Who amongst us will have the next... TURN in the BARREL ?


Who amongst us will have the next... TURN in the BARREL ? by Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, E.F.O. Firefighterclosecalls.com
Who amongst us will have the next... TURN in the BARREL ? By now, everyone has read about the unfortunate on-duty assualt that occured ealrlier this year ago in a Staten Island, N.Y. firehouse. It would seem that the NY press had NOTHING ELSE to write about that week. Was it unfortunate? Worse-it was horrible. A firefighter was seriously hurt....no question. BUT, the way the media wrote it up, someone would be lead to believe that sort of thing happens everyday. Slow news days. We looked at it from a different angle. There is a term that we have heard over the years and have used many times. The term is "their turn in the barrel" and what that means is that ALL OF US, at one time or another have our TURN IN THE BARREL. In other words, at some point(s) in our careers as *volunteer or career firefighters and officers, we will become involved in something (your fault or not-it doesnt matter) that will cause you to have major career problems to deal with. You or someone you work with or supervise will do or say something that will cause those around you to have a crisis. They will call for reports, investigations and a everyone and their brother and sister will be crawling up your rear. It's not a fun time. Sometimes it works out and life goes on. Sometimes it doesnt and life changes....and sometimes the outcome has nothing to do with the facts. Thats just the way it is sometimes. SO-whats my point? How do WE as FIREFIGHTERS treat each other, when one of our own has their "turn in the barrel"..??* Are you (or do you know of....) one of those who lays IMMEDIATE guilt on those involved? Are you one of those who "spreads the stuff good" and gets all that bad news (fact or fiction?...usually its way too early to tell) out...like some gossipy little school kid? Are you one who is quick to "point the fingers at that bastid? Are you one of those who totally forgets all the good that the "person in the barrel" has done over the years and quickly "jumps on the bandwagon" to watch'em sink? OR...are you one of the ones that tries to be the voice of calm and reminds everyone who is "going nuts and running their mouths" that they need to slow down...and wait...wait for the facts to come out...don't be so quick to judge....cause ya never know when it will be "your tunr in the barrel"....? Next time ya think or talk about the BROTHERHOOD and SISTERHOOD of the fire service...consider APPLYING that "hood" stuff when someone you know has "their turn in the barrel"....consider applying that layer of calm, by giving your BROTHER or SISTER the benefit of doubt. Sure-the Staten Island situation was real bad...but odd's are, you weren't there. Same goes for what happens in many of our firehouses everyday. Slow down. Ya never know when "your turn in the barrel will come"....and when it does, you'll be glad you at least supported some of the others before you. There are plenty of non-fire folks out there who can and do like to spread the nasty stuff about firefighters....we should'nt be so quick to jump on our own. Speaking of someone's TURN IN THE BARREL, what about these NJ. Firefighters? LESSONS LEARNED? Here is an "on going" tragic situation that started before a firefighter was killed. Sometimes we LOVE to talk about stuff in "the firehouse" as we discussed above...other times, we don't say ENOUGH or won't speak up at all when maybe we oughta. In this case you'll read where nearby fire officials "knew of these problems" but no one wanted to do anything about it-or felt uncomfortable bring up issues that "didn't concern them". Why don't we speak up when we should? When we KNOW something is screwed up, why do we shy away from speaking up? It's a little bit of human nature. Few want to "be the one to bring IT up"...no matter what IT is. Bringing "IT" up could cost you a relationship, a job, a rank, a position and can get real political. You could be accused of being a "gossip" or a "trouble maker"...After all, we were raised to "mind our own business"...sometimes. But then, something goes wrong and THEN people say "WE KNEW this would happen"...Yeah-there is a balance. When it comes to "stirring stuff up" on typical firehouse nonsense, we need to think (see BARREL). But when it comes to "stiring stuff up" in relation to our genuine ability to operate on as safe a fireground as possible, someone needs to speak up...before it gets worse. MAYBE there is a lesson to be learned here: (Here is an excerpt from an article) Two top Verga, NJ Fire Company officials were asked to resign in the wake of a state report which cited the department in the 2001 death of a veteran firefighter. The report said his death was caused by the fire company's use of a steady stream of water, which pushed the fire and super-heated gases on him; a failure to use proper equipment; and the incident commander's improper analysis of fire conditions which led him to send Heenan and firefighter James Miller into the house directly over where the fire was burning in the basement. Mutual aid FD's have removed Verga from their mutual aid list. "We don't feel comfortable, and that's the truth," said one Chief. Tom Grasso, a Green-Fields Fire Co. firefighter of two years, said the measure is "50 years too late," particularly because state and federal agencies already require training and certification be kept up to date. Grasso said all of Verga's officers should step down. He claimed that improper practices -- including fighting fires without necessary equipment -- is nothing new for Verga. "It's something that's been going on for years," Grasso said, adding that firefighters had made jokes about it in the past. "The laughing stopped the day Jim (Heenan) died." This situation may also lead to the pulling of the Verga Fire Company's authority to fight fires, in effect a disbanding of the company. Unfortunately, following the fire, Verga officials did not cooperate with state investigators and their records had to be subpoenaed. Sometimes we need to not spread gossip about trivial situations in the firehouse or at least not contribute to stuff until the facts are out. On the other hand, sometimes, when it is obvious that "someone is gonna get hurt or killed because of "this or that" one of these days"...we oughta be shouting loud and clear.
About the author: Chief Billy Goldfeder has been a firefighter since 1973, serves as Deputy Fire Chief of the Loveland-Symmes FD in S.W. Ohio. A Chief Officer since 1982, he has served as a Fire Chief in Ohio, Virginia and Florida. Chief Goldfeder also served as a Public Protection representative covering southern New York, for I.S.O. as well as a Company Officer with the Manhasset-Lakeville F.D., in Long Island, N.Y. both in the mid-70’s. A 1993 graduate of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program, he is the former Chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs VCOS Section. In 2001, Chief Goldfeder was honored with an appointment of Hon. Battalion Chief of F.D.N.Y. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation as well as the Board of Directors of the 9/11 Widows, Victims and Families Association. Additionally, he is the recipient of numerous operational and administrative awards and recognitions and received the Loveland-Symmes FD Departmental Award of Excellence in 2003, the Dana Hannon Training Award for 2004, the I.S.F.S.I. Fire Instructor of The Year Award for 2004 and an I.A.F.C. Presidential Award for 2005.Chief Goldfeder recently completed his 6th year as a Commissioner on the Commission of Fire Accreditation International. He serves as an Associate/Contributing Editor for FIRE ENGINEERING, FIREHOUSE, FIRE RESCUE and several State and regional fire magazines as well as WithTheCommand.Com, Firehouse.Com and is a member of the F.E.T.N. (Fire and Emergency Television Network) Advisory Board. He has spoken on, as well as published, numerous articles on subjects such as combination FD's, fire command and tactics, firefighter/fireground safety, apparatus design and deployment and fireground staffing. His monthly column "Close Calls" appears in FIREHOUSE Magazine and his bi-weekly radio show “Through the Smoke” is hosted on Firehouse.com. Chief Goldfeder has served on several N.F.P.A. and I.A.F.C. Committees. He is the Vice Chairman of the I.A.F.C. Safety, Health and Survival Section, is a member of the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting Task Force (I.A.F.C.) and has been an Instructor at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (F.D.I.C.) for the past 24 years as well as a member of the FDIC Advisory Board for the past 14 years. He has and does provide consulting services for municipal and private corporations with a clear focus on firefighter safety and survival. Chief Goldfeder, along with Captain Gordon Graham, police/fire service risk management expert, attorney and California Highway Patrol Captain, hosts and sponsors the website, Firefighterclosecalls.com, a 100% non-commercial, independent and free site with only 1 focus: Firefighter Safety, Survival and Getting Everyone Home! He can be contacted at BillyG@FirefighterCloseCalls.com

Who amongst us will have the next... TURN in the BARREL ?
by Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, E.F.O.
Firefighterclosecalls.com

Who amongst us will have the next... TURN in the BARREL ?

By now, everyone has read about the unfortunate on-duty assualt that occured ealrlier this year ago in a Staten Island, N.Y. firehouse. It would seem that the NY press had NOTHING ELSE to write about that week. Was it unfortunate? Worse-it was horrible. A firefighter was seriously hurt....no question.

BUT, the way the media wrote it up, someone would be lead to believe that sort of thing happens everyday. Slow news days.

We looked at it from a different angle.

There is a term that we have heard over the years and have used many times. The term is "their turn in the barrel" and what that means is that ALL OF US, at one time or another have our TURN IN THE BARREL. In other words, at some point(s) in our careers as volunteer or career firefighters and officers, we will become involved in something (your fault or not-it doesnt matter) that will cause you to have major career problems to deal with. You or someone you work with or supervise will do or say something that will cause those around you to have a crisis. They will call for reports, investigations and a everyone and their brother and sister will be crawling up your rear. It's not a fun time. Sometimes it works out and life goes on. Sometimes it doesnt and life changes....and sometimes the outcome has nothing to do with the facts. Thats just the way it is sometimes. SO-whats my point?

How do WE as FIREFIGHTERS treat each other, when one of our own has their "turn in the barrel"..??

Are you (or do you know of....) one of those who lays IMMEDIATE guilt on those involved? Are you one of those who "spreads the stuff good" and gets all that bad news (fact or fiction?...usually its way too early to tell) out...like some gossipy little school kid? Are you one who is quick to "point the fingers at that bastid? Are you one of those who totally forgets all the good that the "person in the barrel" has done over the years and quickly "jumps on the bandwagon" to watch'em sink?

OR...are you one of the ones that tries to be the voice of calm and reminds everyone who is "going nuts and running their mouths" that they need to slow down...and wait...wait for the facts to come out...don't be so quick to judge....cause ya never know when it will be "your tunr in the barrel"....?

Next time ya think or talk about the BROTHERHOOD and SISTERHOOD of the fire service...consider APPLYING that "hood" stuff when someone you know has "their turn in the barrel"....consider applying that layer of calm, by giving your BROTHER or SISTER the benefit of doubt.

Sure-the Staten Island situation was real bad...but odd's are, you weren't there. Same goes for what happens in many of our firehouses everyday. Slow down. Ya never know when "your turn in the barrel will come"....and when it does, you'll be glad you at least supported some of the others before you. There are plenty of non-fire folks out there who can and do like to spread the nasty stuff about firefighters....we should'nt be so quick to jump on our own.

Speaking of someone's TURN IN THE BARREL, what about these NJ. Firefighters?

LESSONS LEARNED? Here is an "on going" tragic situation that started before a firefighter was killed.

Sometimes we LOVE to talk about stuff in "the firehouse" as we discussed above...other times, we don't say ENOUGH or won't speak up at all when maybe we oughta. In this case you'll read where nearby fire officials "knew of these problems" but no one wanted to do anything about it-or felt uncomfortable bring up issues that "didn't concern them".

Why don't we speak up when we should?

When we KNOW something is screwed up, why do we shy away from speaking up? It's a little bit of human nature. Few want to "be the one to bring IT up"...no matter what IT is. Bringing "IT" up could cost you a relationship, a job, a rank, a position and can get real political. You could be accused of being a "gossip" or a "trouble maker"...After all, we were raised to "mind our own business"...sometimes.

But then, something goes wrong and THEN people say "WE KNEW this would happen"...Yeah-there is a balance. When it comes to "stirring stuff up" on typical firehouse nonsense, we need to think (see BARREL). But when it comes to "stiring stuff up" in relation to our genuine ability to operate on as safe a fireground as possible, someone needs to speak up...before it gets worse.

MAYBE there is a lesson to be learned here: (Here is an excerpt from an article)

Two top Verga, NJ Fire Company officials were asked to resign in the wake of a state report which cited the department in the 2001 death of a veteran firefighter. The report said his death was caused by the fire company's use of a steady stream of water, which pushed the fire and super-heated gases on him; a failure to use proper equipment; and the incident commander's improper analysis of fire conditions which led him to send Heenan and firefighter James Miller into the house directly over where the fire was burning in the basement. Mutual aid FD's have removed Verga from their mutual aid list. "We don't feel comfortable, and that's the truth," said one Chief.

Tom Grasso, a Green-Fields Fire Co. firefighter of two years, said the measure is "50 years too late," particularly because state and federal agencies already require training and certification be kept up to date. Grasso said all of Verga's officers should step down. He claimed that improper practices -- including fighting fires without necessary equipment -- is nothing new for Verga. "It's something that's been going on for years," Grasso said, adding that firefighters had made jokes about it in the past. "The laughing stopped the day Jim (Heenan) died."

This situation may also lead to the pulling of the Verga Fire Company's authority to fight fires, in effect a disbanding of the company. Unfortunately, following the fire, Verga officials did not cooperate with state investigators and their records had to be subpoenaed.

Sometimes we need to not spread gossip about trivial situations in the firehouse or at least not contribute to stuff until the facts are out.

On the other hand, sometimes, when it is obvious that "someone is gonna get hurt or killed because of "this or that" one of these days"...we oughta be shouting loud and clear.

About the author:

Chief Billy Goldfeder has been a firefighter since 1973, serves as Deputy Fire Chief of the Loveland-Symmes FD in S.W. Ohio. A Chief Officer since 1982, he has served as a Fire Chief in Ohio, Virginia and Florida. Chief Goldfeder also served as a Public Protection representative covering southern New York, for I.S.O. as well as a Company Officer with the Manhasset-Lakeville F.D., in Long Island, N.Y. both in the mid-70’s.

A 1993 graduate of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program, he is the former Chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs VCOS Section. In 2001, Chief Goldfeder was honored with an appointment of Hon. Battalion Chief of F.D.N.Y. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation as well as the Board of Directors of the 9/11 Widows, Victims and Families Association. Additionally, he is the recipient of numerous operational and administrative awards and recognitions and received the Loveland-Symmes FD Departmental Award of Excellence in 2003, the Dana Hannon Training Award for 2004, the I.S.F.S.I. Fire Instructor of The Year Award for 2004 and an I.A.F.C. Presidential Award for 2005.Chief Goldfeder recently completed his 6th year as a Commissioner on the Commission of Fire Accreditation International. He serves as an Associate/Contributing Editor for FIRE ENGINEERING, FIREHOUSE, FIRE RESCUE and several State and regional fire magazines as well as WithTheCommand.Com, Firehouse.Com and is a member of the F.E.T.N. (Fire and Emergency Television Network) Advisory Board. He has spoken on, as well as published, numerous articles on subjects such as combination FD's, fire command and tactics, firefighter/fireground safety, apparatus design and deployment and fireground staffing. His monthly column "Close Calls" appears in FIREHOUSE Magazine and his bi-weekly radio show “Through the Smoke” is hosted on Firehouse.com.

Chief Goldfeder has served on several N.F.P.A. and I.A.F.C. Committees. He is the Vice Chairman of the I.A.F.C. Safety, Health and Survival Section, is a member of the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting Task Force (I.A.F.C.) and has been an Instructor at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (F.D.I.C.) for the past 24 years as well as a member of the FDIC Advisory Board for the past 14 years. He has and does provide consulting services for municipal and private corporations with a clear focus on firefighter safety and survival. Chief Goldfeder, along with Captain Gordon Graham, police/fire service risk management expert, attorney and California Highway Patrol Captain, hosts and sponsors the website, Firefighterclosecalls.com, a 100% non-commercial, independent and free site with only 1 focus: Firefighter Safety, Survival and Getting Everyone Home!

He can be contacted at BillyG@FirefighterCloseCalls.com