Grit First Fire Training is a training company based out of San Diego California. The trio that makes up Grit First are some of the most solid gentlemen we’ve had the pleasure to work with. Grit First offers classes both hands on and lecture on search, tactical TIC use and fire dynamics to name a few. Keep your eye out for these guys, they’ll be offering classes at a conference near you. 

• Dave Stepp Grit First instructor with a passion for teaching search, hose management,  thermal imaging, firefighter survival, RIC and ventilation.  Has had the opportunity to split time riding both engines and trucks throughout the city.  Currently serves as a Captain on Engine and Truck 10 in the area of San Diego State University.  His approach to training is a blend of real world experiences matched up with the skillsets taken from conferences such as FDIC, Firehouse World, Firemanship, FireShows West and soon to come March Mayhem.      

• Mike Smith is an instructor with Frit First Fire Training and has been in the fire service for 18-years and holds the rank of Captain. He serves as the Departments Training Officer and stays neck-deep in training through his work with the County Training Officers and his zone partners. Mike started teaching fire academies back in 2013 and is a State Fire Training instructor for FF1/FF2 academies, Fire Control 3, Firefighter Survival, and Low Angle Rope Rescue. Mike’s passion lies in engine company work, focusing on what matters most on the fireground - putting the fire out and searching for victims. Mike’s about training that's gritty and built for the realities of the job. 

• Jesse Fournier is an instructor for Grit First Fire Training with 18 years in the fire service. He holds the rank of Training Captain with the San Miguel Fire & Rescue Fire Department. Jesse is a State Fire instructor and teaches FC3, RRAO, Firefighter Survival and  Driver Operator. He also serves as an instructor for Miramar College, an  Academy instructor for his Fire Academy, and serves on the USAR Task force. Jesse’s passion is teaching and seeing others’ love for the job grow. He is trying his hardest to bring SoCal back on the map and back to old school gritty firemanship.  More than all of that, Jesse sees himself as a student of the fire service trying his best to make it better than when he started because it has given him so much

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

Robert Policht started his career as a volunteer and is lieutenant of Ladder Co. 2 of the Passaic, NJ, Fire Department. During his time with Passaic he assisted with developing and establishing the department’s response to human vs. machine incidents and has a class on this subject he teaches at conferences nation wide. He is attached to Passaic’s  fire Investigation Unit as well. 

Rob teaches at the Bergen County, NJ, Fire Academy and is a member of the NJ Division of Fire Safety's Fire Threat Task Force. Policht has a master’s degree in emergency management and homeland security from Arizona State University and has been published in several fire service trade publications. 

Rob is also a founder of and contributor to Flow and Vent, which is a website that's dedicated to fire and rescue training as well as one of the OG podcasts in the fire service.

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

Nick Ledin is a firefighter paramedic with the O Claire Fire Department in Wisconsin, currently assigned to Engine 2. Nick has been a student of the job for over 16 years. He is a major contributor to ‘Firefighter Rescue Survey’, was the former president of the Northland FOOLS, and is an affiliate member of FireNuggets. Nick is a technical committee member for NFPA 1700, he was a former technical panel member for UL FSRI’s PPA and PPV Study as well as a part of UL FSRI’s Public Education Advisory Group. On top of this Nick is a co-host of the FireNuggets Podcast and GRABS Podcast. Nick Ledin is a deep thinker and an incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable fireman. This conversation was thought provoking and certainly one of my favorite podcasts to date. In this episode we discussed search, the powerful 2 in 2 out position paper Nick was a part of publishing earlier this year, risk vs reward and of course the infamous attempted heist of the class name “church of search”. 

https://data-not-drama.com/2024/05/18/removing-two-in-two-out-a-modern-data-supported-defense-of-our-core-mission/

https://www.firefighterrescuesurvey.com

https://www.firenuggets.com

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

Mickey is a Lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department. He is a third-generation firefighter with 29 years of experience, the last 23 years being with the FDNY. Mickey has been instructor at the New York City Fire Academy, as well as a speaker and instructor at conferences all over the country. He is the founder and author of Top Floor Tactics, and the host of A View From the Top Floor Podcast. When Mickey speaks about the fire service he does so in a poetic manner that invokes passion for this profession. His views are unapologetic, derived from experience, and profound. This was certainly one of my favorite conversations to date. Like all of our podcast I learned a great deal and was left with lots to think about. 

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

In this episode we got the chance to sit down with Justin McWilliams. Justin is a veteran on the fire service and currently serves the citizens of Clackamas Fire in Oregon as the Captain of Heavy Rescue 5. 

Anyone who has followed Justin knows he has a unique unapologetic personality. This is exactly what the fire service needs and exactly why I was so stoked to finally have this conversation. 

Justin is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about search. He has a no nonsense, practical approach to this cornerstone skill of our profession and that’s what we dive deep into during this episode. 

Justin is the creator of the search culture page on Instagram and if you are not following do so immediately. This page isn’t about looking salty, getting likes, it’s about spreading fact based information and knowledge about search. 

We hope you enjoy this episode!

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

Kyle Romagus is a 21-year veteran with East Montgomery County Fire Department in Texas. 

He oversees the training division as a Battalion Chief, and in his words, is in love with engine work. 

Kyle is the owner of smoothbore cartel and founder of Engine Company Resurrection. Kyle teaches engine operations for several well-known fire service instructor groups such as:

• FD tactics

• Brothers in Battle

• Oathkeepers 

Kyle’s primary objective is to share knowledge about the value of Engine work with his fellow firefighters.

Kyle travels the country providing lectures and hands on training on engine company skills and provides one of the most compelling lectures on fire attack in the industry.

On top of that his organization provides sponsorship opportunities for firefighters to attend conferences around the country. His efforts are well known, respected, and his instructional methodology is second to none.

https://smoothborecartel.com/

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

 Today on the podcast, we got a chance to sit down with Logan Broberg. 

Logan is first and foremost, a proud husband, and a devoted father, however he is also a firefighter with ten years on the job. Currently serving as a Squad Chauffeur in Kissimmee FL. 

Logan is the Founder of Rogue Firemanship Training, dedicated to honing skills and improving performance. 

On top of that, you guessed it Logan is A proud Georgia Smoke Diver, #1158 and Georgia Flames graduate, #312. 

He is a student of the craft, who is clearly passionate about continuous learning of the trade of firemanship. This was an excellent conversation with a hard charger. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

https://roguefiremanship.com/ 

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

Sometimes in the fire service, those of us who are engaged, find ourselves involved in anything and everything we can get our hands on . I feel like this is a learned behavior and I think we may have learned it from Chief David Rhodes. 

Chief is a 37 year veteran fire service. He retired as a battalion chief with the Atlanta fire department. Along the way has been published in more periodicals than I would be able to list in this bio, and has instructed both lecture and hands-on classes and conferences from coast to coast. 

Chief Rhodes is now the editor and chief of fire engineering magazine, the president of FDIC , one of the chief Elders of the Georgia smoke diver program, and advisory member on the UL-FSRI board just a name a few things he’s involved in. 

To accomplish any one of these singular tasks would be a career benchmark for any firefighter. The fact that chief Rhodes has had the ambition the time and the skill set to accomplish all of this is legendary. In this episode, we will talk with Chief Rhodes about these accomplishments and more, we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

Anthony Kastros is a 33-year veteran of the fire service he retired as a Battalion Chief with the SAC Metro Fire Department and is the founder of Trainfirefighters.com. He is the author of several Fire Engineering books and video series, including Mastering the Fire Service Assessment Center, and Mastering Fireground Command – Calm the Chaos! Co- authored with Chief Brian Brush. Chief Kastros is an FDIC and Firehouse World instructor, and was the Keynote Speaker at FDIC 2013. Chief was also the recipient of the 2019 George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and Fire Engineering. Anthony hosts, The Command Show, a monthly blog radio show through Fire Engineering, he has taught assessment centers, leadership and team building as well as command strategy, and tactics to firefighters throughout the United States, and internationally. Our conversation was amazing it was like chatting with an old friend. Chief Kastros is a brilliant tactician and natural leader. His easy going fun attitude made this one of our most enjoyable podcasts to date. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. Now let’s get after it. 

Trainfirefighters.com

https://hortonsandhunt.com/

On this episode, we sat down with Jarrod Sergi. At the time of this recording Jarrod was a Captain with Norfolk Fire Rescue in Norfolk VA. And was just about to get promoted to Battalion Chief. 

Jarrod is a State Instructor for both the Virginia Department of Fire Programs and the National Fire Academy focusing on MAYDAY and Strategy/Tactics. 

He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and has a Masters in Executive Leadership from Liberty University in Virginia. 

He has been featured in several fire service publications. Jarrod is the founder of Trial by Fire, whose mission is to advance the Fire Service through strong leadership, accountability, and training. 

We had an excellent conversation with Jarrod related to the company officer, Leadership at the company level, how to build cohesion, navigating morale issues, setting expectations, building good relationships with your bosses, and preparing for the role of the officer. As well as his book No nonsense leadership. Edition 2 is now available link below.  

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. 

No-Nonsense Leadership: A Realistic Approach for the Company Officer https://a.co/d/j8DbzYU 

https://hortonsandhunt.com/