Sitting in our morning meeting at the beginning of shift this morning and we got into a discussion on how our department checks our chainsaws. For reference, we have Stihl MS362C saws.

Obviously fill your bar oil and fuel prior to any of this, that’s not what this is about.

Also, for reference a cold start to me consists of setting it to full choke, pull the cord until it turns over, setting it to half choke, and then pulling the cord until it is running.

A warm start is putting it to half choke and pulling the cord.

I have always done a cold start (with the obligatory drop start, come at me OSHA), set it on the bar guard, let it idle until it warms up (I was taught you want it to warm up because it has a carburetor), then rev it up to speed once or twice and shut it down.

Apparently one of our Engineers contacted Stihl to see what they recommend and was told to perform a cold start, rev it immediately, and then shut it down without letting it warm up at all.

When we looked on Stihl’s website for the manufacturer recommendations, they appear to recommend a cold start, shut it down immediately, do a warm start, and then rev and shut down which seems like overkill.

Anyone have any knowledge or advice on this? Looking for serious replies, we’re a small dept with a small budget and we want to take care of our stuff. Thanks!

Edit: Apparently we also have a Stihl MS311 on our reserve, if that’s different or someone has info on that, I would appreciate that as well.

My dept will be transitioning to a 24/72 work schedule in the near future, while we make more than most departments in my area I would still enjoy extra cash to live more comfortably. Id like to take more trips and indulge in more spending for my hobbies or not just feel drained for cash every so often. Even with a wife that's an RN (Florida nurse pay is horrible) we are barely above living paycheck to paycheck and we are frugal spenders. I do real estate on the side but its a nonstop grind and you are working for free to MAYBE sell a couple houses a year.

So many question for you on here with a similar schedule, what do you do for additional income? What businesses do you run on the side?

I have even considered nursing school as many offer paramedic to nursing programs. I am open to going to school again, I'm very open to suggestions. DISCLAIMER- my department offers little to no overtime

Found what I belive to be one of those old fire grenades. Does anybody collect these things? It still has liquid inside of it.

I wanted to get a pulse, tempo of your thoughts and opinions about fire prevention inspectors/officers and their line of work?

Does your company officer, battalion chief, executive chief have a working relationship with the Bureau?

We watched the show Jury Duty on Amazon recently. At first no one seemed into the idea but I promised them it was good. We ended up watching the whole first season in an evening.

Trying to find something good for tonight after dinner.

I had been a career FF for many years, had a career ending injury that pushed me to become a state fire marshal. I joined a volunteer department because I missed the camaraderie and to be fair, going interior on fires. With the experience I have, the department wanted me to be their training officer to help teach the department on good techniques. I've become a supervisor at work... which isnt phsyically exhausting but it is mentally draining.

I explained to my buddy, who's the assistant chief.. I am tired. I always respond, I am always there for the department but I just feel like it's a toll. The drama, the BS, the constant power struggle just makes it even more tiring. I am just mentally drained and exhausted everyday for the past two months. I still drop everything I do to go serve the community I live in but it's not the same. I'd drop everything to go back career if I could.

Am I just burnt out? Is it just the stress of work pushing to make firefighting not as fun? Maybe I'm just rambling since it's 2300 and I'm just taxed and no one to vent to about it without being biased?

I know it's "Just a volunteer department" but I have went to school with many of these guys and they are all friends. Has anyone else been in this situation and found something that worked?

Korean firefighter LIM Keon Yeob from the Presidential Security Service Fire Station won first place in the National Firefighter Stair Climbing Competition by scaling the 101-floor Haeundae LCT skyscraper in Busan in 19 minutes and 11 seconds while carrying over 20 kg of full turnout gear and an oxygen tank.

A few days ago, while it was raining, my windshield wipers weren’t working. I happened to by at the corner of the fire station and safely pulled into the parking lot to see what was going on. 

Let’s just say cars are my kryptonite and my instinct is to solve all car problems with tears. So ofc I could not figure why they were not working. I knocked on stations window and an office came out and helped me. 

I know this is a small part of his day but it was everything for me in that moment. He was incredibly kind and really went out of his way. His calm demeanor helped calm me down too. He was even able to fix it in time for me to pick my daughter up on time from school. It did rain a lot in the city my daughter was at so I feel validated that I was not over reacting. I’m especially grateful he never made me feel like I was.

He didn’t ask my name and I don’t know his. I would like to remain anonymous, cause well I’m embarrassed I was balling my eyes out when I asked for help 🤦🏻‍♀️ and I was uselessly watching him work on my car, not helpful in any way. Is there a way i could bring something but keep it all anonymous. I’m way too embarrassed to knock on the stations window again 😅 I’m assuming leaving unattended food but the door is a no go.

I want to bake cookies and write a thank you note with my daughter and give it to the station. Or if y’all have better ideas please tell me. Something that you’ve gotten and loved.

I know every station is different but thought I’d ask if you have any ideas the protocol of doing that?

Looking to get a jacket mounted camera that can withstand temperatures inside a structure fire, a few buddy’s started running go pros but I’m worried about them over heating, any cases or specific models that can with stand the heat? I also saw the oncall v2 body cam online anyone have any experience? Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.

I’m in North Carolina, currently a volunteer firefighter in a rural area going through community college academy, with the goal of eventually becoming a career firefighter.

Lately though, I’ve been looking into the US Forest Service, National Park Service, and NC State Parks, and I’m having a hard time deciding which direction I want to go. I enjoy firefighting, but I’ve always loved being outdoors, working with my hands, staying active, and doing something that serves the community. All three agencies interest me for different reasons.

My biggest concerns with going the Forest Service or Park Service route are the pay, job availability, and schedules. Firefighting seems to offer more stability and a better schedule, especially with the 24-hour shifts, while a lot of the federal jobs I’ve found seem to be seasonal or harder to get into.

Has anyone here worked or volunteered with any of these agencies while also working as a firefighter? Are there part-time or volunteer opportunities where I could get some experience without giving up firefighting? I’d also like to hear from anyone who considered leaving firefighting for one of these careers, or vice versa. Do you regret your decision, or are you happy with where you ended up?

This may seem like a strange question, but I need to take a general poll from folks all around the United States because I want to pitch something to my chief.

*DISCLAIMER* The purpose of this post is NOT to demean or throw shade at my department or city at all. This is a constructive question in which I respectfully request constructive responses. (But we all know how knuckle-dragging truckies are lol)

So, for a little bit of background, my department is fully paid. We are relatively small, with only a Few front-line apparatus operating out of 3 stations currently. No double company houses.

The problem we face is an EXTREMELY overworked Fleet maintenance department within our city. It is responsible for ALL VEHICLES, including emergency vehicles, that are to be repaired and PM'd EXCLUSIVELY by our fleet maintenance department. (Except for like super tiny things like filling tires with air, replacing windshield wiper fluid, cleaning battery terminals, and even changing a front headlight bulb, etc) It is only a few full-time employees and 1 part-time employee (I think) who have to repair and PM ALL of the city vehicles by themselves. As you can imagine, because of the busy mechanics, PMs get missed and delayed, and now our apparatus are fucked.

A solution I want to bring to the table is: what if some of our Drivers/Engineers are able to get certified to do emergency vehicle repairs and PMs themselves? At least... for the time being until the city obtains more funding for a bigger fleet maintenance department?

I would like to know:
- How much would school cost for one person
- Around how long would it be
- Is this actually something your department has found super helpful?
- If you do have this program in your department, does it pay OT or additional time for the drivers to stay after their shift and knock out repairs?

Thank you, guys, for your insight, and stay safe out there.

Hello, im an EMT student right out of high school. My instructors will bring one student that they pick to do a 10 hour shift at one of two stations near us. I had the privilege to be selected first next week.

One question is if its proper to bring a gift for the crew? I asked my instructors to which they all gave different answers. The thing is, I don't want to look stupid bringing something if your not supposed to, or look stupid and ungrateful not bringing something. If i should, what is a welcome gift?

My second question, I was told I would be asked what i wanted to learn, they would see if I could do that skill and then I would be in charge of doing that the whole day. Does anyone like when a ride along does something in particular? Would I make a bad impression to ask to do the patient assessments for example?

Finally, is there any advice to be liked by the crew? I know its a dumb question, I just don't say much, but some people don't like that. Or they get the wrong idea that I don't want to be there.

Any advice for this ride along will be greatly appreciated, thank very much.

Saw a couple rigs on the end of my street the other day here in Ashland both type one engines on a ridiculously gnarly slope. My question is are the reservoirs built with an outlet on each end whether you’re facing steep uphill or steep downhill.?

Hello, I am a senior at Duval High School, Lanham, Maryland currently doing my final year project in MYPLTW(Project Lead The Way) about electrical fires caused by outlets mostly focusing prevention and detection. One of the core parts of this project is to get an expert's justification or interview to determine the legitimacy of the problem.

Of course, we are primarily interviewing electrical engineers about this issue but I was curious to see if there were any firefighters or emergency personnel who might have dealt with some first hand and if they are willing to share their experience or knowledge on the matter.

This is my first time posting on here, so if you have any advice or critic I am open to hea

I'm in the academy right now in a city and I'm really interested in working on a truck, but I have no prior experience at all. My class has a week left of EMT before we start fire school, so I wanted to see if there was any way I could get a jump on things and maybe up my chances of getting assigned to a truck company. I'm 20 years old and this is my first ever job so I am really new to all of this.

What are some things that are important to know or be proficient at if you are on a truck? What do the instructors in recruit school look for when they assign people to companies?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

So the conventional wisdom is to replace the 9V batteries in your smoke detectors every 6-12 months. I assume this is for battery powered alarms.

What about hardwired alarms, battery backups? How often should those batteries be replaced?

I work at a small international airport on the east coast. We are an index C airport, a 23 man department, operate a 3 platoon system with 5 man minimums. We are tasked with ARFF protection, structural fire protection, and EMS.

Long story short- October 1st we have essentially taken over the airport operations department. We are currently staffing the Ops office and fulfilling all related duties 24/7 with two firefighters. This staffing model only includes firefighters and captains in the ops rotation. The operations department has been reduced to 1 Ops lead and 1 supervisor per shift. The currently model we are operating with has already proven unsustainable and we are less than a month in and guys are burnt out. I have been tasked with attempting to find a solution to the myriad of issues we are facing so I figured I’d throw some feelers out here.

Are there any similar sized departments, who serve an index c airport, who also do airport operations? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Particularley among those of you without kids?

And/or would you like it if this was something that would come to the fire service (as family centered holidays could be argued to be of lower stakes for those that don't have kids/a family)?

Hi! everyone! I know it sounds a bit silly, but I got pretty confused with all the stuff I found online, so I figured it was best to ask real US firefighters

I'm currently writing a book (just a personal project, nothing professional) set in Massachusetts, USA. One of my main characters is a firefighter, and I want to make sure I get the US fire service dynamics right, as they are quite different from how things work here in Spain/Europe.

From my research, I understand that instead of everyone doing a bit of everything, US departments split duties by companies. Since I want my character to be the one actively performing search and rescue inside a burning building, or extricating people from car accidents, I figured he needs to be assigned to a Truck Company. Is this correct?

I have a couple of questions regarding assignments and terminology:

1. Does a firefighter stay in the Truck Company permanently, or do crews rotate between the Engine and the Truck on a shift-by-shift basis?
2. Are there more positions inside the Truck company?
3. Since his main job in a fire is search and rescue, how would he actually present himself or be referred to? Does being in a Truck Company technically make him part of a "search and rescue team,"? Would he just call himself a "Truckie" ?

Thank you!

FD not too far away from ER I work at has one of these. I joked with fire folks if that was their version of tic Tac toe. They laughed but didn’t answer.

Is this some sort of simulator, training tool?

The Les Lukert Conference information is now out and registration starts on October 30th! This is a great conference with national level speakers and you can interact with them for more than a few minutes after their presentation.

Friday has H.O.T. classes and classroom presentations available.

Friday night is the On Tap event at a local establishment where the instructors have a panel discussion based on the questions that you have.

Saturday is the Leadership Symposium with four different speakers.

Saturday night is the Leadership Banquet which is always an enjoyable evening.

Sunday morning there are different classroom presentations.

The conference is located in Kearney, Ne which is just off I-80. There are flights daily into Kearney from Denver and one from Chicago. The Lincoln Airport is just under 2 hours away and Omaha Airport is 3 hours away on I-80.

More information about the conference is available on the Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors website and their socials.

https://www.nsfsi.com

Please check it out and help spread the word because this is a great conference.

Hi everyone, I’m a firefighter paramedic on a paid dept. we run all hazards and run our own rescues. I’m thinking about leaving but I’m stuck. Starting pay is decent, but that’s it, outside of occasional COLAs and merit raises, there’s no step program. As a fire medic I’m making more than an EMT/engineer with 11 years on. Call volume is decent but 90% of the calls are medical, which is fine I don’t mind as I was a a civilian paramedic prior to being a firefighter, but we are rural so honestly my department gets about 5 legit structure fires a year.

Cons
- no step raises
- stagnant dept promotion wise once the next round of promotions happen due to nobody being close to retirement after the next round of retirements happening.
- limited fire experience at the company officer level
-inadequate staffing, we have 5 man crews and run two ambos out of stations. Two medical calls kick out and you have no staffing left for the engine.

Pros
-close to home
-super family oriented
-awesome chief to deal with on a personal level. Family emergency? Go deal with it. Need time next tour? Find your coverage and I’ll approve it.
need to leave for a few hours? As long as there’s minimum staffing go for it. Kids game lands on shift day? Go enjoy it then come back.

The big time departments in my area all require a mandatory in house academy that take roughly 4 months mon-thurs ten hour days. I’m a single dad that has his kid full time and my mom helps me with the kids while I’m on shift. A commitment like that would be extremely difficult to meet not only on my mom but on my kids. The only hope I have in laterally moving would be commuting 60-90 mins a shift for a dept that would accept me as a lateral.

Another option I guess is leaving to be a flight medic. I have the experience and not to toot my own horn but I think I’m a decent medic. I don’t want to though, I like 911 calls, and firefightings fun.

Please don’t be condescending in the reply’s guys. I’m just looking for different perspectives