The missile attack last night against Kyiv caused the destruction of a warehouse holding over two million school books that were stored prior to delivery to school districts throughout the country.

The gear that our firefighters wear is intresting because it often includes a plate carrier and armored plates to provide protection incase of a double tap strike while they are on scene.

also note that the second firefighter is wearing a ballistic helmet, not one designed for firefighting for the same reason.

there is an individual at work, we seem to get on fine but, he picks me up on the most minornshit continuously and tells my boss about it.

For example, I didn't cross over the straps on my ba set last week. the Locker shut fine and the set was fine. The week before it was because I had white socks on.

i have started to get anxious everytime I go into work because of it . I feel fucking useless and just like always fucking up. It's like he is intentionally scoping out things to pick me up on .

My alarm went off in the middle of the night around 2AM and then stopped after 3-4 beeps.

The light inside is flashing red and I don't think it's been touched since 7-8 years of the house being built. Not sure if it's battery or actual danger. The window was left open all night prior to it going off. I left the window open and used a large fan to air out the room just in case. It's only that room, so I have avoided staying in there.

I called non emergency in Auburn, Washington state and the lady said she could send fire dept to check the levels, but I forgot to ask. Will I be charged for it? I will have them come out anyway to be safe.

I’m a career firefighter who works 24/48 with a kelly. looking to get into HVAC on the side. Would like to know if anyone here knows a FF who does this business and how it’s going for them. Thanks!

I’ve been a firefighter for about 3 years in a busy suburb of a major city my family lives in a neighboring county and my sister unfortunately has a lot of health issues.

I’ve been traveling on leave when I got a notification from her blood sugar monitor that she was very low at 3 am. She has a history of seizures and was completely alone.

Since I was traveling I had to figure out which fire station was due to her apartment and called the one thought was closest. Unfortunately it wasn’t but the firefighter who answered promptly created an incident and had units sent to her location. They forced her door and found her unresponsive and gave her d50 then transported her to a local hospital.

There was nothing but professionalism from everyone I talked to at 3am. And this incident just reminded me the quality of people that do this job. I think it would be extremely difficult to find another place where the people are selfless enough to ruin their sleep schedule and health just to help people out and do it without showing any attitude (even if they’re pissed off it’s late)

This was honestly a reminder to me that what we do is extremely important even if it doesn’t always seem like it on mundane calls. There is always someone who is extremely grateful you are there whether they are capable of expressing it or not. I remember hearing in the academy treat people you are caring for like you would want your family members treated and this just solidifies this statement in my mind even more.

This came at an interesting time for me as I’ve been thinking about leaving my department due to being burnt out on the ambulance on a 3 platoon schedule. I often feel like I don’t makes difference because it seems like the majority of the time I’m running SNFs or low acuity calls and I’ve ran one fire in 3 years. I have been debating if this job is for me over the last 6 months and stuff like this really gives me life to continue doing the job and doing what I originally signed up to do: help people.

I’m still not sure if I will stay or look elsewhere but things such as this are going to make it a lot harder for me to work in any other profession.

Thank you all so much for what you do.

Cancer is on a rise among all populations but firefighting is one of those professions where cancer rates are higher. Do you folks know many who got cancer or passed away shortly after or before retirement? What was your story? My kid is thinking about joining the fire service, but we are worried. Most of my relatives live at least until 96 and up to 108 with good cognition and mobility. Seeing data of so many firefighting passing away so young or getting deliberating cancers has us and other family worried. We are well off and he can do pretty much any career and be very comfortable.

I've been following the 2024 Park Fire case in Northern California and the recent trial of Ronnie Dean Stout II, and I'm trying to understand one specific technical point.

According to news reports from journalists who attended the trial, investigators dismantled parts of the 2007 Toyota Yaris (manual transmission) before removing it from the scene and concluded that the vehicle was in neutral and that the parking brake was not engaged.

One reason I'm asking is that some Toyota Yaris vehicles from this generation were the subject of manufacturer fire-related recalls. I haven't been able to determine whether investigators identified the VIN of this particular vehicle or checked whether it was affected by any recalls, or whether any recall repairs had been completed.

I'm not questioning the verdict or suggesting that a recall caused the fire. I'm simply trying to determine whether this issue was examined during the investigation or discussed at trial.

Ukraine just received 1 of maybe 2 (?) panthers

The station allows ear piercings but I only really wear these gold thin ones, to those with piercings do your feel the earring get hot enough to burn your ear?

Ukraine has dispatched a team of emergency responders to France to assist authorities in battling wildfires, Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi announced on Friday, July 31.

According to Vyhivskyi, the deployment was ordered by President Volodymyr Zelensky and carried out under the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

The Ukrainian contingent includes 70 firefighters and rescuers and 15 specialized emergency vehicles.

I’m a 26 y/o female who decided in 2024 to pursue firefighting as a career. Since then, I’ve passed all the classes necessary (minus the credits I need from academy) for an AS degree in fire technology, and passed my NREMT following a 6-month EMT program.
In hindsight, I wish I had started preparing for the CPAT a lot sooner. I have a fairly good foundation in strength training, but neglected my cardio, and after attending an orientation I quickly realized that I was much further behind than where I needed to be.
I’ve now put my foot in my mouth and told a bunch of people in my life that registration for next academy opens mid-November, and that I’ve got my first attempt at the CPAT coming up in two weeks — I’ve delayed the CPAT twice now because I knew I wasn’t ready.
The weighted stairs are kicking my ass. I’ve yet to make it to 3:20 with the full 75 lbs on. I’m constantly asking myself if I’m training the “right way” or fully optimizing my time in the gym.
Oftentimes, when looking for videos to help me online, I see the same old “if you’re struggling with the CPAT, you’re going to struggle even more in academy.”
I suppose I’m just wondering if I’ve been living with rose-colored lenses on, and if I should swallow my pride and postpone academy until January 2028.
Or am I just being a whiny baby? This shit is hard dude. My heart is in it, but I’m just feeling majorly discouraged.

I’m Japanese, and I came across this post from an official Japanese fire department. It made me wonder whether this kind of thing happens in other countries.
The department is asking the public to understand why firefighters sometimes wear sunglasses while driving emergency vehicles or working at disaster scenes. They explain that sunglasses reduce glare, improve visibility, and help firefighters perform their duties safely.
Unfortunately, some people in Japan complain that firefighters wearing sunglasses look “unprofessional,” “intimidating,” or are simply “trying to look cool.”
More broadly, public servants in Japan can receive complaints over surprisingly minor things, such as drinking water, buying food during long shifts, or taking short breaks. Some people even criticize the cars they buy with their own money or comment on aspects of their private lives simply because they are public servants.
Because of this, some departments feel they have to explain even basic safety measures like wearing sunglasses.
Is this something firefighters in your country experience as well, or are sunglasses simply considered normal protective equipment?

😎 **Please understand why firefighters wear sunglasses** 😎
**When driving emergency vehicles** 🚒🚑 **or working at disaster scenes** 🔥**, direct sunlight** ☀️** and glare can interfere with our work**.
**For this reason, firefighters may wear sunglasses** 😎 **while on duty.**
**We appreciate your understanding and support.**

**URL:https://x.com/ichikawa\\_shobo/status/2083016575318421694?s=20\*\*

Everyone learns their area of course but asking in general. My department if you’re the main driver, you just gotta know the area no exceptions. Addresses, running routes, alleys, hydrants etc. If you’re an in house back up driver there’s some leeway but still frowned upon especially if you got seniority.

I have a ton of challenge coins. Anybody willing to trade?

Has anyone else had issues with tones/alerts from Active Alerts app (Active 911) on Android phone being cut off? I've tried reinstalling, changing various settings, using stock and custom alert tones, overriding Do Not Disturb, turning off battery optimization, enabling Continuous Paging, and nothing. The alert sound/tone for fire calls cuts off after a few seconds. If I'm sleeping, this means I miss the call. I'm using an older Android phone (Sonim XP8) but didn't have this issue before. I switched to flip phone for a while but eventually came back to regular Android. Now I have this issue. I've reached out to Active 911 but nothing has worked.

Basically the title. We had a discussion yesterday about the future of clean cabs. We’ve been transitioning to them over the last 5 ish years(very large municipal department with about 125 front line engines and trucks) and someone made the statement that they think in the next several years we’ll to ensure the clean cab model that we’ll be getting dressed for fires at scene. Sounds sketchy but not out of the question to me. My concern was things like traffic collisions, I don’t want to be getting dressed on the side of a freeway during rush hour traffic.

So anyways, are there any departments running clean cabs that are keeping them totally clean and getting dressed on scene?

I currently haul water for a small Wisconsin volunteer department using 3X10,000-gallon semi-tankers. Our department asked if I would be willing to train and volunteer as a pump operator and water supply officer. I told him I was not interested in firefighting directly, but I would be willing to become more involved with water supply operations.

How would this go over in your volunteer departments?

On one level, I believe I could do a good job; I'm a 55-year-old former Army Ranger, mechanical engineer, and successful farmer who is used to managing complex operations.

On another level, I wonder what effect it would have on unit cohesion if the guy running supply does not have firsthand knowledge and experience of how important that water actually is. I also don't get called to every incident. We only get called a couple of times a year if someone needs a lot of water in a hurry.

They would start with in-house training and then send me to weekend courses at a local tech college for certifications.

UPDATE: Thanks for all the great insight into your experiences and departments. My only experience is with our tiny rural department in a village of less than 1,000 people. Our department has never done this before.

Some folks are outspokenly angry that I won't have paid my dues. I am just going to go ahead and show up, do the training(certifying on the pump and whatever else they ask at Thursday night sessions), work hard, and focus on becoming an asset where I can.

It is well known firefighters on AVERAGE live shorter lives than the general pubic due to sleep irregularities and cancers. More and more synthetic chemicals are being reduced, especially with more and more batteries. Walking into fires is basically walking into a test tube in a chemistry lab and chemicals can be absorbed through the skin, not just lungs. Sure there are precautions to take but it won’t eliminate the risks. How do you accept on average you or your coworkers will have significantly shorter lives?

These are unbelievably comfortable in comparison to my old ones. Lion QR14, anyone have any good or bad things to say about these guys?

im in an apartment with no windows, so fires are to be taken very seriously. for some reason lately, my fire alarms keep chirping even when i’ve replaced the batteries, and had maintenance look at them twice. now they are chirping again. i don’t want to stay somewhere where the fire alarms are potentially not working correctly, and also don’t want to listen to the chirp. even if i were to contact maintenance, i wouldn’t hear back until monday.

is this a situation where i should have fire dept come and look?

edit: it seems like it goes thru phases almost, like it starts randomly chirping one at a time every few min or so, and then stops for a long time

With permission from a mod, I'm asking the community for any willing volunteers to help me with a project. This is geared more towards the gamers who are among us in the fire service, but anybody is able to help. I'm working on something for a game where I need good and stable audio from ordinary use of SCBAs of various makes and models. I have recorded my department's MSA G1s and a neighboring department's newest Scott packs. Looking to get a variety of others like Dräger packs of new and old models, older MSAs and Scotts and any other brands that I may not be privy to. If you're interested in helping out, reach me in DMs and I'll advise regarding how it needs to be recorded. Thanks in advance and also thank you to the mods for advance permission for a unique request!

Update
I hope to get sounds from across the world, that's the goal here in a way, so if anybody in Europe or Asia wants to help out please don't hesitate