Trending Topics
Thiel_600x530.jpeg

Adam K. Thiel

Fire News in Focus

Adam K. Thiel is the fire commissioner and director of the Office of Emergency Management in the city of Philadelphia. Thiel previously served as a fire chief in the National Capital Region and as a state fire director for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Thiel’s operational experience includes serving with distinction in four states as a chief officer, incident commander, company officer, hazardous materials team leader, paramedic, technical rescuer, structural/wildland firefighter and rescue diver. He also directly participated in response and recovery efforts for several major disasters, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Tropical Storm Gaston and Hurricane Isabel.

LATEST ARTICLES
Why do we as a fire service place ourselves at substantial risk to save burning vehicles in the first place?
It’s always hard to explain why you didn’t have a critical resource when/where it was needed
Incident commanders must always weigh the costs and benefits of vertical ventilation
Personally, I love media calls and getting cameras on scene since many people have no idea what we do, or how we do it
There are so many field applications for a robust firefighter tracking system
We all know that we are held to a different (higher) standard than other people
Video shows firefighters attacking flames at a structure and adjacent vehicles in Columbia, Miss., without proper PPE
I think I’ll always believe the best way for fire and EMS personnel to stay safe on a violent incident is to stay out of it
If we don’t tell our citizens what to expect if cuts are made, then nobody else will
Probably the most important thing is to ensure departments provide rigorous driver/operator training programs and safe SOPs