The Cool Fireman Podcast

“I’m not mad.”
“I’ve got a question.”
“We have enough people.”
“We’ve got a truck available.”

If you've spent any time in the firehouse, you already know those statements can have a whole different meaning depending on which side of the bugles you're standing on.

This week, Brian and Adam introduce the Firehouse Translation Guide.

Brian gives us the chief officer version, while Adam translates it into what the firefighters on the floor are actually hearing. With more than 20 years in the fire service each, the two quickly get into budgets, staffing, reserve apparatus, chain of command, ego, accountability, recognition, and the things firefighters wish their chiefs understood.  Pasted text

But the episode becomes more than just chiefs vs. firefighters.

How do we communicate across rank?

Can a firefighter disagree with a chief without being disrespectful?

Do chiefs actually want your opinion?

And how much damage can be caused simply by saying the right thing the wrong way?

As Brian puts it, sometimes you have to put yourself on the other side of the table. Tone, attitude, and perspective all matter.  Pasted text

The guys also discuss why communication plays such a huge role in department culture and retention. If we can learn to actually talk to each other and work through problems, we create departments where firefighters genuinely want to stay.  Pasted text

🔥 DROP IT IN THE COMMENTS:
What is something your chief says that needs to be added to the Firehouse Translation Guide?

And chiefs… what do firefighters say that needs a translation of its own?

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#Firefighter #FireService #FireLeadership

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Why do we love being firefighters?

For all the conversations about staffing, schedules, leadership, cancer prevention, mental health, and everything the fire service could do better, sometimes it's worth remembering why we chose this job in the first place.

Matt, Doug, and Adam sit down for a positive conversation about what still makes the fire service the greatest job in the world. From helping someone on the worst day of their life to the excitement of never knowing what the next call will bring, they talk about the moments that keep them coming back.  Pasted text

Matt shares the story of a cardiac-arrest patient who regained a pulse after multiple shocks—and what it was like seeing him alive and talking in the ICU a week later. Adam talks about the pride that comes from interacting with the public, while Doug explains why hearing from former patients after they've recovered can mean so much.  Pasted text

The conversation also turns to something every firefighter understands: the crew can make or break the job. A busy station, sleepless nights, and a tough assignment become a whole lot better when you're surrounded by people you genuinely enjoy working with.  Pasted text

And, because it's The Cool Fireman Podcast, a positive episode somehow turns into a discussion about communication between chief officers and the floor. The guys talk about recognition, rumors, chain of command, open-door leadership, "Coffee with the Chief," department newsletters, and why keeping firefighters informed can eliminate a lot of unnecessary speculation.  Pasted text  Pasted text

At the end of the day, there will always be hard calls and dark days—but there are a whole lot more good ones.

Lean on your crew. Enjoy the ride. And remember why you started.

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Does the fire service have an ego problem?

Matt, Brian, and Adam get into the difference between confidence and ego and what happens when rank, experience, reputation, and pride start getting in the way of good leadership.

Matt shares a story about reconnecting with a chief who knew him years ago when Matt was a young volunteer—and the first thing the chief did was apologize for how he treated younger firefighters back then. That kicks off a bigger conversation about self-awareness, owning your mistakes, and whether rank changes people or simply multiplies who they already are.

The guys talk about leading with love, praising in public and correcting in private, firehouse banter versus tearing people down, developing younger firefighters instead of waiting for them to fail, and why some departments mistake treating people poorly for maintaining a “standard.”

They also tackle the fire service’s social media culture. Are keyboard warriors and firefighter-bashing pages holding people accountable—or is some of it just ego hiding behind a screen?

Plus, Patreon updates, the September Prize Box, an incredible message from a listener, some classic firehouse stories, recruitment vs. retention, and a little Snail Mail to finish things off.

One question to think about after this episode:

Do you treat people the way you wanted to be treated when you were coming up—or are you becoming the firefighter you used to complain about?

Listen, follow, and share the episode with another firefighter.

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Train Clean, Fight Dirty | Ryan Conley of Carna Bunker Gear

Visit: Carna Bunker Gear

https://www.carnabunkergear.com/

This week, we’re joined by Ryan Conley from Carna Bunker Gear for a conversation about firefighter training, cancer prevention, fitness, and why we may need to rethink how often we train in our frontline turnout gear.

Ryan shares how his background as a firefighter, strength athlete, coach, and exercise physiology nerd eventually led to the creation of Carna Bunker Gear — training gear designed to give firefighters the weight and thermal challenges of bunker gear without unnecessarily training in contaminated frontline PPE.

We get into PFAS, PAHs, dirty gear, SCBAs, apparatus contamination, decon, thermal adaptation, firefighter fitness, and the cumulative exposures firefighters face throughout a 20–30 year career.

But the conversation goes beyond cancer.

How hard should you actually work out while you're on duty? Could crushing yourself during a workout make you a liability if the tones drop five minutes later? And has the fire service gone too far with “safety culture”… or are we finally getting smarter about risks we can actually control?

Adam also asks one of the biggest questions of the episode:

Was it worth it?

Despite the risks, injuries, sleepless nights, cancer concerns, and everything this career asks of us — for the families we showed up for on the worst days of their lives, the answer is still YES.

We also close this episode by recognizing the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, remembering the 343 firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice and those we have continued to lose in the years since.

Never Forget. 🇺🇸

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Fire departments across the country are trying to figure out how to recruit the next generation of firefighters—but what if recruitment isn't the biggest problem?

What if we need to get better at keeping the people we already have?

This week, the guys get into recruitment vs. retention and what actually makes firefighters want to stay at—or leave—a department. Is it money? Benefits? Leadership? Morale? Call volume? Training opportunities? Station culture? Or is the schedule becoming one of the biggest deciding factors?

Adam makes a simple point that drives much of the conversation: take care of your people, and they'll recruit for you.

From there, things get heated.

We talk about departments spending big money recruiting new employees while veteran employees feel forgotten, firefighters leaving the profession altogether, leadership and accountability, lateral hiring, 24/72 vs. 48/96 schedules, mandatory overtime, burnout, and whether departments are willing to change fast enough to keep good people.

Then Doug takes the conversation somewhere bigger:

Why are we working ourselves to death?

Life is short. Money matters—but so do your family, friends, hobbies, and the life you're supposed to be living when you're not at the firehouse.

This one has some laughs, some arguments, some strong opinions, and a whole lot of firehouse conversation.

SPONSORS:

THE BURN BOX: theburnbox.com

UNKIES SEASONINGS: unkiesseasonings.com

🔥 QUESTION FOR YOU:
What matters MOST when choosing a fire department—and what would make you leave the one you're at?

Recruitment? Retention? Leadership? Pay? Schedule? Culture?

Let us know.

And if you've made it this far with us, join the crew on Patreon for behind-the-scenes content, the Turnout Drill, and your chance to win the monthly Patreon Prize Box.

The Cool Fireman Podcast — Firehouse Talk Without the HR Department.

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If you could design the perfect fire station from scratch, what would it look like?

This week on The Cool Fireman Podcast, Matt, Brian, and Adam are designing their dream firehouse—and quickly realize there’s a lot more to fire station design than apparatus bays and a kitchen table.

Should administrative offices be separated from firefighter living quarters? Should every shift have its own refrigerator? Individual bunk rooms or good old-fashioned gen pop? How many bathrooms does a firehouse actually need? And perhaps the most important question of the episode: Is it acceptable to destroy the bathroom right before the crew brushes their teeth?

Yeah…we went there.

The guys also talk about designing modern fire stations for firefighter health, privacy, staffing, decontamination, female firefighters, hurricane upstaffing, turnout times, fitness rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, bunk rooms, and the traditions that make a firehouse feel like a firehouse.

We also highlight Paddling for Pennies, answer listener questions about firefighter interviews and getting hired, and revisit the conversation with Tonya Herbert about PAH exposure and firefighter cancer prevention—including why the engineer operating the pump may be exposed to more contaminants than many firefighters realize.

Some traditions are worth protecting. Others might be worth leaving in the 1970s.

What would YOUR perfect fire station have?

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🔥 Firefighter culture
🔥 Fire station design
🔥 Firefighter health & cancer prevention
🔥 Firefighter career advice
🔥 Firehouse traditions
🔥 And plenty of completely unnecessary bathroom discussion

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If you could go back to the night before your very first day in the fire service and sit down with your younger self… what would you tell them?

Buckle up.

This week, Matt, Doug, and Unkie are going back in time and looking at their careers through the eyes of the firefighters they used to be.

Would we still become firefighters knowing everything we know now? What would our rookie selves think of the firefighters we became? What parts of the old fire service would we bring back? And what habits do we wish we'd started on DAY ONE?

The conversation gets deeper than we expected as we talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the job—the camaraderie, friendships, incredible wins, trauma, mental health, taking care of yourself, and learning to give yourself a little grace along the way.

We also recap our trip to SAFRE in Raleigh, give some well-deserved shoutouts, read your comments in Snail Mail, revisit the biggest wastes of money in the fire service, and somehow end up talking about plastic straws, DEF systems, old-school fire engines, Bitcoin, and why you should always clean up after yourself at the firehouse.

Would we do it all over again?

Absolutely.

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What would YOU tell your rookie self?

#Firefighter #FireService #TheCoolFiremanPodcast

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What Would You Buy With an Unlimited Fire Department Budget? 🚒💰

The Cool Fireman Podcast is LIVE from Raleigh, North Carolina at the South Atlantic Fire Rescue Expo (SAFRE)!

For the first time, the guys are all together at the booth, surrounded by fire apparatus, equipment, technology, and just about every possible way a fire department could spend money.

So we asked the obvious question:

If your department handed you an open checkbook, what are you buying?

Matt is looking at a high-tech command vehicle loaded with drone capabilities. Doug wants to strengthen the ladder truck fleet. Adam wants quality new engines and better reserves. Brian has his eyes on a rescue truck for his volunteer department.

But the conversation gets bigger than just buying cool stuff.

When does technology actually make firefighters safer and more efficient? When does it become overkill? Should departments spend money replacing apparatus, refurbishing what they already have, or investing in new technology? And how much should the individual needs of your community determine where that money goes?

We also get into apparatus replacement cycles, reserve fleets, preventive maintenance, drones, command vehicles, firefighter safety, department pride, retention, and why attending conferences like SAFRE can expose you to ideas you'd never see inside your own department.

And yes… we're recording live from the conference floor, so naturally there's plenty of chaos along the way.

Now it's your turn:

You're walking into SAFRE with an unlimited fire department checkbook.

What are you buying first?

Huge thanks to Unkie's Seasoning, Burn Box, and Operation Yellow Tape for supporting us at SAFRE.

Thanks for listening to The Cool Fireman Podcast!

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STAND YOUR GROUND: Firehouse Morale, Leadership & Elite Training

This week, Brian brings a new game to the table: Stand Your Ground. We give our answer, defend it, and see where the conversation takes us.

Would you rather be the chief of a department with unlimited funding but terrible morale—or lead a department everyone loves that's constantly short staffed?

Would you rather have the best officer you've ever worked for or the best crew you've ever worked with?

Would you rather work at a fun station with average training or a serious station with elite training?

And would you trust AI to help recommend fireground tactics?

Those questions lead us into a much bigger conversation about firehouse culture, leadership, morale, company pride, tradition, training, succession planning, and why you can't simply throw money at a bad culture and expect it to get better.

Matt shares a story about bringing back an old Laguna Beach Fire Department shirt and why the department doesn't want those duty shirts sold to the public. Brian talks about honoring the generations that came before us, and Adam somehow takes that conversation completely off the rails with a story about firefighters buying chief shirts specifically to donate them to thrift stores. 😂

We also get back into the 24/72 vs. 48/96 debate, overtime implications, staffing, vacation time, and whether the newest schedule everyone is talking about is actually the best schedule in the fire service.

Plus, we're headed to SAFRE in Raleigh, North Carolina! Come hang out with The Cool Fireman Podcast August 14–15 at Booth 307.

What would YOUR answers be to the Stand Your Ground questions?

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What started as a discussion about the best firefighter work schedule quickly turned into a deep dive into recruitment, retention, staffing, and the future of the fire service.

Visit:

TheCoolFireman.com

UnkiesSeasonings.com

TheBurnBox.com

Matt, Brian, and Adam compare some of the most common shift schedules, including 48/96, 24/72, 24/48, and other regional variations, while sharing firsthand experiences from their own departments. Matt explains why he's become a huge fan of the 48/96 schedule, Brian discusses Greenville Fire Rescue's transition to a 24/72 schedule, and Adam shares how Norfolk is using laterals and competitive schedules to attract firefighters from neighboring departments.

The guys also tackle the realities of staffing shortages, mandatory overtime, succession planning, firefighter recruitment, and why departments have to think years ahead before making major operational changes. Is it really cheaper to pay overtime than hire another firefighter? How do departments prepare enough engineers and captains to support a fourth shift? And could better schedules become one of the biggest recruiting tools in the fire service?

Before diving into the main topic, the crew announces this month's Patreon Perks winner, talks about preparations for SAFRE, gives updates from Unkie's Seasonings and Burn Box, and honors firefighters who recently made the ultimate sacrifice. They also discuss the devastating tornado damage at the Pierce Manufacturing facilities in Appleton, Wisconsin, and what that could mean for the fire service across the country.

Whether your department works 24/48, 48/96, 24/72, or something completely different, this episode is packed with honest discussion about what works, what doesn't, and what the future of firefighter scheduling may look like.

As always, thank you for listening and for being part of The Cool Fireman Podcast family. We'd love to hear from you. What schedule does your department work, and if you could choose any schedule, what would it be?

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