Big Announcement...

When I started to photograph firefighters and training burns, I never thought it would lead to anything other than a fun hobby; something to do on the weekends. I have been writing on blogs for the better part of 8 years with some success and always dreamed it might take me somewhere.

Well this blogger, writer, photographer is taking his talents to a somewhat different level. After years of writing for me for self amusement I have landed a gig as a staff writer/photographer for a growing publication Fire Photographer Magazine. It is the perfect opportunity for me to combine two huge passions of mine; writing and fire photography.

Chris Kimball, the publisher reached out to me Wednesday morning and explained the opportunity. It is a gig that can grow into something bigger than just writing and photographing fires; it could be a career. This is not meant to be a full-time 40+ hour a week thing, at least right now; it could be. Like everything in this world, nothing great comes easy and right now we need to fill the virtual pages of Fire Photography Magazine with great content, photos, and videos. The advertisers will come if we give them something to come to. I am totally humbled that Chris and Tara, the editor, have faith in me to help them take their magazine to the next level.

This just gives me more motivation to get better at doing what I love doing. Get out there, find stories and tell them in a compelling manner. It's time to put on my big boy pants and get this thing done.

Don't worry, I will still be sharing and writing here, I could never let this go. Not everything I see or choose to write about will be right for the magazine. I need to get those ideas out of my head so they will go here. This will also be a place where I might try out a story or develop ideas for stories too.

This new opportunity feels like home to me and I am glad you are here for the journey with me.

Tri-C Live Fire Burn

When the phone rings from your mother at 8:30am; you answer it. When the phone rang Tuesday morning, I answered it like a good boy should.

"They are burning today!" my mother said rather loudly in my ear for being 8:30am.

On Lake road in Avon Lake, there was a house that was prepped for a live burn. My mother, God Bless her, has a keen eye for firemen, and when she saw apparatus heading into the house, she knew they were going to light a fire and let it burn.

She had been bugging me for week that they are burning it down and that I should call and see when. I called the ALFD, but didn't get a call back, so I was convinced they didn't want a snooping photographer on scene, and besides it is 8:30 on a Tuesday and my back was killing me.

But my curiosity got the best of me and I headed to the house. I knew exactly where it was, I knew where to park to stay out of the way. I was from Avon Lake. I walked on scene with a barely charged battery and a nearly full memory card and a pocket full of business cards. I wasn't prepared and that scared me. I walked up to the police officer on traffic duty, and he immediately asked if I was with the paper. No, just a snotty fire photographer looking for some fun. I asked if he was cool with me crossing and seeing if I was cool to come on scene. There was no way I could get photos from the street.

Thankfully the Chief let me come on scene. I told them who I was, what I do, and who I have worked with. When all else fails, drop the names of a few fire chief's that like you. Not only did they give me incredible access to their live burn for the Tri-C Fire Academy, but they gave me better access than the local paper. Where I was close enough at points I could touch the building, the local paper guy, who as it turns out is really cool, was stuck outside the command post with a short lens.

The safety officer took me around the building where he thought there might be great photo opportunities. The backside where they were doing roof ops, the front where they were coming out onto a flat roof. It was great access for a guy who just walked on scene, didn't know a single person in charge, but yet they seemed to trust me. They trusted me enough to hold the ladder for a trainee while they went up and down because they had to run and grab a tool for them and instruct them.

It was a great experience, and I hope they like the photos I sent them.

How Firefighters Honor Their Brothers

When a good man dies, the community takes notice. When a firefighter dies, whether in the line of duty or not, the immediate community takes notice, but so does every other firefighter in the community and quite frankly the world.

James Waugaman, Jr passed away on November 11, his passing was felt throughout the community of Brunswick. He wasn't just another citizen of the small Ohio town; he was the founding member of Brunswick Old Fashioned Days, the largest volunteer festival in Medina county. He was Chief Emeritus of the Brunswick Fire Department and very active in the Ohio Firefighters Association. He lived his 77 years in service to his community.

A few months later Brunswick lost another great man, Fred Hoffman. He passed away at age 94 and his resume is just as amazing as James'. He was an original volunteer member of the Brunswick Hills Fire Department and late Assistant Chief Emeritus of the Brunswick Hills FD. He was fighting fires in his community before they started to pay firefighters to do the work. He obviously loved what he did and loved his community.

Well June 24th, the community gave something back to these two great men, two firefighters who gave all they had to their community and their brothers in arms. The Old Fashioned Days parade was lining up and a special honor to anchor the parade this year.

Walking around the Brunswick Fire Department on this cool morning you can hear all the firefighters talking about Jim and Fred. "I knew Jim well, he helped me find my way into the fire service." is what I heard from many different firefighters. They came as far away as Youngstown to drive their fire trucks in what was being billed as a possible world record. There were apparatus from years as far back as 1916 and as recent as 2012.

Brunswick councilman Brian Ousley said, "we aren't going to break a world record today and that's not important. What is important is that we remember Jim and Fred." he spoke with clear emotion. The firefighter community mustered together, by my count, 36 apparatus. With each apparatus filled with firefighters, family, and friends, they rolled out onto Route 303 to anchor a parade; a parade started by Jim Waugaman, it only seemed fitting that his brothers end his parade, sirens blaring, horns honking, and crowds waving.

Fire service is often called a brotherhood, and this past Sunday they proved it with a salute only fitting for a fireman. A big truck and loud sirens.

You can see more great fire apparatus from that day here.

Father's Day Fire

I ran across a working fire in Cleveland on my way home from a Marine Week demonstration. There was heavy smoke showing not far from where we were. Traffic was heavy, but when I got to the scene the fire was out, but crews were still working. I did what I always do. I found a legal place to park, grabbed my camera and walked to the flashing lights. 

The fire was on a two lane street in a small warehouse across from the FBI field office. According to the very nice security guard working the gate, someone was charging a battery for a car, and the battery exploded catching the building on fire.

This capped off an awesome day. Saw war machines all afternoon then I saw a working fire. Father's day was complete!

Scene Size-Up

This is a piece I wrote for Fire Photographer Magazine: You can see it here.

You hear the scanner crackle to life with the words you've been waiting to here, arriving fire crews have just confirmed a working fire. You heart starts to pound as you grab your camera bag and rush out the door.

By the time you arrive on-scene you can hear the mutual aide fire crews en route, sirens blaring and the adrenaline is pumping through your veins. Like the arriving fire crews, you too must size up the scene quickly. You identify if there has been a perimeter set up, where the first due engines are set up and where new arriving crews are going to set up shop and where the fire is and is it accessible.

You work from the outside in, snapping crews walking down the D side, B side. You snap teams staging at the front door before making entry. After snapping photos you perform a secondary size-up. What is above me, what can possibly fall on me, what looks unstable, is it safe and accessible to get to the rear of the structure? You see ladder crews raising the tower to gain access to the roof. You stop, drop to a knee, grab a photo, and move on. You spend your time shooting the structure and the firemen coming in and out, those images are perishable. They won't be walking out of the fire for the first time ever again on this working fire, they just did that and if you weren't ready, there isn't a re-do.

The fire is out, you stop to check the status of the battery because you might have drained it during the fight; then you start to shoot the apparatus on the street. The wide shot showing the scope of the response, the close ups of the various trucks, lights still on, the fire fighter unstrapping his gear and sitting on the front bumper of the rig to catch his breath. You get close-ups of dirty faces, dirty gear, and spent tanks. In the 35-40 minutes you've been on scene your memory card is bursting, you're almost out of room for more, but you press on.

Fire scenes aren't just hectic for the firemen on scene, it is also a target rich environment for fire photographers trying to capture the moment as it is happening. In my opinion it is the closest thing you can get to combat photography outside of actual combat. Like firemen responding to a fire, photographers also need to have tactics and rules to keep themselves safe. We have to get the shot without putting ourselves in immediate danger.

This is our rush. This is our job.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day started as a day to remember the Civil War casualties of the Union. In modern times this as evolved into remembering all of the Fallen American Soldiers. In 1911 the Indianapolis 500 was run on the Sunday during Memorial Day weekend, and it marks the start of summer vacation season; the "barbecue-ification" of the holiday began shortly thereafter. Let us not forget why. 

Today is a day of pause and remembrance. We cannot forget as a country why our soldiers died. Wars are made by politicians and fought by soldiers who have no say in the matter. 

When you see a soldier in uniform, what do you do? Buy them a drink? Buy their dinner? Shake their hand for giving their lives and free time to be at the ready to defend your rights? Or do you walk in the other direction because you disagree with what their boss tells them to do? You blame them for what ever war they fought in? You can't blame a soldier for the war. 

Take the time every single day to thank an active duty member of the military, a retired veteran, or a widow or widower of a fallen veteran. Their families have made sacrifices in order to defend our freedom. We must thank them everyday. 

Thank you. 

Get Prepared -- #ReadyCLE

Erica over at CLESafety posted recently that she was at a conference and she was learning how to encourage people to being prepared. She shared a personal story; go read it. We can all relate.

 In keeping with this theme, having worked very close with a few local fire departments, I want to share my story, hopefully adding another voice to a very important conversation.

Quick trivia question: During a Hurricane warning in South Florida, what is the most purchased item at Wal-Mart? The answer at the end of the blog.

Be prepared. We all hear it; we all think about it; but rarely are we prepared. What does being prepared mean? It more than likely means many different things, but in reality, if an emergency happens right now, are you prepared to react? Something as simple as knowing CPR or the Heimlich Maneuver can mean you are prepared. I know both by the way. I keep my certification up with the Red Cross. If your kid is choking in a restaurant or not breathing, I am a good guy to keep around. I saved my oldest daughter's life twice just by knowing how to dislodge food from her throat. The summer is here, and thunderstorms are on their way. I too have a story about a tornado, and why when the tornado watches fly, I grab my shoes.

I was a small kid, can't really remember how old I was, I know I was playing little league baseball. I was spending the normal 2 weeks in July with my Dad out in Vermilion Township. He had two acres of property. It was great to get lost in the seemingly endless cornfields and pastures; also very very far away from pretty much anything. One day an early evening thunderstorm was booting up. The power went out rather quickly but not before hearing the tornado warning. My Dad and step mom ushered us to the basement rather quickly, but I didn't have shoes, a jacket, a flashlight, nothing. Just a t-shirt, shorts, and barefeet in a very very old dingy basement. I am talking the kind of basement that is just basically a glorified crawl space. It was a house built in 1890, it didn't have the nicest basement.

We emerged after what we thought was the worst of it. We ran outside to see the tornado heading away from the house and hitting the tree line on the corn field across the street. Debris was flying all over the place. It was about 500 yards away and moving quickly.

What would have happened had the tornado hit the house? I would have had to climb out of there without shoes to protect my feet.

Since that day when a tornado watch goes off, I grab my shoes. Last year when an early thunderstorm hit in North Ridgeville, I made my family put on their tennis shoes, and I grabbed the diaper bag, dog and leash, and we gathered near the safe room in the house; just in case. After the storm passed I knew there was major damage nearby, the scanner was going nuts. The house was secure, family was safe, I grabbed my camera and left to get photos of the damage.

Mostly out of curiosity I snapped pictures of a lot of damage. There was an RV that was blown over.  I stopped took photos of the whole thing. From all 4 corners, inside, and outside. Having a camera in an emergency can be an invaluable tool. How many times do houses blow over and stuff is strewn about? The City's job is to get roads open for crews to get into neighborhoods. If you can get photos of all your stuff all over the place, that would make filing an insurance claim easier. You have proof of what you might have lost before it ends up in a heap with all the other debris. With the shoes on your feet you should be able to get to relative safety without tearing up your feet.

Be prepared. FEMA has a great tool to help you. Use it.

Trivia answer: In Florida, the Hurricane preparedness plan has Strawberry Pop-Tarts in their survival kit.  Why? Because Pop-Tarts' packaging is water tight and has enough air to keep it buoyant in a flood. They can keep without refrigeration for an extended period of time and keep you nourished until a new food source can be secured. So when a Hurricane starts to head to Florida, Wal-Mart ships extra Pop-Tarts to their stores. (source: Business Acumen Training 2008)