Photo/video via Tony Greco

At the FDIC International 2021 Opening Ceremony Day 1, Deputy District Chief (Ret.) Steve Chikerotis from the Chicago (IL) Fire Department spoke to a standing-room-only crowd in Indianapolis on “Slow the Game Down and Play Big”:

“Today’s talk is about three things: enhancing the health, success, and happiness of the most important person in the world–YOU. Is it self-centered? Aren’t we at FDIC to become better firefighters, better leaders, and better people?

“Rule #1: Never give up your mask. You find a victim. Do you give up your mask? Hell no! They do it on TV and in the movies because it looks cool and heroic for the hero. Why don’t you give up your mask in real life? At that moment in time, YOU are the most important person in world. Give up your mask and maybe you both die. The victim is not going to save you.

“So, if you’re the most important in the world, what are you doing to enhance your health, success, and happiness? Dedicate a little time each day to YOU. Staying in shape will make you a better firefighter, parent, and spouse. It’s not necessary to work out two hours a day. Walk–20 minutes of exercise pays dividends if done every day. Don’t smoke–nobody is in shape if they smoke.

“Work on your mental health. Firefighters see a lot. But you can’t move next to an airport and complain about airplane noise. We meet our customers on the worst day of their lives sometimes their last day. All of us are haunted by memories. It comes with the territory. Did you do your best?

“How do you enhance success and happiness? You are already on the right path if you start working on your physical and mental health. Quit wishing for good luck. Get off the couch and go get it! What do you want in life? Do you have goals? You need a blueprint to success.

“If you achieve health and success, it’s probably because you learned to love yourself.  Love yourself and happiness follows. I’ve been blessed with two successful careers in the fire service and the film industry. I’m just an ordinary man like you. It wasn’t due to luck.

I had help. Nobody does it on their own.

“Our ropes in life are negative people and self-doubt. Once I found the power of positivity, I shed negative people from my life. Negative people pull you down.

“Slow the game down. How did you become a firefighter? For some, it was the family business. Others like myself found fire service mentors—humble, courageous, selfless leaders. The fire service is a breeding ground for common men and women who perform uncommon acts of valor on a daily basis. The common denominator of mentors in my life are being humble, kind, caring, inspirational, and positive. Be a mentor to others.

“How do you find mentors? FDIC is a good place start. Seek them out and ask. If you want something in life, be bold enough to ask. Sometimes they find us. Put yourself in the right spot; work hard. Don’t wait on your couch.

“Keep your eye on the prize. Focus on what you want. Want to change the world? Never give up your mask. It starts with YOU. Work on YOU every day. Dream big. Write it down. Tell yourself what you want. Visualize success. Go get it!

“Only you can decide: Are you going to be the hero in your life sto

At the FDIC International 2021 Opening Ceremony in Indianapolis this morning, FDIC Education Director Bobby Halton spoke on “God and Country” to a standing-room-only crowd:

“The American novelist and author Elizabeth Elliot once wrote, ‘There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.’

Pro Deo et Patria

“That is a very powerful thought. It forces us to query our very purpose. It makes us question,

What do we live for?

“Without par, it demands we consider, What exactly are we willing to die for? Where do we find meaning? What is the purpose of our lives?

“It is the question we ask this morning, and not one lacking significance for this gathering. For our work, our purpose, is much more complex and nuanced than many have suggested.

“Having such clarity of purpose was perhaps said best by Captain Ernest Evans, who was the commanding officer of the USS Johnson. Evans earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courage and bravery during the battle of Sumar.

“In his fight talk, Captain Evans addressed his crew with the following words prior to their fatal deployment: ‘This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm’s way. And anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off right now.’

“Likewise, this is the fire service. We intend go in harm’s way, and anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off now. Like the crew of the USS Johnson, it is fitting and proper that we also gather today not just as a profession but as a community of brothers and sisters who have freely chosen to stay on board and fight, fight against nature, fight against the randomness of misfortune, fight against disease, and fight against fire.

“We are ever more aware that, just like the sailors aboard the USS Johnson, it is not just what we fight against but, more importantly, what we fight for: Human dignity, honor, life itself, and the preservation of the handiwork of our fellow citizens. We fight for the principles and fundamentals that make America the greatest example of free persons exercising their God-given natural rights.

“And so, this morning, let us reflect, albeit far too briefly, on the irrefutable fact that our lives, our work, our purpose are connected, intertwined in many direct and indirect ways.

“We understand that what motivates us to serve is critical for our success. 

“As school children, most of us read Victor Frankel’s ‘Man’s Search for Meaning.’ The message is simple: People, healthy people, require purpose and, according to Frankel, helping others is the most rewarding. Our work, our profession often supplies much of that need.

“It has been said that the work we have chosen is a lowly one. We agree with Chief O’Hagan. It is sufficient, however, to motivate persons like us to heights of valor and even to the supreme sacrifice, should the need arise.  

So, whom do we admire, whom do we respect?

“We lavish praise on people who parrot others’ words and reenact others’ lives on television, movies, or stage. We heap adulation on those who are skillful in sports. Many are wonderful people and excellent at what they do, and although famous, few are heroic, and fewer still are inspiring.

“Yet society elevates them over the troops who protect us, over the crews we do duty with, over the real heroes around us every day.

“It is not unusual for firefighters like us to hear things like, ‘I don’t know how you could do that’—‘that’ being our job. We usually just shrug it off, say something noncommittal like, ‘I just like helping people,’ or something funny like, ‘Firefighting

Authorities are looking for tips on what might have caused a brush fire on Protection Island in eastern Clallam County. The fire was spotted yesterday morning by a passing whale watching boat. The lone person who serves as the caretaker on the island was off the island at the time of the fire. The fire threw smoke into the air that was seen across the eastern portion of the north Olympic Peninsula.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2021 7:48:06 AM - SOURCE: KONP-AM 1490

At the FDIC International 2021 Opening Ceremony Day 1 on Wednesday, August 4, in Indianapolis, FDIC Education Director Bobby Halton remembered the 2020-2021 Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award recipient, Lieutenant Jason Menard from the Worcester (MA) Fire Department, who died in the line of duty.

Halton began: “The recent government lockdowns, albeit generally with the very best of intentions, had wide-ranging impacts, some of which will be felt for generations yet to come. Some will never be undone. The presentation of honors at funerals, an earned recognition of the utmost significance, was among those time-honored traditions that were banned, halted, prohibited.  

“Irrespective of what reasons caused the intrusion of tradition, we know that honor delayed is honor nonetheless, and maybe greater honor is gained by refusing to not deny honor correctly earned although delayed. As such, we now turn our attention to the presentation of the Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award, a presentation of honors to a recipient who earned our recognition and regard.

“The award is named for FDNY Deputy Chief Ray Downey, and normally his sons would be here along with our recipient or a representative of the organization or family. But this is not an ordinary year.

“Chief Downey, we hope, would agree that despite the fact that the award was presented to the family a year ago so as to help alleviate some of the financial burden of their loss, the debt of honor was not fulfilled until this assembly had an opportunity to hear Lieutenant Menard’s story, to examine his courage and valor, and to reflect on his sacrifice and service.

“Chief Downey would want words about him to be brief, but his example is still the gold standard for all firefighters, his sons Chuck and Joe are the living embodiment of his character, integrity, and discipline.

“Today, we honor Lieutenant Jason Menard, a gentleman whose dedication to duty in the most trying of circumstances rose to the ultimate level.”

Menard succumbed to thermal injuries he sustained in a residential fire on November 13, 2019, after he had pushed fellow firefighter Christopher Pace to safety. The fire was on the second floor of a three-story balloon-frame wood structure in Worcester. The initial report to dispatch was that a mother and her baby were trapped on the third floor. As a result of some miscommunication, it was then reported that the mother was out but the baby was still on the floor unconscious.

Menard, working his regular shift as the company officer on Ladder 5, was dispatched on the first alarm. Ladder 5 was the first ladder truck on scene and was assigned to search the second and third floors.

The primary search was negative. Ladder 5 members exited the building and changed out their air bottles. Menard spoke to the incident commander about their next assignment, which was to clear out the exits on the second- and third-floor rear. The rescue team had reported that they could not gain access to the rear porches because a large amount of debris was stored in the back hallway.

Menard and his crew ascended the stairs at the C-D corner of the building. At this time, reports from inside the building were that the visible fire on the second floor had been knocked down.

The following information was obtained through interviews: As Ladder 5’s crew reached the third floor landing, they were met with increasing amounts of heat. Fire had advanced

Two Newton (GA) firefighters were hurt when the fire truck they were in “t-boned” a passenger vehicle Tuesday night, pushing it several hundred yards before both vehicles went off the road and the fire truck rolled over, according to report published by The Covington News. One of the firefighters suffered a head injury when an SCBA inside the vehicle broke loose and hit him in the head the newspaper reported.

The crash happened on Georgia Highway 36 when the Newton fire truck was headed to a fire call when a car pulled into its path, the paper reported. Both firefighters, where tossed about inside the truck were hospitalized after the crash, the paper reported.

Although there were no reported fatalities, the extent of the firefighters’ injury was not known last night, the paper reported.

The engine involved in the crash is from Fire Station 1 on Covington Bypass Road, the paper reported, adding the crash is under investigation by Newton County Sheriff’s Office, the newspaper reported.