FireRescue1 Article Guidelines for Authors

Thanks for your interest in contributing an article to FireRescue1.com, the leading news and information website for firefighters.

Do you have a passion for the fire service and want to share your insights? FireRescue1 is always looking to expand our team of contributors, and we welcome fellow firefighters who can clearly communicate their ideas. We seek to represent the full spectrum of the fire service, from rural to metropolitan departments, from new recruits to seasoned veterans, as well as diverse backgrounds and experiences. 

FireRescue1 promotes healthy and respectful discussion about topics within the industry. Check out our topic sections, product categories and most recent columnist articles for insights and ideas of the topics, products and themes we regularly cover.

Publication on FireRescue1.com is the best way for fire service leaders, training officers and line firefighters to reach the largest audience of fire professionals in the United States. Articles are distributed by eNewsletter, social channels and optimized for search engine discovery and ranking. Many of our contributors cite their FireRescue1 articles as important to receiving conference speaking invitations and growing a national professional network.

Lexipol is committed to conducting our business in accordance with the highest standards of business ethics. FireRescue1 editorial standards promote accuracy, fairness, balance and accountability, while promoting the advancement of the industry and the safety of those who serve their communities. Learn more: FireRescue1 Ethics and Standards.

SUBMIT AN ARTICLE PROPOSAL TO Firerescue1

Before you submit an article, please send an email to the FireRescue1 editor. For each article you are proposing:

• Working title for the article
• 2-3 sentence description of the article
• Date article will be submitted by

Include in the proposal an up-to-date bio, resume or CV. 

We regularly consider article proposals for:

• Current events, news analysis and opinion
• Non-promotional product explainers. Examples: History of the Halligan; Pike poles and hooks
• Process explainers – training, purchasing, leading teams, etc.
• Tactical tips, how-to's and best practices
• Recaps (“Quick takes”) of events or programs
• Research analysis of fire-related research in a formal but not academic tone
• Feature and human-interest articles
• First-person perspectives about more personal topics or opinions via FireRescue1 Voices 
• First-person accounts of unique or career-defining calls via FireRescue1 Unforgettable Calls
• Book excerpts or movie analysis
• Advice about how to become a firefighter
• Incident reports
• Essays, poems, illustrations and cartoons 

SUBMIT AN ARTICLE FOR REVIEW

If a site editor accepts your proposed article idea(s), review and follow these important specifications for submission style and format. As you consider the format for your article, remember that readers respond well to tips, resources, best practices, and lists.

FireRescue1 article specifications:

• Contributions must be unique and original writing that has not been previously submitted to other publications.
• Each submission is 600 to 1,500 words in a Microsoft Word document.

With your submission, please include:

• A list of references at the end of the document. If a URL is available for the reference, please provide.
• Include original photo(s) of related procedures or equipment with your submission.
• Include a short bio (3 to 5 sentences) with up to 1 hyperlink.

Note: On the use of generative AI, we understand that our contributors may want to use these tools to research story ideas and examples. We ask authors to share with the editor whether and how they’ve used these tools. Authors are accountable for the accuracy, integrity and originality of their content.

EDITING AND REVISING BEFORE PUBLICATION

If the FireRescue1 editorial team determines that the article matches the proposal, and meets our editorial needs and interests of readers, the editors will edit the document. In most cases, the edited document will be returned to you for approval of edits and required changes. After you return a revised document back to us, we will perform a final review and prepare the article for posting to FireRescue1 and schedule promotion to registered FireRescue1 members.

Finally, our regular columnists generally started as contributors. Based on the performance and quality of contributor submissions, we consider bringing on a writer as a regular columnist.