04/19/2026
"Just put water on it!"
It's a little more involved than that . . .
Michael Morse
The first in engine company stops in front of the fire building. The driver puts the truck in pump as the officer exits the truck, fully dressed and does an initial size up. The firefighter, or preferably firefighters in the jump seats grab a line, the nozzle and five or six folds on the shoulder and approach the most accessible point of entry. The driver throttles up and waits at the pump panel while monitoring radio transmissions. The officer gives a status report and joins his crew at the front door, forces it open and leads them in.
They battle oppressive smoke conditions and unseen obstacles, flaking the line as they search for the fire. They spot the glow, the officer keys his mic and says “charge my line.” The line fills with pressurized water and the nozzleman opens the gate and they attack. They are in deep, and have three or four minutes before they run out of water, maybe ten more minutes before they run out of air.
A ladder company arrives on scene and spots the apparatus. They raise the aerial and climb to the roof, vent saws and axes ready.
The second due engine company secures and dresses a hydrant, drops feeder lines and rolls toward the pump operator. Connections are made, the hydrant “turned in” and just as the pump begins to cavitate a water supply is secured.
The ladder company is venting the building as the engine company is fighting the fire. A third engine company arrives and follows the initial attack line into the house to back up the first. The feeder (2nd. due) company takes a third line from the pumper and accesses the building from a different location, looking for victims and fire just as a second ladder company and Special Hazards arrive on scene to do a primary search for occupants, shut down utilities, vent, throw ground ladders and whatever else needs doing.
Lines are charged, ladders thrown, exposures protected, incident command established, EMS sector deployed and the battle rages on.
A group of highly trained and motivated firefighters responds every minute of every day to fires and other emergencies that threaten our lives, businesses and homes. It is not by chance that people get rescued and property is salvaged. It is by training and experience that things get done in an orderly and extremely effective manner.
Even then, sometimes all we do is not enough, and people die.
So we train some more, and talk about how we can get better, faster and more effective. We test our equipment, and drive through our district, talk to the people, look for hazards and wait.
A well trained fire department is much like a symphony orchestra. Individuals with different skills and experience coming together to create an effective force. When all the parts work together a certain magic is created, sense is made from chaos, disaster is mitigated, lives are saved and the peaceful, safe existence we take for granted is allowed to flourish.
Until the next one. And there is always a next one.
