TIMELESS  TACTICAL  TRUTHS

• Move quick~young conditions are easier to control than old ones.
• The very worst fire ground plan is no plan (the next worst is two plans).
• The only safe fire ground assumption is to assume the worst
• If you have lots of ideas, you need lots of equipment.
• A little force in the beginning can eliminate the need for lots of force at the end.
• It is better to get out five minutes too soon than five seconds too late.
• Very little on the fire ground falls up.
• Respect defensive conditions the buildings God didn't want to burn are sprinklered.
• Don't ever let your inclination to gamble outdistance your fear.
• Safe firefighters are smart firefighters.
• Vomiting firefighters are ugly firefighters.
• Fires give the test just ahead of the lesson.
• The only thing that will impress the fire is well-placed force.
• Never confuse repeat fires for routine fires; the same basic deadly elements are present at every fire--there are no routine fires.
• Don't stand too close to the guys who are always bandaged up.
• If you panic, be certain to run in the correct direction.
• Safety prevents meetings.
• First rule of exits: if you pay to get in, you have paid to get out.
• You can't save anyone when you are a victim.
• Always avoided hanging around guys they call "Burn ‘em Down Brewster, " "Charcoal Charlie, " or "Parking-Lot Pete."
• Gravity will always culminate at the bottom.
• Third law of radiant heat: When you're warning lights begin to melt, it's a sign that you parked to close.
• Effective command is made up of equal parts of passion and patience- the trick is the where and when of each.
• Unless snags are falling, the incident commander shouldn't yell or run- neither reflects cleverness or composure.
• The capable incident commander always approaches his troops with high expectations and kindness.
• You can fool the spectators, but you can't fool the players.
• All fires go out eventually.
• Trust safety, not luck (luck makes you dumb).
• Something is wrong if you keep inheriting bad situations.
• Playing catch up on the fire ground is an old female dog.
• Fire fighting is the very smartest form of manual labor- respect the task.
• When you're having problems, take on a partner to share them.
• Don't spend all your chips- always have a tactical reserve.
• Remember courage is only fear that has said it's prayers.
• Complicated fire operations are generally screwed up fire operations.
• Losing your temper generally represents the incipient stage of rectal-cranial inversion.
• Good procedures are so simple you don't need to write them down to remember them or use a dictionary to understand them.
• When someone screws up, yell at them- they'll love it.
• Keep working on the basics- most of us are not advanced enough to make advanced mistakes.
• The fire always plays for keeps and is unforgiving and Democratic- it will never kick you when you're up.
• Be careful of the guys who close their eyes when they open their mouths.
• Don't add resources to a non- plan.
• Be careful who you give water to.
• Educational times on the fire ground are not always fun times.
• Consistent fire ground reality: if you're gonna order, you gotta pay the check.
• Be careful of  kamikaze pilots who have gone on 65 missions.
• Burning up all your exposures at once is tacky.
• The fewer parts of the plan, the fewer things can get screwed up.
• The number of faults in a fire operation is in direct proportion to the number of viewers; the intelligence of the viewers is in direct proportion to how late they arrive.
• You gotta have a plan before you can revise it .
• Retreat festivals are far superior to funeral festivals.
• Experience and education are like oregano- they must be mixed with a lot of other stuff to be good.
• It difficult to get a little excited.
• Be careful where you put water.
• The treatment for screwed- up situations: education, training, reflection, and getting to do it again.
• Be careful of people who attached status to knowing things you don't.
• Combining strategic modes [offensive- defensive] is like ordering artillery on yourself.
• The essence of firefighting is that the fire and the incident commander can't live in the same space- one has to leave.
• Beware of the manager who says, "Don't do anything until I get there."
• Never is a long time.
• The role of the effective incident commander is to direct and support the troops.
• Avoid the folks who say regular safety procedures take too long during difficult times [when you really need them].
• Standard management cycle: procedures- training- execution- critiquing- revising and back around.
• Firefighters who are tough enough to eat nails and spit pumps will generally become extremely fragile when mistakes occur.
• Manage procedures- lead people.
• There isn't any middle ground in fire fighting- you're either fighting or you're not fighting.
• If you think training is expensive, check out the cost of ignorance.
• Forget the bull about "holding the fire"- you either put it out or it burns past you.
• There ain't no fair fights on the fire ground.
• What burns, never returns.
• Avoid situations that are so exciting you don't survive.
• Some days on the fire ground the best it gets is so- so.
• Extinguishing the fire in most cases solves the majority of problems.
• Smart incident commanders practice "chocolate chip management "- when the troops do good, give them a cookie.
• Effective analysis must always be mixed with water to put the fire out.
• Don't ever develop a plan that is so smart you can't explain it to the people who have to carry it out.
• It's hard to legislate love.
• Procedures don't have feelings.
• Water above a fire basically irritates Mother Nature- she meant heat to rise.
• When you lose your head, the next thing is your ass.
• If a building burns, don't take it personally (you didn't make the world combustible).
• Don't hang around the folks who substitute their ears for a standard safety procedure -basic safety rule: don't ever burn any of you.
• If you can't control yourself, you can't control anything else.
• Surprises are nice on your birthday.
• If you live with a bad situation long enough, you wear it.
• Effective communications= 1 part talking and ten parts listening [beware of the guy who's hearing is affected by promotion].
• Hanging around daredevils is painful- remember, a hero is nothing but a sandwich.
• It's hard to generate a big fire in rocks.
• Take the process seriously- not yourself.
• The things that lead up to accidents happen slowly- the accident happens fast.
• Everything on the fire ground is "too" something.
• Always take care of the people who are trying to make you look good ( make it as easy as possible for them to do so).
• Hope for the best- plan for the worst.
• Most big screwed- up situations start with one small out-of- balance step in the wrong direction- be careful of confusion snow balls that start rolling downhill.
• Be careful of anyone who thinks they have Nomex skin.
• There are no credit cards on the fire ground- you've got to pay for everything you do at the time you do it.
• The more seniority a screw up gets, the harder it is to fix- this applies to both the firefighting operations and unfortunately firefighters.
• The incident commander has to always go after the right piece of information at the right time; if you ask if everything is okay, it always is.
• If you aren't dressed to play, stay in the bleachers and off the field.
• Roofs are really pretty dumb, they shed water just like it was rain.
• Considering what was going on at the time a decision was made will many times effectively refocus 20/20 hindsight.
• Repeat, ongoing business can become tactical aesthetic that produces a fire ground succer punch: like 20 butthooks and nothing calls in the same area, setting you up for the twenty-first that turns out to be a ripper.
• There aren't any "time outs" on the fire ground.
• The next tragedy will take the pressure off the last tragedy.
• The incident commander must always initiate and move toward correct action. He must also be prepared and capable of stopping incorrect, unsafe action- he absolutely cannot live with a bad situation.
• The incident commander who will not disagree with a decision or countermand [and change] an order, should stay home and watch the fire on TV.
• They generally don't call the Fire Department because someone did something smart.
• Be careful of shutting down and unhooking anything that is set up and operating okay.
• The incident commander should be the first person who thinks the fire is burning and the last to believe it is out.
• Every fire situation contains a discrete number of decisions- they can be made either by the incident commander or by the fire.
• Do not think you are communicating just because you are talking.
• Most of the time on the fire ground, the first five minutes are worth the next five hours.
• When someone screws up, ask the standard question, "Who taught him how to do it ?"
• The longer you wait to make a decision, the fewer options you will have.
• The incident commander must be careful of what he says in difficult situations- off hand, dumb command comments are like aluminum beer cans- they last forever in the environment.
• Basic fire frequency axiom: the farther you are from the last fire, the closer you are to the next one.
• The incident commander must always be able to separate what is a hope from what is a plan.
• There is no necessary connection between the amount of hose deployed and the amount of water that goes on the fire.
• Don't ever trust smoke- it can hide what's really going on, spread the fire, burn, blow up, and really ruin your life, sometimes all at once.
• The incident commander must always have a string on his troops- be careful of any situation where you can't get the insiders out quickly and account for them.
• The only thing that won't burn is dirt.
• If a fire is an emergency to the fire department, who would you call?
• If you violate, compensate.
• The more routine decisions the incident commander makes before the fire, the more time he will have to make critical decisions during the fire.
• The most important fire is the next one.
• Life isn't made up of only good runs (life is not perfect).
• The most effective initial attack includes the most thorough mop-up.
• Constructing fire line without a safe anchor point is like trying to herd hornets with a hoola-hoop.
• When the wind picks up something is going to happen.
• If firefighters were as tall as trees they wouldn't need lookouts.
• Know when to leave well enough alone.
• Sometimes there's no time better than the present.
• Safety zones and escape routes work best when firefighters know where they are.
• Instructions are most effective when they are understood.
• Never challenge a fire to a foot race- you'll lose in the long run.