ethic. But they also were quite comfortable relaxing when it was appropriate too. Their positive outlook and attitude stuck with me all these years later. Please listen and imagine being on the forest fire with this interesting group of men. I thank them for their hard work and for their contagious happy outlook.