Recently, I attended an  in-service instructor class taught by a well-respected  subject matter expert. This was a one time only event, so the room was packed. Unfortunately I was seated next to a firefighter with a portable radio.

Inevitably, a run was dispatched, and everyone  was distracted by the radio traffic between responders and the dispatch center.

We all have that building in our district that we drive past and quietly say to ourselves, “I hope we never have a fire there!” I am no exception, and for me it was a fleabag hotel located near the middle of my response district.

Sadly, I did have a fire there at 3 o’clock in the morning on a night that found the motel at full capacity. What made this incident even more concerning was that it was my very first fire as an Acting Battalion Chief.