This audio was compiled from the interviews we did with Frank Martinez. We assembled this to use in a class because of how profound Frank's words are. We are putting it out here on the first anniversary of his passing for that very reason as well.

Cale Hamilton was a self-described mediocre firefighter until a 2010 mayday incident prompted him to explore what it means to be more engaged in firefighting as a profession. Since that time he has become more "plugged in" within the department he works for, but he is still very much a firefighter's firefighter. So he was an obvious choice for us to sit down with and talk about some of the differences between how the firefighter sees the scene and how the chief sees it.

The fire service is a para-military organization. But what does that mean? Are there things the military does that we should be doing? For this episode, we sit down with Lt. Colonel Bill Smith (United States Air Force) to talk about a couple of things that the military does much better than the fire service: professional development and recognizing our own people for their great work.

Our military does an excellent job of setting the path for anyone within their ranks that wants to promote; "here's where you want to be and here's what you've got to do to get there." It's a pretty simple idea, so why do so many fire departments struggle with it? What lessons for the fire service are there in how the military fosters growth with their personnel?

We also speak with Lt. Colonel Bill Smith about the hesitance of most firefighters to accept the recognition for "doing their job." The military does a pretty good job of it. They wear their medals on their Class A's to tell the story of their career; where they served, and what they've done. What lessons are there in that approach for all of us?

Also with us is Capt. Tom Burrell who has known Lt. Colonel Bill Smith for a very long time, and who was instrumental in getting us this opportunity to sit down.

Is there a place for criticism in your fire station? It might seem like a somewhat silly question, and most of those of us who consider ourselves do-ers within our departments might reflexively say "Hell, yes!" But if we dig a little deeper and ask ourselves who gains by criticism, the answer to that question gets a little more muddy.

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is on 3 of 4 of the reading lists on our site. Mr. Carnegie advocates avoiding criticism at all costs. 75% of us like his book enough to recommend it. So how do you recommend a book telling you not to criticize, but also effectively operate around folks that you want to hold accountable? We've got some ideas about reconciling that. Give this episode a listen, sit down with a couple of peers, and then talk about what you all think.

And if you want to criticize us or this episode...email us at [email protected].

If you're a firefighter who thinks this episode sounds like it's going to be boring, then you're exactly who needs to listen to it. It's not a debate on the merits of a 2 1/2 handline, but it might be just as important to your longterm future in the fire service.

We're very aware that most firefighters while at work prefer a computer that is on fire as opposed to reporting on a fire (and they might just let it burn.) None of us signed up to do reports all day. And we here at Combustible have often joked that the firefighter recruitment posters today should show a firefighter hunched over a computer. But while those sentiments about data are born from some very real frustrations, the fact that data is now a part of the fire service is indisputable.

For this episode we sit down with Matt Hinds-Aldrich (NFPA) and Captain Tom Burrell (DeKalb County Fire Rescue) to talk about data; specifically why firefighters need to change how they view data in the fire service. We also talk about how fire rescue departments need to support their personnel with data, how data is shaping the fire service as we speak, and how to avoid when data is used as an enforcement tool.

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Often we start the recorder before we actually start the portion of the discussion we intended to record. Here, there is a little impromptu discussion on ego's role in the fire service.

This is the second part of our two part podcast detailing (our own) Mike Hatcher's involvement in the I-85 bridge collapse. As a result of the truly great job that Atlanta Fire Rescue did that day, a few members of the department were asked to be a part of a delegation of first responders from the incident who were invited to the White House.

It's not exactly a debate on the pros and cons of a 2 1/2, but you can't deny that it isn't everyday one of us gets invited to the White House to meet the President. And regardless of your politics, it's an invitation to the White House to meet the President. You probably aren't going to get one of those in your lifetime, so listen to Hatch.

Sooner or later in your firefighting career, you come across an incident that you really didn't fully anticipate. You find yourself looking at the hellish reality in front of you and think, "Now what?"

On the evening of March 30, 2017, a stockpile of what the DOT called "non-combustible" material caught fire under a large elevated span of Interstate 85 approximately a mile north of the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta. As the fire rapidly unfolded on most Atlanta residents' televisions, those of us not on scene watched as a 100' long, five lane wide section of interstate pancaked to the ground below. One of our regular moderators, Hatch, just happened to have had a front row seat as the incident commander.

For this podcast, we sit down with Hatch and let him walk us through how he ended up on scene, what he was thinking, and how he processed what was going to have to be done.

On this episode we attempt to tackle the very prickly topic of breaking your department's rules for the sake of "doing what we took an oath to do." We're not sure we provide any real answers for our listeners here, but we hope that at the most basic level, we show that the simple act of discussing these topics is beneficial in itself. If a single listener takes something from this podcast and it prompts a kitchen table discussion at the firehouse, well, then we've done our job here. We originally had a guest lined up for this discussion, but that didn't work out. So what you get is a gathering of the usual suspects.

We also take time to answer two listener provided questions.

Every good series has an origins episode. Our origins won't involve altering time or the story, but it may answer some questions about how this whole thing came to be.

Tom Hancock and Keith Schneider are two of MAFFC's founding members and they sit down with us to discuss just what it took to start a firefighter conference, what it takes to keep going, and where we hope the conference will go from here.