FireRescue1 asked readers on social media which firefighting skills need more attention in training. The answers ranged from fireground fundamentals to fire behavior and SCBA discipline.
Check out the responses below. Have something to share? Email editor@firerescue1.com with your thoughts.
Fireground fundamentals
Many readers pointed to the fireground basics: getting water on the fire, pulling hose, throwing ladders and forcing doors. Several readers pointed out that specialty skills are built on top of these fundamentals.
- “The basics. Just go out and pull hose, flow water, search blind, throw ladders and cut holes. Get really good at those things and you can handle 99% of what this job throws at you.”
- “Moving that charged hose line, movement, flowing water and ladders!”
- “Ground ladders.”
- “The speed of getting water to the nozzle, by far.”
- “Opening the nozzle.”
- “Forcible entry.”
Additional resources:
📌 Understanding the wedge: A simple machine for forcible entry
📌 A firefighter’s back-to-basics guide to forcible entry tools
📌 The leader line: When you need fast water
📌 Nozzles 101: Smooth-bore vs. combination/fog nozzle
📌 Hey, engine company, don’t forget the ladders
Fire behavior and building construction
The largest group wanted more time on fire behavior, smoke, flow paths and building construction, the skills that tell crews what the fire is about to do. One commenter said recruit training teaches these topics in isolation and rarely ties them together on a busy scene.
- “Fire dynamics/fire behavior.”
- “Flow paths. Every firefighter should be an expert.”
- “Reading smoke.”
- “Scene size-up.”
- “Knowing building types and particular building layouts in your jurisdiction.”
- “Building construction.”
- “Basement fires.”
Additional resources:
📌 Hidden dangers: Fires in knee walls
📌 Cold storage warehouse fires: Unpacking the hidden hazards
📌 Fighting fires in booby trapped buildings
📌 Rowhouse fires: Hidden dangers and critical tactics every firefighter must know
📌 Balloon-frame construction: America’s building revolution creates firefighter nightmare
Survival skills and situational awareness
Commenters also called for more emphasis on staying alive on the fireground, from SCBA discipline and RIT to learning to pay attention to conditions.
- “Situational awareness, why you mask up at the door not in the engine.”
- “SCBA discipline. Some guys let their pack alarms go full tilt while operating outside. Makes it a problem to monitor the fireground frequency with the beeping going constantly.”
- “RIT!”
- “Firefighter safety and survival training, including SCBA drills.”
- “Dynamic risk assessment (DRA).”
- “Radio communications.”
- “Scene safety.”
- “Being aggressive when it’s safe to do so.”
Additional resources:
📌 10 SCBA tips for new firefighters
📌 Your go-to guide for back-to-basics SCBA training
📌 Training Day: 3 ways to master SCBA operation
Medical, salvage and the rest of the job
A smaller group pointed to the non-fire work that fills a shift, including patient care, lift assists and salvage.
- “Absolutely focus, target and prioritize medical above everything else.”
- “How to use a BVM.”
- “Appropriate patient assessment and manual blood pressures.”
- “Lift assisting.”
- “Salvage.”
Additional resources:
📌 11 keys to success for the rookie EMT
📌 5 tips to boost to fire-based EMS training performance
📌 Why EMS providers forget critical knowledge and how they can make it stick
Your 360 takeaways
When it comes to where training time is falling short, readers didn’t name one skill, but their answers clustered around the same ground: the fundamentals and the ability to read a fire. Hose handling, getting water on the fire, ladders and forcible entry came up often, as did fire behavior, smoke, flow paths and building construction. Survival skills like SCBA discipline, RIT and situational awareness followed, and some readers added that medical skills deserve more time than they get.
For officers and training staff, the message is to audit where drill time actually goes. If it leans toward the rare, technical call, readers are asking for a rebalance toward the skills crews use every shift. For crews, it’s a reminder that the basics are perishable, and a few minutes of hose, ladder or forcible entry practice at the station are worth more than they seem.
