LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
What you do, how you act and the relationships you build now matter down the road, so get out of your comfort zone, put in the work and enjoy the ride
It’s hard to sit back and watch when so much work needs to be done, but your team needs stability, not more chaos
From department culture to personal self-reflection, several factors can help you answer the question
In your first 30 days as chief, focus on building your team, embracing individuals with institutional knowledge, and finding a sounding board for new ideas
FIRE CHIEF NEWS
- Watch: FDNY battles blaze equivalent of 8-alarm fire in several buildings
- ‘Death trap': Families of fallen Baltimore firefighters sue city over abandoned buildings
- Va. city officials select 40-year fire service veteran as new chief
- Pa. firefighter campaign aims to recruit 100 junior firefighters in 7 months
- Kan. union complains about firefighters working at community center
- Calif. FD celebrates first father and son working together
- 3-alarm fire rips through Pa. rowhomes, collapsing roofs
- Wash. firefighters caught in roof collapse at bank fire
- Va. officials adjust city budget to give 5% pay raise to first responders
- N.Y. FD faces rising costs due to retirements, injuries
FIRE CHIEF DIGITAL EDITIONS
IAFC & FIRE-RESCUE INTERNATIONAL
WATCH & LEARN
Buy-in at all levels of the department is important BEFORE starting one of these programs
The Bozeman fire chief shares tips for getting buy-in from FD leadership, the gut-check moment that changed his career, and his hopes for his new IAFC role
Define the criteria for awards at your department so it doesn’t feel so arbitrary
The former Oakland fire chief talks lifelong learning, the biggest challenge of his career, plus ‘calculated aggression,’ future book titles and pet peeves
The deputy chief talks ‘30 Fires You Must Know,’ learning from the Twin Parks fire, his best advice, plus his favorite firehouse meals
It’s all comes down to clear expectations, job descriptions and staying in your lane
Digging into the assertion that there needs to be a new search-and-rescue-focused culture in which civilian safety comes first
“How many times does it take for a chief to hear near-misses before they recognize there’s a systemic problem?”
Horton reacts to some of the social media commentary elicited by the article, explaining why leaders must be honest about the realities of a fire service career
Leeb serves as chief of the Fire Academy and chair of the department’s Contamination Reduction Workgroup