It’s always a refreshing opportunity to analyze the What Firefighters Want survey results, digging into the big debates of the year to get a sense for our readers really believe beyond the social media comments. I appreciate the 1,600-plus firefighters who completed the 2025 survey and everyone who reviewed the annual report.
While our contributing columnists focus their analysis on the survey theme — most recently, aggressive tactics amid an enhanced safety culture — I want to focus on what fire service leaders can do to make the survey results meaningful, not only for your station and/or department, but for the fire service as a whole.
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Making observations actionable
Whether maximizing emerging technologies or promoting cultural change, we must embrace change before it outpaces us by such a wide margin that our well-meaning efforts fall into the cracks of an analog, status quo system.
In the “old days,” it was codes and standards that outpaced us, I submit mostly because we simply did not like or trust change we didn’t control. Today, while codes and standards still challenge some of our resolve, the real change that is outpacing us is, of course, technology and AI.
When I joined the fire service, if you suggested that drones would be dispersing extinguishing agents or that heads-up displays would be tracking and transmitting vital signs, I would have said you were from outer space — perhaps the Jetsons’ era! I recognize my vision here was more akin to the Flintstones’ era, as technology was evolving faster than I could ever imagined.
Sitting on our laurels will not serve us well. We must have the discipline to keep pace with change and adjust our tactics; otherwise, we will become tomorrow’s dinosaurs — extinct, at least in terms of our career.
So, how do we keep pace with change? Before we talk about what to do, let’s look at the survey results for some context.
The discipline to step up
Related to giving feedback about safety issues, we asked, “What actions have you taken, if any, to share your concerns related to the safety of yourself or your members?”
I love the fact that “kitchen table talk” was the most common answer. We know the firehouse kitchen table is where many of our daily problems are discussed and, naturally, solved. Our challenge: How to ensure these conversations go beyond gripe sessions to actually affect positive change.
The beauty of the firehouse kitchen table talk is its simplicity. Unfortunately, the discipline to see talk through into action takes work. Whether that’s a training program, a memo or new order, or a broader discussion with subject matter experts, the change doesn’t automatically start when you get up from the kitchen table.
In the context of this question — voicing concern about safety issues — do you have the discipline to do something that could make a real impact? After all, we all know how much easier it is to just to get up and walk away from the table; it’s not nearly as easy to take it to your supervisor.
I go to great lengths to talk about the verb form of the word discipline in a positive light. It is refreshing and rewarding to see disciplined (adjective) crews after they have been disciplined (verb) through training or correction. And yes, discipline may result in or mean punishment, which most would consider a negative. However, the hope is that punishment affects positive change. No matter how you look at it, discipline should equal change.
Where challenges are non-critical and one-off occurrences, I will always encourage leaders to use discipline as part of a healthy training-mindset. Whether that’s a new development or a refresher on existing protocols, a well-trained and disciplined company will always rise to the occasion.
The discipline to be a savvy firefighter
Another survey question — “How do you define aggressive firefighting?” — warrants a discussion of discipline.
As I am sure you are aware, there has been significant industry debate about the relationship between aggressive tactics and safe actions, which you can unpack in several other What Firefighters Want analyses, but these two comments were very telling for me about the depth of discussion likely occurring at the kitchen table. I was encouraged by the first comment and discouraged by the second.
- “Aggressive firefighting is all about being well-trained. If you are not well-trained, then aggressive firefighting will look different. To truly practice aggressive firefighting, you must be well-trained and educated on the latest and greatest information about the art of firefighting. In order to make those decisions on the fireground that are considered aggressive, you must know what you’re looking at and make the call that can be considered aggressive. If you are making uncalculated decisions, then you are not aggressive, you are reckless. An aggressive firefighter is able to read the scene and make the decisions and have the skill to carry out the actions on the fireground. Those decisions are not ‘risky’ because a truly aggressive firefighter is only evaluating their ability to succeed based on their knowledge, skills and abilities. If you are not at the top of your game as a firefighter and the top 5-10% of your department, you are not aggressive, you are lazy.”
- “Too much to explain. Too many younger officers are reckless and overexcited.”
The key to any analysis or change is to not let discouragement consume us. We all know that transformation and/or change is not easy, and in many cases, it may be uncomfortable. It has been said that firefighting is a proverbial blue-collar job — one that is dirty and hard — but I’ll add uncomfortable.
Regardless of the color of your collar or shirt you’re wearing, it’s time to get comfortable being uncomfortable. We must have the discipline to be competently aggressive, and never recklessly incompetent, regardless of how uncomfortable that may be.
