Linus is AWESOME! Just not on the Fireground.

In The Dark

Many individuals that are associated with the fire service are in the dark. They themselves don’t really get it and don’t care to get it. They have been in the dark from the beginning. They are the ones that really never wanted to do the work that firefighters do. They want to be firefighters until it’s time to do firefighter stuff. One example would be wearing full bunker gear when its 90 degrees outside and making a push to the inside of a working fire. They do not have the desire to throw ladders to create a more aggressive fireground.

Photo By: JJ Cassetta

They are in the dark on what the fire service was built on. It was built on fighting fires because there is no one else to call. We, the firefighters, are the last call when fire strikes and we must be ready to perform in the dark under hostile conditions. We cannot have firefighters or perceived firefighters just hanging out in the dark. I have on numerous occasions during my career wondered what other firefighters who were operating inside were doing in the dark. Were they truly searching for victims or fire? Were they thinking and operating like they should? I have finally realized after 20 some years of operating in the dark, that not all firefighters like being in the dark. Some are like kids and do not want the door closed or they need their night light to give them comfort. The problem is in the fact that night lights and needing a door a certa