Are you tired of being told to “think outside the box?”

Well, if you are, I have good news: today’s show is about thinking inside the

box.

It'

about looking at structures as a series of boxes, determining which box has the

active fire in it, and how to attack that fire. Boxes determine flow path in

large modern residential structures.

It’s an interesting idea, and it was developed for the Plano, Texas fire department

by Eric Wahlberg, a 30-year veteran of Fire/Rescue and an assistant

chief. He is also a Master Firefighter with the state of Texas.

One of the first tools you were taught about when you started this job is the basic ground

ladder.

Once you learned how to throw one, it was no big deal, right? The longer the ladder, the more firefighters get to carry it. Except…

What if there’s not enough people on the fireground to do that?

You might be surprised to find that the 24-foot extension ladder can safely be carried and placed by just one firefighter.

Now, a lot of understaffed fire departments, especially volunteers, already know this. But if you started at a fully-staffed department, you may not have had to throw a ladder this size alone.

Today’s guest runs seminars on the use of ground ladders, and this is one of his favorite topics.

Kevin Weis started his career in the fire service in 2012 as a volunteer firefighter in Coldwater, Ohio. He’s been on the career side since 2014, starting in Defiance, Ohio. In 2020, he moved to the Glendale, Arizona Fire Department.

Kevin’s currently

a firefighter/ paramedic and specializes in TRT & Haz Mat. He’s also been a

fire inspector.

He teaches

several hands-on-subjects, including search

tactics, forcible entry, hose line management, and of course, ground ladders.

One of the least exciting jobs for a firefighter is the dreaded Community Risk Reduction assignment.

In an urban environment, CRR may mean doing a meeting with the people you serve. Or maybe you’re changing smoke alarm batteries.

Either of those—not exciting, but not so much work, either.

But if your department covers urban and rural areas, where you could be tasked to fight a brush fire, well, now you may have to do some physical labor ... plus those meetings.

Not all, or even many, departments have dedicated crews to community risk reduction. Often, CRR is one person, whose job may include other responsibilities.

Today, I’m talking with one of our favorite guests, Chad Costa, about what CRR can do for your community…and what you can get out of it, too.

Chad is assistant fire chief for the Petaluma, California, fire department. He has over 25 years on the job.