FirefighterCloseCalls.com marks 25-year anniversary with commemorative T-shirts

T-shirt sales benefit the Firefighter Cancer Support Network

December 04, 2023 06:50 PM

By Sarah Roebuck
FireRescue1

FRISCO, Texas — FirefighterCloseCalls.com, home of The Secret List, is marking its 25th anniversary of sharing information about firefighter close call incidents as well as additional resources to help keep firefighters safe and healthy, on and off the job.

The site launched in 1998 under the direction and financial support of Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder and Gordon Graham, respectively.

Goldfeder posted a message about the milestone anniversary on FirefighterCloseCalls:

“It’s an honor for us to have kept FFCC & TSL going for 25 years, and we have done so without advertising or anything other than helping Firefighters take care of those who need us and each other. No one makes any money, No one can advertise, and thanks to Gordon Graham, all operating costs are covered. Because of that: many, many thousands of you in North America and around the world get down-to-earth, plain English, timely, and factual information. You get reliable details on what has happened specifically related to Firefighter survival. Information we can then apply to our departments.”

Graham reflected on the origin of the site – and its influence 25 years later:

As a young child growing up in San Francisco, my parents would allow me to spend a month each summer with Grandma at her ranch in Colusa County. Adjacent to her home was a huge oak tree that I played on, and inside the home was a picture of the oak tree 50 years prior – so very, very small – and Grandma told me stories about how the oak tree grew so big. Now, here I am almost 70 years later, I am looking at FireFighterCloseCalls.com, where that website is today and, more importantly, how and when it started.

To commemorate its quarter-of-a-century anniversary, the site is selling T-shirts with a 25-year logo, with proceeds going to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network.

“Odds are there is NOT A FIREFIGHTER anywhere who doesn’t know another firefighter who has or had cancer. And if you do get diagnosed, the FCSN will be an integral part of helping you and your loved ones,” Goldfeder said.

The shirts are available in both short sleeves and long sleeves for a limited time. Purchase a T-shirt here.

Goldfeder serves as a senior fire adviser for FireRescue1, and Graham is co-founder of Lexipol, parent company to FireRescue1.com.