#MyFireStory Runs-to-the-Curb @FireRescue1

FireRescue1 — a leading fire service news portal has caught on to the importance of storytelling with a Twitter based story-sharing campaign. Using the hashtag #myfirestory, @FireRescue1 entices firefighters to share their story of why they got started in our business with the chance of winning a free FireRescue1 t-shirt.

Taking great interest in their campaign that mirrors the motivation behind @RuntotheCurb, I shared my own story of how “It was in the cards” that I would become a firefighter.

@FireRescue1 retweeted my story, which I assume means that I won an awesome free t-shirt [#canneverhaveenoughfiretshirts], according to the contest rules on their web site.

That also means I’m in the running for the grand prize. I hope I win as it will offer me the opportunity to showcase the importance of storytelling in the fire service by having at www.RuntotheCurb.com and www.FirefighterStorytellers.com mentioned in their online newsletter.

Wish me luck!

URGENT SCHEDULE CHANGE: Firefighter Storytellers

URGENT UPDATE: 

Tonight’s Firefighter Storytellers show has been rescheduled to Thursday night 11/10/11 at 9pm.

We’ve been preempted by a live show from the National Fire Academy with the ever popular Dr. Burton & Carolyn Clark at 9pm EST.

Please listen in to their timely show on Firefighter Netcast as we mourn the loss of fire service and journalism legend Hal Bruno, Executive Director-Emeritus of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation – www.firehero.org.

Tremendous loss of a talented storyteller

Firefighter, Journalist Hal Bruno

Today, as we mourn the loss of fire service and journalistic leader Hal Bruno, it’s important to remember what an important part he was of our fire service, our communities and our world.

His depiction of the 1958 Our Lady of the Angels School fire that claimed 95 innocent lives is a classic example of his impact on our industry and the news world.

Rest in peace fine sir. You will be sorely missed but your contributions live on.

• Eyewitness to Tragedy: 50 Years Ago, A Nation Mourned Its Children:
  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4760/is_200812/ai_n32311141/?tag=content;col1
• National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Statement on the loss of Hal Bruno: http://www.firehero.org/news/2011/bruno.html
• Hal Bruno talks about the mission of the NFFF:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM4i85RVUtU

We call it brotherhood

Photo by Tom Suddath the DCFD band photographer

I stumbled upon this post via Facebook and was enthralled as the author shared the story of a bus ride that stretched from jubilation to sadness and every point in between Washington DC and New York, NY.

The author is a DCFD firefighter who, like most of us, enjoys other passions in his life. His are cycling, music and beer. Doesn’t make him a bad guy, does it? LOL

I won’t ruin the story for you but I just had to share this gem of a quote I found within it that reinforces my theory on the importance of storytelling in the fire service:

Epic Stories from the Beltway

One week after I bunked and rode with Hyattsville Volunteers, the “white cloud” (as they called me because they didn’t catch any work while I was there) was lifted and HVFD caught all the work they could eat this past weekend.

Here’s a few links to their wild fires and wild times to whet your appetite. I can’t wait to hear the back stories of these adventures.

You could even say that this is the story of my life: A week late and a dozen fires short!

• Epic Day for Hyattsville & County Crews – http://www.hvfd.com/hvfd/content/view/297/2/
• One of the Busiest Days in PGFD Department History – http://pgfdpio.blogspot.com/2011/02/one-of-busiest-days-in-department.html?spref=tw
• From FirefighterNation.com – High Winds Fan Several Brush And Structure Fires Around Nation’s Capital –http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/high-winds-fan-several-brush

Duracell Storing Powerful Firefighter Stories

By now, you’ve certainly heard – and possibly even seen – the buzz around the NVFC partnership with Duracell and the launch of the “Power Those Who Protect Us” battery donation program to bring attention to the needs of the volunteer fire service in local communities across America.

As the recently launched website states: “Volunteer firefighters devote their time to protect you and your community. Duracell’s “Power Those Who Protect Us” donation program lets you give back to these selfless heroes. ”

Firefighter Storytellers returns with Chief Walt Pieczynski

Instructor Wally Pieczynski teaches tactics to Firefighter 1 Boot Camp students advancing a line on a car fire. Wally is a Run-to-the-Curb kid. Photo by: Tiger Schmittendorf

A regular feature on the FirefighterNetcast Radio Network, Tiger Schmittendorf’s “Firefighter Storytellers” radio show returns Wednesday-September 8, 2010 at 9pm EDT with special guest Chief Walter Pieczynski. 

Wally Pieczynski is a firefighter with the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport Fire Department and an assistant chief with the Seneca Hose Fire Department in the Town of West Seneca NY. He also serves as a fire instructor for the Erie County Department of Emergency Services Division of Fire Safety as well as the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control. 

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 Goes Live on the Radio

It’s like “Run-to-the-Curb Radio” — but better!

“Firefighter Storytellers” is a natural outgrowth from Tiger Schmittendorf’s popular “Run to the Curb” series — as it offers a radio show designed simply to facilitate kitchen table type discussions between firefighters.

RttC Kid: Dr. Jason Borton

1st Lieutenant Jason Borton in front of his home on Chipman Place around 1992

Jason Borton is not your typical Run-to-the-Curb kid.  

In fact he tells a story of how he once ran to, and through a window to see where the fire trucks were going in his neighborhood.  

Growing up, he didn’t just visit the fire station by himself, his grandmother took him there, frequently.