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Highlighting the Day In, Day Out
There can be no substitute for overwhelming force In the past months the nation has seen firefighters and other first responders face complex and difficult times. On the world stage we have viewed the...
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Kicking the Little Guy
I’ve never claimed to be a journalist, or even attempted to do so. However, I have spent some time on engines and trucks and can generally distinguish between the different types. It’s bad enough that...
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This Space for Rent
I usually don’t post many news items, instead I save them for the pros (Geezer and STATter), especially when it involves subjects of a risque nature. However two news items came across the screen at...
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What Is It Going To Take?
Dave Leblanc shares his Cape Cod Times Op Ed piece on the close call in Sandwich. On Monday May 31st, 2010, while the rest of America was celebrating Memorial Day, the Sandwich Fire Department...
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Willy And The Firemen
Dave LeBlanc looks at a struggling Massachusetts department and politics. I think that most of us would agree that as much as it shouldn’t be, politics are an integral part of public safety. Maybe not...
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When Seconds Count,You Don’t Have Minutes To Lose
Dave LeBlanc offers a practical solution to offset the current trend of reduced staffing and brownouts. It’s called showing up, ready to work. It is “interesting” that in discussions about this...
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“Broken Rules”Backstep’s Dave LeBlanc Reports on Lowell Truck Officer’s...
Recruits learn from rescues at working fire that fire service rules must be flexible if they are to have any impact on people trapped and training must be grounded in the basics. Every day we read...
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Boston Local 718 Offers A Customer Service Message.What Does Your Local or...
Boston Local reminds its customers they’re close at hand when the time calls. Throughout 2010, and now into 2011, Local 718 has used social media and networking heavily to get its messages out to the...
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“Bunkroom Articles”New Feature to a Growing FD Live-In Site
Growing web service begins offering help for departments with live-in members. A growing and increasingly valuable site, FDLiveIn.com is designed to help aspiring and current firefighters and officers...
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The Endangered Species
Sick leave, budget, responses and the latest in closing FDNY companies. The FDNY and Mayor Bloomberg have released the list of 20 companies slated for closing in order to help balance the city’s...
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Doing The Best You Can – Rescues and Reflection on Our Purpose in Lowell
Dave LeBlanc shares how a tragic fire recalls another similar incident that again reflects our mission The Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen has an excellent article about the first-in crews at the Lowell...
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The Dirtiest Job in The Fire Service
The ‘salt’ that comes from fighting for your men Mike Rowe once hosted a show called “Dirty Jobs†that was shown on the Discovery Channel and now hosts a new show called “Somebody Has to Do...
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Studie$ and Report$
The complicated issues surrounding what you need to do the job Today’s fire service is under constant scrutiny, from both print and electronic media to city and town halls all over America as...
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