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The weird news topic covers offbeat news about firefighting – all the quirky, unusual news that everyone in the firehouse is going to be talking about.

The fire service has long been considered one of the most trustworthy professions; however, it only takes a handful of bad behaviors to erode the public’s trust. From embezzlement of public funds to problematic social media posts, firefighters have been discovered making poor decisions that require immediate action. There’s also firehouse behavior like tardiness, insubordination and harassment that can undermine morale, increase risk and jeopardize a department’s reputation.

This series identifies the top disciplinary issues facing fire service leaders and what they can do to change bad behavior while preserving trust among the community and members. It also examines how to identify top performers, recognition for firefighters who meet or exceed department and community expectations, and how to use performance metrics in making promotion decisions.

With five generations currently serving in the fire service, new officers find themselves facing a unique supervisory challenge of learning how to lead diverse groups with different learning and leadership styles. This challenge is amplified when less experienced members are placed in supervisory roles, managing older or more experienced members.

This series reviews how new officers can effectively manage the “buddy-to-boss” transition, tips for new officers leading teams through crisis, and how to adapt learning and leadership styles to connect with all members.

Incident command is an essential function that every member must grasp early in their career. After all, just about any member could find themselves in this vital role, for example, if they are the first or highest-ranking member on scene. Would you know what to do? This FireRescue1 special coverage series shares a comprehensive approach for training members on the IC position, tackling the do’s and don’t of commanding your first fire, delivery of size-up quality reports and improving radio skills for new commanders, how to manage multiple crews, department procedures involving move-up assignments and more.

Despite national recognition, widespread access to naloxone, and millions allocated to grants to combat the opioid epidemic, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, killing an estimated 60,000 people in 2016.

This series seeks to explore why the fire service is on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, strategies to help protect first responders from fentanyl, empathy and progress in the opioid epidemic and more.

As firefighters and leaders find themselves embracing new technology, from in-mask thermal imaging, to CAD and GPS-enabled firefighter tracking systems, to drone-based size-ups, we’re collecting a wealth of information about fire behavior and fire service response.

The next steps are translating all this data to actionable steps to improve fire attack strategies, increase situational awareness, optimally direct fire response and maximize firefighter safety.

With public safety usage and applications exploding, fire department drones are poised to be the next technology to redefine emergency response. Already in use to identify wildfire origins and water deployment targets, to survey mass casualty incidents and disaster sites, and to provide eye in the sky views of active fires, the uses for UASs continue to grow.