Refined By Fire

The much fabled Perv Cast, recorded live at Firemanship Conference PDX 2020, finally sees the light of day!

“It’s worth spending your own money on outside training. It’s worth your time. Why wouldn’t you want to work on yourself?”

Scott Hewlett is a firefighter in Ontario, Canada, with over two decades of experience. Scott is also the host of the excellent Multiple Calls Podcast.

Multiple Calls Podcast

Brampton Fire & Emergency Services Peer Support Facebook

Books:

365 Dao

The Gulag Archipelago

Guns, Germs, and Steel

“I have like fifty things I'm working on right now. And it has nothing to do with, 'I'm better than you'. It has everything to do with me sucking, and just trying to get better."

“You wanna make the job safer? Train more.”

Shannon Stone is a twenty-nine year fire service veteran. After eleven years as a Battalion Chief in Fort Walton Beach, FL, Chief Stone will soon be moving into a Deputy Chief of Operations position at nearby Midway Fire District. Shannon teaches often with County Fire Tactics, is a founder of 850 Fireman, and has presented around the country. Along with with brother, DJ, he’s unveiling an exciting new class called Anatomy of a Rescue at FDIC 2020.

Chief Stone drops an immense amount of thought-provoking and actionable wisdom in this talk. If you ever intend to operate in a leadership position, this episode is for you!

“The convergence of tactical knowledge and construction knowledge determines competency.”

Another joint podcast between RBF and The Built Environment, which can be found on Fire Engineering Blog Talk Radio.

Roof Perv Facebook page

“Hard work fixes everything.”

Brotherhood in Training

Books:

The Combat Position

Extreme Ownership

“You guys are in the middle of it. You're the front lines.”

Dr. Graham Peaslee is a Professor of Experimental Nuclear Physics at University of Notre Dame. His current research project studies the quantity and persistence of PFAs contained in firefighter turnout gear.

Your Turnout Gear and PFOA Facebook

Last Call Foundation

“There’s no advanced-level training. There’s only advanced-level performance.”

Our guest for Episode 14 of Refined By Fire podcast is Jim McCormack of the Indianapolis Fire Department and the founder of Fire Department Training Network.

I have to be real with you guys. I’m kind of freaking out over this one. Jim is a wealth of knowledge with a pedigree as good as any, and he took the time to get deep into the weeds with me in discussions about training and skill acquisition. What an incredible privilege it was to have this talk with Jim, and to be able to share it with everyone.

Links:

FDTN (you should get a membership!)

My Facebook post re: skill acquisition

Emmanuel Fried’s Fireground Tactics

William Clark’s Firefighting Principles and Practices

A remembrance of Jim’s father, “Big Ed” McCormack

“Would you want you rescuing you?”

Episode 13 of Refined By Fire podcast featured Tom Johnson and John Spera of Fit to Fight Fire. Fit to Fight Fire is a website and platform that Tom and John use to motivate and educate firefighters in the realm of training and fitness. Fit to Fight Fire also produces a podcast, Lead Yourself, where this interview can also be found.

Reading links:

The Mission, The Men, and Me by Pete Blaber (Tom)

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (Tom)

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller (Stephen)

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (John)

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This podcast features the song “Spray Paint it Gold”, by Little Glass Men, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

“I’ve always been a big believer that the fire department is there to give people hope.”