Roughneck Firemanship, LLC

Proactive RIT. It’s something that we preach. Why waste a company of men to “hurry up and wait”?

If you’re fortunate enough to run with aggressive truck drivers or OVs then your outside functions as RIT should be nearly non-existent.

Outside functions include (but not limited to) gas shut off, electricity control, laddering to above grade floors, forcible entry and window bar removal.

All these functions are important. It’s possible that you may be over extended, to the point that you can no longer effectively deploy as a RIT company.

What is the point of no return? At what point do you tell command that you’re committed and can’t function as RIT? What arrival conditions do you ask for an additional RIT? What do you do when your dispatched as RIT and arrive first or second due?

I understand there is a lot to unload here. I ask so many questions to develope discussion in the comment section. Don’t hesitate to leave a response to any of the questions. Hopefully we can learn something too.

Not just academy classes, any class with search or real world fireground operations should include this as well. It will happen on the fireground, and just like everything else, if you're not prepared for it then prepare to fail.

Infant Thrown from Window, Two Kids Critical After Rescue in Pontiac (MI) Apartment Fire - FirefighterNation: Fire Rescue - Firefighting News and Community A mother threw her in infant from a second-story window to the child's father and then jumped herself during a fire in a Pontiac townhouse.

We always enjoy helping at events like these. Awesome turn out to support a brother at the Train for Kaine event!

Thank you to Rockin SF Photography for the pictures.

RFB. If you're able to help support the wife and young son our brother leaves behind please do so.

https://www.theyardfoundation.org/fallen-firefighter-james-muller

Passion for the Craft, LLC on TikTok It is with great sadness we announce the line of duty death of one of our own. James Muller was the definition of a fireman through and through. He tragically passed while fighting an apartment fire, risking it all for the ones he swore to protect. It was an honor to know you brother. He truly lived...

Jmichael Muller was a top shelf fireman who made a hell of an impression on many of us as a fireman, husband and father. A true student of the craft and incredible human being. Our brother will be missed. Please keep his family and brothers and sisters on the job in your thoughts. RFB.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=742105614583442&id=100063520302248&mibextid=Nif5oz

SEND IT!
FTM!

Long live OKFC!

50 min! 50 min to once again prove everyone wrong. People I've known for years, chiefs (all the ones that have never crawled a hallway anyways) in my own county and others turned their backs on us for simply putting facts and science out there in a unapologetic manner. They didn't do it because it's wrong, they did it because we refuse to buy into the fear of bad information that has terrified them. They did it simply because they don't agree with us and let personality conflict stop their people from attending anything we do. Safety is big buisness and nothing sells it more than fear, bad information and self promoting agendas. The public doesn't need cowards, they need aggressive, well trained people coming. See everyone in October!

50 Min! That's all it takes to prove them all wrong. That ain't half bad.

19:00 EST TONIGHT! Be ready...
https://youtu.be/bMYbkT2Tkdk

Oathkeepers Fire Conference 2023 Oathkeepers Fire Conference 2023

Got plans Friday night? If the don't include getting your tickets for OK Fire Conference at 7pm EST then you need better plans! Tickets sell out fast and raise money for multiple good causes.

Oathkeepers Fire Conference 2023 Oathkeepers Fire Conference 2023

Registration goes live May 19, 2023 at 7pm EST! We're stoked to be back again as part of this kick ass crew. Tickets sell out fast, don't sleep on it!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/336626076657

Oathkeepers Fire Conference 2023

Good luck and safe travels for everyone headed to Rescue Great Day especially cadre member Justin Hanley and his crew Chisholm Trail Rescue and our homies with Red River Rescue.

Mark you calendars and plan now if you want to score tickets to one of the best, rep intensive, no bu****it, gimmick free weekend of real world firemanship. We're honored to be back as part of the cadre again this year, come get better at the job, spend time with like minded brothers and sisters and help raise money for 3 great causes. See you there.

Oathkeepers Fire Conference 2023 Oathkeepers Fire Conference 2023

🔥EMS Runs + Fire First Mindset = Learning Opportunities🔥

EMS runs typically dominate our responses no matter where you work. Whether your career or volunteer, take these opportunities to propel an aggressive mindset forward. The ability to scope out or preplan your district on EMS calls cost us nothing. It gives us insight into building construction, layouts, hazards, potential patient locations, and access issues.

We aren't here to judge people's living conditions, but to best serve them, we need to understand how they live and how we best work through the obstacles present. As seen below, simple tasks like taking a door become an impossible task. This door was blocked by boxes filled with books that extended to the patients bed. I was taught to use the rule of 3 in situations like forcible entry. If your using appropriate methods based on what's handed to you, try 3 times legitimately and move on. This has helped my tunnel vision with these tasks. Initiate access through the window or another door, but be able to pull the trigger on that decision quickly.

While discussing this layout with the crew, the fireman stated he wouldn't have anticipated the 2 hospital beds in the living area. It sparked a conversation about when we all deal with moving a family member to this style bed, it's usually not going to replace the original bed. Families often place them in recreation rooms, living rooms, or next to the patients previous bed. These patients rely on us more than the ambulatory patient.

Something that caught my eye was the sign on the door that says to use the back door with and arrow. Do you think you'd catch that sign after the sun has gone down and your up to bat? From all levels on the fire ground we need to be constantly sizing up our tasks and adjusting accordingly.

*The home owner approved these pictures and was appreciative that we were looking for these things to plan for the future.

Staffing matters. Just because a red truck shows up doesn't mean your getting what you think your getting. We all know the departments around us that don't prioritize what's best for the community while the community still thinks the world of the department. They just have no idea they are being let down. Go read the comment sections of any fire video. Regardless if the video is great or its clear the department failed, you will find constant praise from citizens thanking them for their service and praising their actions. It comes down to honest ignorance. They don't know there shouldn't be only 2 guys on a rig. They don't know these guys don't know how to pull hose, force doors, or search. They trust and believe that the guys stepping off the truck are well training and prepared for what's at hand. They believe the guys that showed up did everything they could. Sadly they believe all this because some departments have done such a bang up job selling their crap. Not all departments are equal. No department is perfect either, but doing things that support THE mission will in turn make us closer to THEIR expectations.

Search Culture National Fire Radio FIRExTalk FireNuggets Flow and Vent OK Fire Conference On Brothers In Battle, LLC For Them Fire Conference Firefighter Rescue Survey Train or Die Smooth Bore Cartel PintheQ Productions

Haverhill Fire Chief Credits Newly Expanded Four-Firefighter Crew For Saving Grove Street Home A house fire late Monday afternoon would likely have caused more damage if not for the recently expanded, four-person crew dispatched from Haverhill’s High Street fire station. The fire, reported at 5:19 p.m., at a two-family home at 163-165 Grove St., displaced 10 residents who escaped safely. F

Instructor Highlight
Justin Hanley

Taking the tips, tricks, and ideas we are taught with VES and developing a framework to effectively perform when it is crucial for us to be at our best.

20 years ago today Oscar Armstrong was killed in the line of duty by a flashover. Oscar's death has had a major impact on firefighter training and tactics in the country and personally on many of our cadre. Please help us to continue to honor Oscar's memory by learning from his family's loss by taking time today to drill on the lessons learned from his death. RFB, never forgotten.

Enhanced LODD Report- https://www.dropbox.com/s/uy6vflcxvfwuect/oscar-armstrong-report.pdf?dl=0

Four Roughneck brothers made the journey (well, one did, the other three were pulling double duty) to Screven County Georgia for the Black Sheep FOOLS Truck Company HOT day. Our brothers helped with VES, Ladders, and Forcible Entry, making the fire service better through small actions.

Last month we spent 2 days out in Wise County, Texas with the West Fork Trinity Firefighters Group working on modern search techniques. The students learned and applied new thought processes prioritizing the search in limited staffing situations. For most, this was an introduction to a new set of basics for them to take back to their departments. Huge thanks to Wise County ESD #1 for having us!

RFB

Portable ladders on the front/face side of a pitched roof.
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The first image gives your standard look on how we typically place portable ground ladders, straight on and even with our target.
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When our target is the roof, and if this is the only side accessible, then we work with what we have.
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When setting our ground ladders “straight-on” with our target here, our left beam isn’t making contact thus giving us an unstable ladder.
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If this is our only access and we need to make the roof, by placing our ladder and then taking the foot or bottom end and moving into the direction of the pitch we are approaching, we get full contact and create a stable setting.
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By looking at this imagine, let’s say this is our Alpha Side. If I’m approaching with the pitch coming from the Bravo side, I move the foot of the ladder towards the Bravo until I have a solid setting; same applies if we were to approach from the Delta Side.

We are held to a standard. The public does not care if you are career or a vollie. They expect professional experts. Act accordingly. Never betray the trust.

It's always a great weekend here in South Carolina celebrating and remembering a man we here at Roughneck never had the pleasure of getting to know. We are blessed and fortunate to come here each year to learn and share next to some of the best in the business. It was another amazing weekend with great students and friends🤙

On Scene Training Associates, LLC
Charleston Metro FOOLS

New year, new challenge. Give it a try!

Bringing this post back for our brothers and sisters who are looking at some temperatures they're not used to. Also remember people with nowhere to call home are going to be places you might not expect to stay warm and alive.

While it's been 21 years since the brothers known as the W6 were lost, there are still many lessons to be learned. We have people on the job who weren't even born when this tragedy happened and we owe it to the memory of the fallen that their names and lessons live on. RFB

Interview with Worcester District Chief Mike McNamee Interview with retired Worcester, Mass., District Chief Mike McNamee. As the 10th anniversary of the deadly Worcester Cold Storage warehouse fire approaches,...

Let's do it again! Save the dates now.

SAVE THE DATE! OCTOBER 13-15, 2023! Registration will open Spring 2023!

Our homies from Dixie Firemanship, LLC dropping the truth for today.

With a string of bad weather predicted to come through, it brought the usual phone call from the shift commander. “Start your saws and make sure they are ready to go.” This is where the real discussion comes in. Are you able to say, I ran them this morning at rig check, and all is squared away. Or do you have to go and check them because it wasn’t the one day a week that the small engines are started?



This is where the problem lies.... are we saying that the fact that we may have to go cut a tree out of the road is worth making sure that the saw runs, but the fact that we may need the saw on a fire or extrication that day is not worth the time that morning? When the reality is that when the saw is needed to vertical vent, door conversion, or cut burglar bars off a window, it can very easily be a citizen’s life being affected, or one of our own’s life relying on that saw.



Just like many have said before, I also have a Stihl saw in my shed that sometimes goes months without being started. Yes, it always starts and runs just fine like Stihl is known for. The only difference is, if my saw for some reason doesn’t start, someone’s life isn’t depending on it when it fails. Now I'm not saying start the saws and run them like a scalded dog every morning. Simply start it, make sure it runs properly, top the fuel off, and check the chain. It is a big deal because you swore to do everything in your power to protect and save the lives of those in your coverage area, and that may have been as simple as taking the time to start the saws in the morning.

-Mayfield

This is an excellent look at a very unique and dynamic incident and includes lessons that evey rank and position can learn from.

Boyd Street Boyd Street recounts the 2020 Toy District Fire that injured eleven Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) members. This documentary tells the story of the ...

If you're not getting your thoughts outside the box for protection of victims awaiting rescue, here's your wake up call. Rapid line placement, aggressive search and rescue operations are always the default agressive plan. But what happens when the victim is too large to physically remove with present resources? Cut off from rapid access due to fire conditions? This doesnt just apply to high rise operations either. Getting the RIT pack, or if you can be "safe" and the victim isn't, your own mask to those eating crap has to be an option. A tip of the lid to the brother at FDNY for making s**t happen today. (Additional photo in comments)

Less than a month out from the RNF family putting in work with all of the brothers and sisters at the OK Fire Conference. We hope to see you there, and put in work with you. Few conferences out there give you the volume of work and close feel, but every company in this family is full of go-getters, meat eaters, and wild animals. We're proud to play a small part in it.

As boss man says, "find a fu***ng excuse to win".

21 years ago this morning at change of tour our brothers at the FDNY faced one of the largest rescue operations in fire service history. As we remember the 343 who were lost that day we also give them and the brothers who survived that day our respect and admiration for how many lives were saved by their actions and sacrafice. Never forgotten. RFB

Metrics matter, but what metrics we measure are more important. At the end of the day the hoop jumping paperwork shuffle that is ISO affects our citizens insurance rate and we should endeavor to give then the best rating possible. But in that shuffle exists departments more concerned with being able to letter a rig with a rating than properly staffing it with well trained and well equipped firefighters. At the end of the day the trapped victim or owner of the fire building want and deserve first class firemen, not first class paper pushers.

Good luck and safe travels to everyone heading to Belgium for Grimp Day. Special shout out to cadre member Justin Hanley competing with the team from Chisholm Trail Rescue and our our friends on team Red River Rescue.

Just because you didn't enter a window doesn't mean you can't go out through one. The most rapid route to removal from the toxic atmosphere is what trapped victims need the most.

Cartoon by Sam Wallace

Does socioeconomic status and demographics matter to the fire service?

No.
And yes at the same time.

We've all taken and seen many others take our oath and at no point have any of them specifically said that we only serve people of X group or those who make more than Y dollars per year. Our oath and our mission is all encompassing and blind to all specifics of the people involved. Our job on every single call is to do everything we are capable of with our equipment, training and abilities to reduce harm and try to make a bad situation better. We don't (and shouldn't) give a damn about anything else other than a fellow human beings life is in peril and we have an opportunity to prevent that life from ending. That's the job as we see it.

But those factors that we are blind to on the specific individual in that time of need are not things that we should just ignore. Our running areas and citizens are diverse: from mansions, suburbs, to working class check to check and folks with nowhere to go just trying to stay alive. Millionaires, deadbeats and drug addicts, it makes no difference. Some of us have all of them, some of us have some of them and it is a part of our job to know who we serve and where/how they live. That information is a piece of the puzzle that we have to solve at every incident. It helps inform us as to where in a building people may be, what they might be doing to cook or warm themselves or otherwise stay alive and sheltered. This coupled with our size up of the structure and presenting conditions are what we use to drive our tactical priorities.

There's a very short list of things on this job that fall into the categories of "Always" and "Never" and trying to make very dynamic things fit into one of those categories is a disservice to our citizens. We, nor should anyone, be advocating for suicidal pushes, but our job is to try to find any way possible to enter a structure for extinguishment and search. That may just be a VES of one room before the master streams open up, it might be a push to hold space for searches before backing out to devensive operations.

To write off life because of a buildings alleged occupancy status and/or someone's socioeconomic status is the exact opposite of everything we as the fire service stand for.

RIT/RAT/FAST, whatever you call it, do you know where the techniques you are taught originate from? Knowing the history of the fire service and the details of how our fallen brothers and sisters were lost serve 3 purposes:

1. We learn what went wrong and how to prevent from repeating those mistakes.

2. We learn what worked or failed in those moments and what the benefit of hindsight has taught us about that situation.

3. We honor the sacrafice of the fallen by never forgetting.

Today on the anniversary of the LODD of John Nance (The Nance Drill) take time to honor his memory today and improve your below grade rescue techniques.

https://www.columbusmonthly.com/story/news/2014/02/06/the-murder-columbus-firefighter-john/20422680007/

The murder of Columbus firefighter John Nance On a hot night in the middle of the summer, somebody torched the old Mithoff Building downtown. A firefighter died there--and his friends and co-workers can't shake the memory of their agonizing inab…