It's not the end...only a pause

Well, my time as interim chief came and went almost as quickly as I had hoped. For the experience and knowledge, I wouldn’t have minded the term lasting quite a bit longer, but I’m glad that the responsibility weight was lifted. The county came in, pulled the fire contract, took over the operation, and began making what they felt were necessary changes. These changes included a new administration. The night of the disbanding of our fire department, I learned who our new administration was and of some changes that had taken effect without warning.

 I learned that the new fire chief was one of the men serving as battalion chief, which I didn’t have a problem with. I also learned that the new assistant chief was one of the former captains who resigned from the department back in December.  A captain was appointed along with a training officer, which I also didn’t have a problem with. What I did have a problem with was that each Lt was pulled from their position and placed back as a regular fireman, myself included. I can say, for myself, that I spent the last 2 and a half years dedicating half my life and working hard for the organization. Learning that I was demoted after all of that, plus taking on the interim chief position when no one else would, left me feeling disappointed. What made it even worse was that they promoted the man that decided to leave the department a few months prior. What kind of leadership is that??

As a result, after 5 years of service, I turned in my gear and hung up my helmet. I’ll still be a fireman, but as of right now, it won’t be for the same people. In almost 11 years, I’ve seen much turnover, policy changes, time changes, and administration changes. I’ve left departments for less and stuck it out for more. This does not stop me from what I love. My membership to the adjoining fire department is coming up this week and I am excited to see what new experience I have in store for me here. There already looks to be some things brewing. I only hope I can provide the help they need and want in their organization.

Until next time..

Keep fighting the good fight.

A rung up the ladder

Calls have slowed down for the most part. The weather has played a factor on both sides of the fence. It has caused some to slack off and others to happen in multiples. Just the other morning, what started out as a single vehicle rollover ended up (2 more calls later) turning into a 3 vehicle accident and a diesel spill….all on a major interstate. Lately, the heavy rains have kept the oils washed off the roads and the drivers slow. The application I submitted to the neighboring county was finally approved after 2 weeks of waiting. Probably the longest I have ever had to wait to be able to volunteer before. You would think that as scarce as volunteers are, the process wouldn’t take that long. I’m looking forward to improving my skills and knowledge though.

 Speaking of improving skills and knowledge...

I have talked before about climbing the ladder, wanting to be Captain and eventually Chief. Temporarily, I may have got my wish. Last week, a meeting was held that ended with some major department changes and the resigning of the 2 highest chiefs. For an entire day and a half, no one could definitely answer who was actually in charge of the department. Some would say that it was me since I was the next elected official in line; others would say that it went down to the next chief officer. Just this past Thursday, the decision was made. During the discussion part of this topic, some of the board members brought it to the appointed Assistant Chief to run the department. After his denial, and 6 or 7 other officers, it came down to me and 2 other Lieutenants. Rather than continue falling down the ladder, I chose to accept the responsibility and work on moving the department forward. I felt that the department needed a leader, instead of another officer content on bailing out. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were others that couldn’t take the position due to conflicts in their career or board positions. But would they have taken the job? And were they the best choice for the task?

In just the last few days, I have learned that being the interim chief of a volunteer department protecting a small city is no easy task. There are board agendas, personnel management, equipment management and maintenance, record keeping, politics, and liaising with board of directors and other members of emergency services from around the area. That’s just the admin side of it!! There’s no doubt that it’s stressful, but the learning experience I hope to gain from it will be beneficial to me in the long run I’m sure. In these last few days, I have recieved quite a bit of support from department members, board members, and even the girl in my life. To anyone thinking of one day being the Fire Chief, I urge you to shadow yours for a while. Get with your Chief and come up with an “internship” to learn what the job is all about. The experience will come in handy if you ever have to serve in the position yourself. Now that I think about it, I urge anyone wanting to be an officer to try on the boots for a while before making the move. The knowledge and experience you will gain could make you a better officer from the beginning. I have had to learn the trade as I have went along. This is my advice to those beforehand.  Try on the shoes before you take a walk, you’ll be glad you did.


On the personal side, and against the advice of a friend, I created another account on plenty of fish and decided to give it another try. Not long after getting started, I met a girl quite a bit younger than me. Keep in mind, quite a bit still means over 21..but not much. We talked about past love and agreed that the best thing anyone could do when thinking about relationships is to establish a strong friendship in the beginning. It has been roughly 2 months and I can say that I’m real happy without even being in an actual relationship. When it felt like the whole world on my shoulders on top of everything else in life, she was the only one that brought me back down to the ground. It can only get better from here. She has been extremely supportive of my service to the community and me taking on this extra responsibility,  she has stood by me through everything and continues to each day, she stands beside me in faith as I do her, and she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. There are negative things said about something being easy, but there is nothing that says this is wrong. I hope it stays just like this.

Until next time…

Can't keep a good man down

In my last post, I spoke of balancing the time I have off between the live in girlfriend I had and the fire department. I was able to do so and lived a very short and meaningful life with them. My days usually consisted of helping her and the kids get ready for school, sleeping (if I had worked the night before), handling some fire department business if I was off, picking up the oldest from the school bus and taking care of her, and getting dinner ready for us all to eat when her and the youngest got home. I felt I was living the life I wanted. Not long after Halloween, I noticed that things were not the same with her, she was acting distant. Fearing complacency had set in; I tried to keep the fire alive as much as I could. Unfortunately, I failed. Shortly after Christmas, she decided that she was not into the relationship anymore and opted to leave. Once again, I felt like my world was crushed again.

As with any break up, I began receiving the "you deserve better" and "she doesn't know what she's lost" type texts. I believed this, but it didn't help the hurt much. One day, I realized that I had made a mistake. I had went behind one of my best friends and dated the woman that just broke his heart, I had fallen for someone almost as fast as a stage 5 clinger, and I had moved her and the kids in way before I should have. How could I have been so stupid? I knew, right then, that this could not happen again, I knew better than that. After a short period of time, I returned to my normal routine of handling fire department business for most of the day on my off days, aside from handling errands and personal business. I started meeting new people again and spent some quality time with some very good friends, and I even started attending church again regularly. Life wasn't any easier, but I felt that by making a few lifestyle changes, maybe I could begin moving it in a better direction. So far, I'm still in a good place.

Calls have been jumping from week to week. Some weeks are decent, running quite a few a day or well above average for the week, while some days and weeks are quiet for the most part. I've gotten the motivation to improve my education and experience as much as possible. This week, I've applied to volunteer in the neighboring county to help their growing community, to gain additional experience by running more calls, and have additional opportunities for classes. Plus, it will give me an extra place to go when I don't feel like staying home. I've also started looking into instructor courses and another officer course. I've learned that having the education, no matter what field it is, takes you to more places. The more you can learn in the field you are in, the more you can accomplish. Take this coming from a guy that dropped out of school at 17. If I've said it before, I'll say it again and if I've never said it before, then I'll say it now... just because you dropped out of school does not mean that you cannot accomplish good things in your life. I've been a rookie fireman, an experienced fireman, dispatcher, corrections officer, fire department lieutenant, leader, and now working on being an educator. With the same drive, determination, dedication, and moral compass...anyone in the position I was in at 17 can do the same things. Don't get complacent.

Until next time, keep fighting the good fight.

Lt Will

What's more important?

When you have done something a certain way for so long, it is really hard to break that habit when it is necessary. I have always devoted alot of my time to the fire department, especially as an officer. Last month, I moved my girlfriend and her 2 girls into my small house. Now, my girlfriend is very very supportive of me being a firefighter, but I think that I may have taken a little more advantage of that than I should have. Responding to calls, doing P.R. events, and just hanging out at the station for too long and leaving her at home have taken up alot of my time with her. This is wrong. There has to be a smooth balance between work, family, and fire department if you want things to go on smoothly. People always say to cherish those close to you and never take a day for granted. If I continue down the road of making the fire station a high priority, I am likely to lose the woman I love. So I have to dial my commitment to the fire department back some and start devoting more committment to my girlfriend. However, this doesnt mean that I have to quit doing the things I have been doing, I just have to schedule things better in order to achieve the balance that is needed. Family comes first.

The only other way that I can think of that this may work with is if your significant other is a part of or participates in the fd activities. This can be a double edged sword and can have many outcomes, both good and bad. I'll give you my own personal account.
If you recall, I was once engaged to a girl that I met while four wheeler riding. She was a certified diver and wanted to use that skill for the fire department dive rescue team. I didnt think that was a bad idea, I had actually supported it. Then, she wanted to do more to participate, so she became a support member so she could go on the calls with me. I didnt mind this at all, we could do things together. After a short period of this, she decided that she wanted to do actual firefighting.....ok, if you have the desire and determination, bring it on! Then, it began to interfere with our relationship. The fire department became a bigger priority to her than "us", especially after I left our mutual department to join my original fire department. From then on, until we separated, it seemed to drive a bigger wedge between us until enough things (on top of the department) had piled up and eventually led to our separation 3 months after my proposal.

Now, you could say that girlfriends have no place in the fire house for plenty of reasons. One of them could even be that firemen like to hit on your girlfriend or that your girlfriend will hit on the other firmen. Not necessarily. I have had 2 other women in the fire service that did neither. Actually, we worked suprisingly well together all around when it came to inside and outside the deparment. My opinion is this....it depends on the female. Some women won't really care to be a part of something like this...and that's ok! Some women might like it a little bit and would like to participate some to help out and occupy some time...and we applaud your effort! Some women might get into it and you guys work very well together in all aspects...and thats great! Some women might get into it and may be a little more popular than you in a bad way....and again, depending on the female, this could be a bad thing. Part of love is knowing someone can destroy you, but trusting them not to. If you trust her to do the right thing and she doesn't....thats her loss. However, if you dont't trust her...that alone can lead to bad times, and could be on you. You have to evaluate your trust level for the one you love in an organization like this and be prepared for what comes after.

The point of all this is...if she wants to be a part of the organization to help out and you have the trust for her to do so, it could go well for the both of you and maybe even add strength to your relationship. However, if she does not....then you need to be able to balance your time at the fire department around some of your family time. That means you may not be able to run alot of calls or even make alot of meetings, but ultimately...which is more important? You must decide.
Keep fighting the good fight!

Lessons learned

We are coming into the fall season and fire related calls are already up, the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays usually bring a few more along with the cold winter months in general. Last week marked probably the only house fire in a couple of months. It happened to be near my house, so naturally I was first on the scene. At the time, I saw this as an opportunity to gain more experience on a pretty heavy housefire. Now that I think about it, I think I was more focused on trying to get that experience and move up the ladder than embracing my position and the job that goes along with it in a fire. Granted, even the Fire Chief said he was pleased with my role as incident commander, I think I sometimes I forget that gaining the inside experience that I have missed out on over the years for various reasons is just as important as being outside and calling the shots. Don't get me wrong, I have been in plenty of fires, but there is still some inside insight that I can gain as the line officer that I didn't get before. To any of you younger firemen that may be reading this, my advice to you is this.... get all of the inside experience that you can while you can, you're definitely going to need it when climbing the ladder. 

Being an experienced firefighter is not about the years that you have been in the fire service or the amount of training you have received on paper. Sometimes it's about having the knowledge and experience of past incidents and making good decisions on any incident you're on. Here's an example. While taking my daughter home just the other day, I was riding down the highway with my girlfriend and our kids. I happened to notice a group of cars and people ahead of me on the side of the road. There are always people breaking down or pulling off to the side of the road for one reason or another on the highways, so this thought never escaped my mind at first. As I got closer, the thought that this may be more than I expected began to grow. My thoughts were confirmed when I pulled up to one vehicle of a two vehicle crash that happened to be sitting out in one of the lanes of traffic. No sooner than I take two steps from my truck to see if everyone is alright and if help has been called, I am approached by several bystanders telling me that the car is on fire and that they need a fire extinguisher. I jump into emergency mode. My first thought was to get the driver away from the vehicle and make sure that the appropriate agencies have been called. I'll take this opportunity to say that if you are a 911 operator/dispatcher, when you call another 911 center to report an emergency...you will probably be the most accurate when it comes to judgement. Any civilian can say that a dispatcher did not appear to be doing that job when something didn't go their way, but an actual dispatcher can have a WTF moment when they get transferred to highway patrol after saying the vehicle is on fire. Thankfully a sheriffs deputy pulled up shortly after and provided me with a couple fire extinguishers so that I could try to contain the blaze before it got well out of hand. Three dry chemical fire extinguishers later, I was only really able to keep the fire temporarily at bay. It eventually made it's way past the firewall and into the cabin, but I'm confident that it would have made its way that far well before this period If I had not tried the extinguishers. Keep in mind that I am well outside of my area, so when the fire truck pulled up and I happened to recognize the driver, I felt a little better. He quickly gave me the okay to strap on an air tank and proceed with fire attack. I was quickly able to control the fire and preserves a few of the items left in the back compartment of his vehicle. I felt very good about my decisions to stop, to keep using the Fire extinguishers although I wasn't confident they would put the fire completely out, and be suited up for when the truck came. I truly believe that my actions saved some of this man's property, and possibly his life. 

You can have all the fire classes in the world without experience, but good decisions come from lessons learned. Learn your lessons well. Take mistakes as a lesson learned and always strive to do a good job. Keep fighting the good fight. 

Relief

In the fire service, there are a multitude of calls that we answer on a daily and even a weekly basis. Most of these emergency calls are EMS calls. Even with quite a few years of experience running medical calls, I still find myself learning something new each run. Most medical calls are routine, however, they can turn for the worse within seconds. I respond to most of these calls routinely, as I would any other emergency call. As far as medical calls go, I don't play around when it comes to kids. As a father myself, I understand the importance of help arriving quickly. Not to mention that an adult death is already a tragedy, but when it's a child...it's a whole different scene. We can remain rock solid when looking at the destruction that was once someone's everything, we can be rock solid as a family mourns the passing of another loved one who is an adult. I don't care what anyone says, how long anyone has been doing this, or what kind of personality you have... The death of any child that we are called to care for is going to affect us in some way.  Fortunately, I have never lost a child that I have worked on.

My mind wanders back, today, to a medical call that I ran some time ago involving a baby only weeks old. The call came in as difficulty breathing and turning colors, I wasted no time getting myself to the scene. When I pulled up to the house, the mother brought me her son, who couldn't have been more than a couple weeks old. She told me that his breathing had only slightly improved, but his color had still not returned. My first instinct was that I did not want to attempt to work on this little man outside in the sun, so I shuttled us back indoors. This was probably the first infant call I had ran on my own since I had become certified. Granted, I had back up coming, but the initial contact was still just me. As I asked the mother to hand me the baby, I became instantly terrified. "Is this beautiful little boy going to die in my arms??", I thought, "Would I be able to live with that? How?". I went back to my training, all those years of EMS classes. I noticed first, that his neck position was not ideal, maybe even restricting the airway slightly. I laid him down on the bed, cradling his neck with my arm, and put it in a position that I knew would open the airway fully. In less than a minute, his color had returned. The breathing was still not ideal, but he was breathing.  

The battalion chief walked in at this moment and began doing his thing. Being more experienced, he asked to hold the baby to provide additional care. Not long after, and out of nowhere, I heard one of the most relieving sounds in my entire career...the small cry of an infant being woke up. His eyes were open, he was moving, and he was even making little sounds. I have never felt more relieved on a call in my entire life. Being as humble as I am, I couldn't help but feel extremely good about the deed I had just done as I drove back. That is probably one of the only times that I can remember feeling like I actually made a difference.  

In all the stress of our daily lives, with a million and a half things going on...we can sometimes become overwhelmed. With what seems like the weight of the entire world on your shoulders, there is no lighter feeling that comes when you hear the soft cry of a baby telling you everything is alright. There's no better outcome than a job well done. 

Keep fighting the good fight....

Foundation

Fire calls are down, and medical calls are up. I can remember back in the day only hearing one or two medical calls a week while running at least that many fires a day. Now, you'll probably run that many working fires a month, but one or two medical calls a day...minimum! What does this say? That we have become safer, but less healthy? Were we healthier in previous years? Being from the south, I doubt that. What does this mean for the Fd? Skilled medical responders are in demand. If there were 3 of us per response area, there would be enough experience on scene to handle the call plus backup if needed. You'd also have backup if another call comes in. I went through this exact situation recently. I was responding to a call involving a child to the south of me. I don't play when it comes to kids! A few minutes away, I was cancelled. A little agitated, I prepared to turn around and return home. Just before I could even make a turn, they sent us another call close by. I was able to arrive within a couple short minutes. When I walked in the door and gathered the complaint, I quickly noticed a problem that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. I formed a solution and quickly administered it. I felt accomplished when my solution produced some relief. My skill and awareness to my surroundings was paying off. I may not have "saved her life", but I did make her feel better..and that was good with me.

In the fire service, everyone MUST work together. If this teamwork is not possible, is not obtained, or fails...objectives cannot be completed effectively and efficiently. I am both around the station more than I probably should be and not around the station alot. Make sense? Yeah, me neither. Nevertheless, even I can see that our structure is falling apart. The bricks that hold up the house are crumbling under pressure. The volunteers, for whatever reason, aren't working well with the paid guys. I would be willing to bet that some of them are a even little hesitant to follow their leaders (officers). Well, I don't blame them! These kinds of officers are exactly what I had when I was coming up. When I started this journey, I vowed to be the best officer that I could be. Now, I'm not tooting my own horn here, but I'd have to say that I don't do too bad of a job. I am knowledgeable in our policies (for the most part), I am VERY familiar with my firefighters on both a personal level and department level, I take the time to work with ANYONE wishing to learn more, and I go to bat for anyone that I feel deserves a defense. I have no doubt what-so-ever that my group of firefighters would follow my lead any given day of the week. I can work well with just about anyone, and try my best to diffuse situations where I can, but some things are just out of my reach. The point is, if the bricks keep crumbling...the house is going to fall. Then what?

 I have been single, still, for quite some time. I have been reaching out, conversing with ones that I find interesting. If it turns into a "friendship", then we move on from there. If it moves further, great...if not, oh well. It should go without saying that I've had more "oh well" moments lately. It's discouraging, but I keep the thought that something better waits for me. In a series of unplanned and unideal circumstances...I have actually met someone. Well, I wouldn't say that I met someone as much as I simply became reacquainted with her from somewhere around 20 years ago. I will pause, for a moment, and say that thinking back 20 years amazes me. I would have never thought that I would reference such a number of years in my life. I look back on 20 years ago and remember myself and my life. My father was the age that I am now, we had just moved into a house in a subdivision, I had started a new school, and I was nowhere NEAR thinking about this point in my life. Alot has changed, my friends. Back to the story. Like I said, through a series of unplanned and unideal circumstances (that I wont get into), I met someone. There have been a couple of set backs, but I can say that things are better than I would have ever expected at this point. Despite the circumstances, and say what you will, but this is the first time, in a long time, that I have felt this much for a woman. So many more factors are here now than I have seen in a long time. These are things I hoped for in other relationships, but could not find. I see happiness in my sights....finally. There are still some things ahead of us, I'm sure, but we are building a stronger structure by the day. I cant stop smiling. I know she is reading this...and I hope she is smiling too.

I always said that it was my life goal in the fire department to become lieutenant. I wont lie, before our departments merged, I dreamed of being fire chief of the local department I was with. I wanted to be the leader that everyone looked up to, everyone trusted, and that turned the department completely around. I honestly envisioned someone inquiring about volunteering at the department. As the paid guy would be explaining things, I would pull up. Young, skillful, and motivated forward.....I wanted to be looked at as the youngest, coolest, most motivated and professional fire chief in department history. Looking at where we were located...that may have been a reach. However, I have noticed that I now aspire to climb a step higher. Yeah, I still think about being the chief one day, but I see his work load...and I'm not ready for all that yet. I'm looking to be a bigger, better leader. I want to be the leader to the leaders. I want to show the leaders how to be leaders and how to lead future leaders. Make sense? I want to be Captain next. I have much to work on to reach the level that the ones above me hold, but I doubt not that this can be achieved.


No philosophy here, just the same old lines. Work hard, learn more, inspire others, make time, take time, take advantage, be a team player, reach higher, and most importantly....never give up.