Dan was a volunteer firefighter in Warrenton Virginia and the town had hired him as the first paid firefighter. He was conscientious, funny, jovial, skilled, big hearted and well respected. I know of a time when he took his own money and bought food and clothes for two young boys hanging out on the street [...]

If you’ve been watching the local news for the last two months, you’ve probably noticed there is rarely a day or week that goes by without mention of a house or apartment fire. Naturally, coming from the fire service, I have an interest in such things and made a phone call to Fire Marshall Robbie [...]

You know the drill: Real men cook with fire. So he goes out and buys a turkey fryer, $30 worth of peanut oil, and lights the gas burner. The boys hang out waiting for the oil to heat up enough to drop the bird in for a 20 minute cookoff. Real men don’t read directions! [...]

We all look forward to the summertime and all the activities that come with being outdoors. The fun in the sun is a reward for being cooped up in the house during the winter and rainy spring months. Along with all the outdoor activity comes increased exposure to risk.

Two seconds was just enough time to avoid being killed on a Virginia road this past weekend. I was towing my boat to the lake for the maiden voyage, the weather was warm, sunny, and beautiful.

I was recently on a flight from Richmond to Denver on a major airline. The flight stopped at Charlotte for 90 minutes then continued on to Denver. I always carried my snowboarding jacket with me while travelling instead of packing it in the bags, just in case my bags were lost or delayed. I had [...]

As my former wife screamed from the house for me to “get in here now.” I thought there must be a fire in the house, and I ran from the back yard. My dog was running along beside me enjoying the sprint as I looked for smoke.

One of my last memorable calls as a fire captain and paramedic occurred last spring, and it turned out to be a career highlight! Our company was dispatched to a home a few miles away for an “impending birth.” As we approached the scene I was reviewing in my mind some of my training on [...]