RttC Kid: Chief Tim Sendelbach

Chief Tim Sendelbach

Chief Tim Sendelbach is a 24-year fire service veteran and Editor-in-Chief of FireRescue Magazine. Like many others, Tim’s roots in the fire service started with his Dad, a fire chief in his hometown of Wilder, Kentucky.  

Run-to-the-Curb is Top Story

They say a picture paints a thousand words: The "Firefighter Storytellers" radio show will use a photo as a jumping off point for telling stories that share our experiences in the fire service.

It’s been more than a month since my presentation at FDIC and my live Internet radio talk show on FirefighterNetcast from the show floor, but a lot of exciting things have happened since then. 

Feedback from my show about the importance of storytelling in the fire service with special guest Chief Tom Merrill was tremendous and it’s amazing to see the influence that the Run-to-the-Curb (RttC) concept has had on people. Several firefighters have since shared their own personal stories of growing up in and around the fire service. In fact, so many have responded that it’s tough to keep up with and more of their stories are pending publication here. 

Thanks in part to “FireCritic” Rhett Fleitz’s blog carnival titled: “I am a Firefighter because…” — the light has gone on for several people as they recognize themselves as RttC kids. 

How’d you get involved?

There’s a discussion going on over at FirefighterNation.com that asks the question: “How’d you get involved?”

Although it was started by a Junior Firefighter asking other Juniors what sparked them to join the fire service, several adults are chiming in too. It’s fun to watch these discussions evolve.

What’s going to be even more fun will be to see how these Juniors’ stories end up 10, 20 or more years from now.

Run to the Curb. Get in the discussion at: http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/howd-you-get-involved

Planting a Seed

Janet Wilmoth - Fire Chief Magazine Editorial Director and Great Story Teller

I had the tremendous opportunity to meet Janet Wilmoth at FDIC last week and was suddenly reminded of what started me down this path of stressing the importance of storytelling in today’s fire service. 

As I was walking by her booth, I took the time to stop and introduce myself and thank her for inspiring my writing and presentations (despite the fact that I spilled a can of pop on the magazines at her booth – I was mortified).