Southeast ND Fire School

01/15/2026

Not super close, but within driving distance!

This is a great conference if anyone is looking to hone their fire or rescue skills. Registration is open now!

01/13/2026

Great video on how a single-person ladder throw should go.

Having a ladder compartment setup where the ladders come out on their beam does make it easier, but isn't a requirement to get it done.

01/06/2026

Beards have no place in the modern (structure) fire service.

THIS IS NOT JUST A VOLUNTEER THING!

You can find lazy firefighters in all departments. You can find firefighters that are too cool for school in all departments.

I have been to fires where volunteers showed up with a full Duck Dynasty beards because they think they look cool. You don’t cool, you look like your mask isn’t going to work.

I have also been floated out to a slow station at a CAREER department where people leave their 2 week old beard because they think a chief won’t come out to bust their chops. That station still goes to fires. That firefighter still needs to be able to perform his job, but chose laziness over performance.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, firefighters would grow long beards and mustaches so that they could soak them in water before a fire. They believed that this facial hair would help filter out the smoke and make it easier to breathe.

In 1945 SCOTT introduced their Air-Pak, allowing firefighters to operate off of stored air instead of breathing in air from the environment. That means we have had SCBAs for 81 years. 81 Years of not needing to soak your beard in water…..

Beards do not allow for a good seal on your mask. Our SCBA masks are designed to seal to your smooth skinned face, not stubble or long hairs. If you have hair where your mask is trying to contact your face, you risk breaking or never getting a seal.

If you are an interior firefighter and chose to have a beard, you are valuing your look and your laziness over your own safety, your crews safety, and your duty to serve the community.

Shave your face, the public deserves a firefighter that can perform their duty.

Shave your face, your family deserves a safe firefighter that can come home because their SCBA seal didn’t fail.

Shave your face, your brothers & sisters you work with don’t need to risk their lives to save you because you were too lazy or too cool to get some shaving cream.

If you have a beard because the economy is too rough to be spending $8 on a razor from the dollar shave club, then maybe you should reconsider your spending habits.

Shave your beard, your community deserves it.

01/05/2026

Give them a WHY.

If you are an instructor, a senior firefighter, company officer, or any position that is teaching other firefighters, you should start with a WHY.

WHY you ask? Because it sets a frame of reference, gives them a purpose, and gets everyone on the same page.

Just barking an order through your bugle does not build the ground work for thinking firefighters.

On the fireground, you just need to give direction and have it followed. We don’t have time to ask and explain WHY on the fireground.

But in training? We have time to give them the WHY. We owe it to the next generation to give them a WHY.

If you show somebody how to do something, they are allowed to ask you why we do it your way. If you don’t have an answer of WHY, are we doing it the most efficient way?

Time is life on the fire ground. If we are doing something because “we have always done it that way”, we are not doing right by the public.

If we don’t teach the incoming generation the WHY, they will do it because they are following our order not following our leadership.

We have to clean the sh****rs. WHY? Because this station is our home away from home. We want it to be an environment that people want to be in. By putting an all out effort into the small stuff like cleaning sh****rs, it shows the senior guys you care about the job.

Our hose loads should be packed clean. If they aren’t we are pulling them and repacking them. WHY? Because clean loads pull nice. On the fireground, seconds matter, and a clean pulling hose load pulls quicker. We owe it to the public to have smooth hose loads.

You need to be able to force a door and throw a ladder by yourself. WHY? Because we are resource limited and task saturated. If we show up on a fire scene with 3 guys in an engine and the 2nd truck is several minutes behind us, we don’t have the time for me to help you do your job when we have a bunch of high priority tasks to do.

We owe it to our new firefighters to give them a WHY.

We owe it to the public to give our firefighters a WHY.

Give the WHY.

01/04/2026

There are no basements in Phoenix. The lack of frost line and hard soil make basements unfeasible for house construction.

I do not work in Phoenix. I work 1200 miles away from Phoenix for a city with basements.

We have a ton of basements. Some of our houses even have basements for their basements.

Our building construction, building layouts, water system, staffing levels, and equipment setup is all different then the PFD. Every city around me has a different setup than the PFD. And yet, there are departments that follow a certain “command system” to the T when they plan their tactics.

I am a card carrying student of this “command system”. Blindly following someone because they are a big name in the fire service is how you fail your citizens and fail your firefighters.

When I started in the fire service, I was taught our #1 priority is saving the lives of the public and our #2 priority is saving property.

Saying that we need to extinguish a fire and then completely vent the structure before we can search it is absurd.

We know from the Firefighter Rescue Survey that the quicker we can find and remove a victim from a fire, the better chance they have of surviving.

Tying our firefighters to a boat anchor (hose line) is a great idea if their job is fire attack.

Tying our firefighters to a boat anchor (hose line) is a terrible idea if their job is search.

Fire attack and search are two separate jobs that need two separate crews assigned to them.

Like my hero Ron Swanson once said: “Don't half-ass two things, whole ass one thing”

I can move faster when searching with a water can or a halligan than I can with a hose line. When we force our crews to search with a hose line we are putting our fear above our duty to search.

This is an inherently dangerous job. When you took the oath of our organization, you swore to put the safety of the public above our own.

If we are physically fit, understand fire dynamics, and are efficient with our actions, we can reduce our chance of something bad happening to us, but it is never 0.

1 in 48 fires requires a civilian to be removed. Act accordingly.

01/04/2026

Efficiency is NOT a big city tactic.

In my fire service career, I have had the opportunity to work as a volunteer and as a career firefighter for multiple different departments.

I have been on fires where we had 17 people on scene in the first 5 minutes, and I have responded by myself to a fire hoping that another truck would eventually come.

The career department I work for now, we get 7 firefighters on scene in 5 minutes if we are at staffing minimums. We are resource limited and task saturated.

When you read the textbook that we are given when we take FF1, it shows firefighters carrying a ladder with 2 people. The same book shows forcing a door with 2 people.

Many departments will send their members to take Firefighter 1 & 2, and then provide no further outside training.

These same departments will go to 1 or 2 or maybe 3 fires a year. They still go to fires, but not enough to figure out the right way on their own.

Outside of a few departments in the US, almost no department goes to enough fires to stay totally internal with their thinking and their learning. We need to look at the wins and losses of other departments so that we can grow together.

In addition to working as a firefighter, I have had the opportunity to work as a fire instructor in a few different capacities.

One thing I have heard time and time again from departments is “You can’t expect us to do that, that is a big city thing”

These “big city” things they are referring to are throwing ladders with a single person, searching without a line, moving a hose line with 2 people, and forcing a door by yourself.

These aren’t “big city” things. These are things we need to do to be efficient with our resources.

The US fire service as a whole is understaffed and overwhelmed. It doesn’t matter if you are career or volunteer, if you run 100 fires a year or 1, we have the same job and the public expects the same result.

These “big city” things are a nice-to-have in a heavily staffed metro department where we you can just keep throwing people at a problem to fix it. If you work for a small rural or suburban department (which is a huge portion of the US fire service), you don’t have unlimited resources to throw at a problem.

If we tie up 2 people to move and throw a ladder, that means we are kicking another high priority task down the road.

A 24’ extension Duo Safety Ladder weighs 72 pounds. If you are an able bodied individual, you can throw a 24 foot extension ladder by yourself. If you cannot, you need to practice or reconsider your career choice.

The fire ground demands proficiency and efficiency. The slower we are at completing “zero impact tasks”, the less chance our victims have of surviving.

Doing “big city” things like throwing a ladder by yourself or advancing a line without 6 guys is a necessity for the fire service to be successful.

The public deserves a fire service that will show up and save them.

The public deserves a fire service that is efficient.

If you are struggling to be efficient, reach out to someone who can help.

Your brothers and sisters of the fire service are here for you, so you can be there for THEM.

12/23/2025

We are available over the holiday season!

Santa don't stop, and neither do you!

As a business, we understand the impact you and your department make during the holiday season!

If you need anything today, tomorrow, or on Christmas, we are here for you!

Fires don't stop for the season, so we won't either!

If you break something over the holidays and need it replaced ASAP, please do not hestitate to reach out! We will do everything we can to make things right!

Contact our main office:
701-404-7226 (call or text)
[email protected]

12/17/2025

Clean Ladder Throws

12/13/2025

Great training event just down the road hosted Firefighter Skill Mastery!

12/12/2025

It’s the truth. Can’t wait for the comments… 😏

12/09/2025

Great opportunity to join a long time supporter of the !

Do you bring your own tools on the truck because you're a "fire nerd"?

Would you pick a leather helmet over a space helmet?

Are you passionate about the fire service?

Does your TikTok feed comprise of forcible entry and vertical vent how-to videos?

Then we may have an opening on our team at Norse Fire Equipment for you!

We are looking to add the right person to our team to serve departments in:
- North Dakota (multiple positions)
- Montana (multiple positions)
- Southern Minnesota
- NW Minnesota

We aren't looking for a sleezy salesman. We are looking for individuals that are into the job and want to supply the best fire & rescue tools to departments of all sizes!

Why would you want to work with us?
- We are firefighter owned and operated
- No upfront cost to "buy in"
- Uncapped commissions
- Set your own schedule
- Opportunities to attend conferences
- Free or heavily discounted tools you can get for yourself or your own department!
- Be part of a growing team that gives a s**t about the fire service!

This is a great side gig or can provide you full-time income!

Interested? Apply today!
[email protected]
https://forms.gle/FauhikiTqGq4S5LE7

Manufacturers we work with include-
Mighty Struts
Snap-tite Hose
Council Tool
Scorpe Technologies
Lakeland Fire + Safety
Phenix Fire Helmets
Vanguard Safety Wear
FAST Rescue Solutions
Fire Hooks Unlimited, Inc.
HEN Nozzles
Jersey Tactical Corporation News Feed

12/08/2025