Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-04-18

With my second year of blogging started, I figure it wouldn’t hurt to place the tweets I made over on Twitter for the week as a weekly blog post here on TFPFP. There’s other bloggers that do it from what I see and it gives one another reference spot to check out those tweets of interest. CONTENT, CONTENT! That’s what blogging is all about. CONTENT is KING!

So here we go. . .

@HipsForHire Congrats on your 500th follower! Back to the "Desk Watch" for the last hour of my shift. : ) Apr 18th

· Watching for @HipsForHire get that 500th twitter follower. Come on tweeters, MAKE IT SO! : ) Apr 18th

· ARFF: Plane Makes Emergency Landing On Gary Indiana Beach http://bit.ly/aHzy9c #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 18th

· Battalion 7 Finds A Fully Involved House Fire in Gary Indiana http://bit.ly/bfWDeO #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 18th

· House fire 4-17-10 http://bit.ly/bSH4q2 #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 18th

· Fire causes four-story building to collapse http://bit.ly/bhARdh #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 18th

· ARFF: Two men killed in aircraft crash: Police investigate whether volcanic ash was to blame http://bit.ly/as2I6P Apr 18th

· Good morning all in Tweetland, Tioga County, Owego NY! Have a Tweet of a day. Tweet on Tweeter & Have Fun! Apr 18th

· Tioga Fire Protection & Fire Prevention Blog is One Yr. Old! Happy Birthday TFPFP! http://tiogafireprotectionandfireprevention.blogspot.com/ Apr 17th

· Lady's life-saver something we all need http://bit.ly/9dzeUj #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 17th

· East Lansing house fire displaces 11 residents http://bit.ly/9iG6XI #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 17th

· ARFF: Four dead in Spanish helicopter crash in Haiti: UN http://bit.ly/9wW9UP Apr 17th

· ARFF: Pilot suffered serious injuries in plane crash in Baraboo http://bit.ly/brv26V Apr 17th

· Fall River fire kills 4-year-old, injures 5 http://bit.ly/d4wW7Z @usfire @NFPA #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 17th

· @Lheyn_07 thank you for the #FollowFriday have a enjoyable weekend. : ) Apr 17th in reply to LaLheyn

· @firojbd thank you for the #FollowFriday have a good weekend. : ) Apr 17th in reply to FirojBD

· FIREFIGHTER netcast is a great location for "live radio and podcastsfor firefighters" http://www.firefighternetcast.com/ Apr 17th

· Some late #FollowFriday entries @CFDFF220 @MWConsultingLLC @ESPFire @NFPA Thank you to for the SHOUT OUT. Have a great weekend. : ) Apr 17th

· Good morning all in Tweetland, Tioga County, Owego NY! Have a Tweet of a day. Tweet on Tweeter & Have Fun! Apr 17th

· How Tweet It Is!: Library Acpuires Entire Twitter Archive http://bit.ly/9xJcT #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire @usfire @NFPA Apr 16th via txt

· #FollowFriday @FireCritic @FireDaily @ESPFire @usfire @eneitzel @joelcomm @GuyKawasaki @HipsForHire @ChrisPirillo @shell1972 Apr 16th

· Smoke detectors save lives http://bit.ly/9zdRZc #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 16th via TweetDeck

· Duane Pearsall, inventor of smoke detector, dies in Denver http://bit.ly/9HiNlj @usfire @NFPA #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 16th via TweetDeck

· Albany High students fight fires http://bit.ly/bQK3BH #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 16th via TweetDeck

· Firefighter-EMT dies in Madison I-95 crash http://bit.ly/b4f7q2 #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire #EMS Apr 16th via TweetDeck

· RT @usfire: RT @SmokeAlarm: Please test all Smoke Alarms in your home today. A reminder from your friends at the Los Angeles FD @LAFD Apr 16th

· Good morning all in Tweetland, Tioga County, Owego NY! Have a Tweet of a day. Tweet on Tweeter & Have Fun! Apr 16th

· Firefighters rescue woman in house fire http://bit.ly/cgrjwx #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 15th

· Brush fire burns around Fort Drum http://bit.ly/cL9XJZ #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 15th

· 2 critically hurt in NY Chinatown apartment fire http://bit.ly/bYkTs0 #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire Apr 15th

· Good morning all in Tweetland, Tioga County, Owego NY! Have a Tweet of a day. Tweet on Tweeter & Have Fun! Apr 15th

· @joelcomm have a good meal Joel. : ) Apr 14th in reply to joelcomm

· Tioga Fire Protection and Fire Prevention blog has a Facebook Fan Page now. http://bit.ly/cWXHu6 Apr 14th

· Sprinkler System Helps Firefighters With Kitchen Fire http://bit.ly/d1sM8 #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire @usfire @NFPA Apr 14th

· ARFF: Cargo aircraft crashes in northern Mexico; 5 dead California http://bit.ly/9KSxI7 #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire @usfire @NFPA Apr 14th

· Two Children Perish in Norfolk House Fire http://bit.ly/duoBku #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire @usfire @NFPA Apr 14th

· Hempfield house fire kills one http://bit.ly/cYSugL #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire @usfire @NFPA Apr 14th

· Good morning all in Tweetland, Tioga County, Owego NY! Have a Tweet of a day. Tweet on Tweeter & Have Fun! Apr 14th

· RT @joelcomm: Twitter Power 2.0 is now available in paperback! --> http://twitpwr.com/tpower2 - RT for chance to win a signed copy! Apr 13th

· Police Arrest Volunteer Firefighter in Restaurant Arson http://bit.ly/boacsC #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire @usfire @NFPA Apr 13th

· RT @usfire: Coffee Break Training: Inspection Techniques - #Electrical Conductors in Junction Boxes http://go.usa.gov/iBy (PDF) #fire Apr 13th

· Good morning all in Tweetland, Tioga County, Owego NY! Have a Tweet of a day. Tweet on Tweeter & Have Fun! Early start today w/ lots to do. Apr 13th

· Why are Mondays always long days? Well, ended the day by helping out the Missis by mowing a Church's lawn after work. Now I feel good. : ) Apr 12th

· Good morning all in Tweetland, Tioga County, Owego NY! Have a Tweet of a day. Tweet on Tweeter & Have Fun! It's a Monday, Lets Get It Going! Apr 12th


(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; this is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)

Happy Birthday TFPFP!

WOW! I've been having a lot of fun this past year doing the "blog thing." I've also been haven fun with the Social Media of Twitter and Facebook .

Oh, did I tell you that you can follow me on Twitter @FiremanRich.

Here it is a year later after starting Tioga Fire Protection & Fire Prevention (TFPFP) and today, yes today is the blog site's 1st birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Tioga Fire Protection & Fire Prevention!

This birthday blog post makes my 95th blog post for me. Lots of articles and lots of views over the last year. Maybe not as much as a Joel Comm, (@JoelComm), Chris Pirillo, (@ChrisPirillo) or even as much as The Fire Critic (@FireCritic), all of who are big time online celebrities, if I do say so myself. The blog posts I've made over the past year are a significant amount to where they are a big deal to me. They express a view and outlook of Fire Protection/Safety that is very important to me and allows me to be able to pass on this knowledge to each and everyone.

I really wasn't sure where this was all going to take me. When I first started I figure let me give it a try and see where it'll takes me. What would result is knowing that if I can blog then anyone can blog by just giving it a go. It has sparked an interest to learn a process and to pass on that knowledge as well as to encourage others who would not otherwise try doing a blog or create a twitter account.

Blogging isn't for everyone but if you have something to say or knowledge to pass on it's a great format to do so. Blogger by Goggle has worked out very well as a blog host for me. Couldn't beat that price of using it either, which is FREE!

The blog platform to work from has been and will continue to be a good place for me to share Fire Protection & Fire Prevention practices, thoughts, ideas, or just some general discussion. Doing so I found it keeps me engaged on the subjects and keeps its exciting. It's a work in progress for me, that’s fun. With all the other Fire Service Blogs that are out there now, reading them helps me become a better informed fire fighter with each blog post.

Now there’s that FIREFIGHTER netcast out there for us to listen to. Check it out you won’t be sorry, I know I wasn’t. . .

I’ve been in the process of listening to all the podcast since the start of them this past January. Their online and their on iTunes too! Lots of GREAT information that’s current for todays Fire Service. I’m hook and I’m a fan. Plus there’s some exciting things coming up so take the time to visit FIREFIGHTER netcast .

Well, time to have some cake & ice cream. The cake is a cupcake with one candle on it.

Part of starting a 2nd year of blogging, Tioga Fire Protection and Fire Prevention has a Facebook Fan Page now. . .

Isn’t this World Wide Web and Social Media Great! : )

Thanks again for all the visits to TFPFP and I look forward to future visits when I’m a doing the “blog thing.”

Be Safe Out There and God Bless.

(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; this is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)

A Fire Department’s Internet Footprint

The first web page or site I build was on GeoCities in 1995 or 1996 and it was my very first Home Page. Thought it was pretty neat to do and it was a FREE service.

Soon after Yahoo bought GeosCities to become Yahoo GeoCities.

It was 1997, after transitioning out of the USAF Fire Protection , I settled down in a nice rural area of Up-State New York and after joining the local volunteer fire department I built my second web site/page for that would be my volunteer fire department’s internet footprint on the web using the Yahoo GeoCitie platform.

It really wasn't hard because Yahoo GeoCities provided you the online tools to give you the results of a simple web page. Keeping it simple is best and it gives you a pretty good product to say, HEY EVERYONE LOOK AT US!”

: )

Just like most people and actually everyone else does now a days, I do like to surf the internet for information. Especially for fire protection & fire prevention information that will make be a better fire fighter for my community.

I normally look at news sites and fire protection & fire prevention web sites mostly combing them online for fire news and/or fire related incident to tweet about on Twitter.

Oh by the way that I tell you. . . that you can follow me on Twitter @FiremanRich .

Some of the local web sites I look at on a weekly bases are linked on the sidebar of Tioga Fire Protection & Fire Prevention. It's amazing to see now that just about all the volunteer fire departments in my county have what I call an "Internet Foot Print."

Several years ago this wasn't the case. Why? Most likely either there was no knowledge to build one, to expensive to build one, or it wasn't worth the time & effort.

Well times are a changing as I talk about the “Internet Footprint” of fire departments in this YouTube video. . . which is another “Internet Footprint” you could say. . .

With new and different ways a fire department is only limited to their imagination on what type of web page/site is best for their department. With the emergence of fire protection blogs, which are on the rise, the “Internet Footprint” just gets better and better. Actually seems everyone is blogging these day. Guess there’s a lot to say out there and there’s a wealth of information.

As I said, one of my favorite fire blogs is The Fire Critic and it sets a good standard of how & what a fire blog should be about. I just think it’s a good example to follow as well as the other fire blogs that are listed in it’s links section.

Now there’s the pod casts from FirefighterNetCast that’s out there on blogtalkradio. “HOLY COW BATMAN! WE CAN HAVE OUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!” lol

I just think it’s great and a big thanks go out to the fire fighters that are providing us with addition knowledge in these pod casts that we probably won’t be able to get anywhere else. The knowledge one gains allows us to do it better in the fire station and on the fire ground.

As a fire fighter, I’m one that always says and will always believe you have to be brilliant in the basics to get the job done. The basic information that’s in these fire web site, blogs and pod casts can only help sharpen our basic fire fight skills of being more aware as well as efficient as a fire fighters.

Be safe and God Bless.

: )

(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; this is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)

Fire Fighter Training: Ladder BailOut

In my last blog article on "Exit Drills In The Home (E.D.I.T.H)” we went over emergency exit/egress from the home in the early stages of a fire situation. It’s basic simple information that every family and everyone should be aware of, know, and practice. Always be prepared and always have two exits out of any room you may be in.

For the fire fighter there is also survival tactics that deals with the immediately exiting/egress from a facility or home that may have to be used on a fire ground while a fire fighting operations are on going. Hopefully this situation may never happen, but if it does the fire fighter has to think clearly and quickly to immediately to execute as well as having a ladder in place to BAILOUT.

In rapidly deteriorating conditions, a properly performed head-first ladder bailout can be life saver. Here are some important fundamentals to prevent injuries during the procedure:

* Place the ladder at an angle less than 75 degrees to allow for greater control and prevent slipping

* Place the tip of the ladder just below the window sill so the exit area is kept open and the firefighter can keep low

* Exterior teams should position ladders on upper floor windows to provide alternate exit for interior companies in the event of an emergency

* Have a crew or member available to heel ladders or reposition ladders in the event the firefighter is in a window over from the ladder

* Communicate and listen; know where crews are operating and adjust accordingly

* Be proactive

* When training, make sure you use rated safety line and a rated safety harness assembly on the firefighter and inspect all ropes and harnesses in use prior to training

Here is a very good YouTube video from "Bellingham Fire: The FireFighter Basics Series" that shows how to perform a headfirst ground ladder bailout…

Another piece of equipment a firefighter for quick emergency egress bailout that can be use is the Personal Escape Device (PED) which is a rope bailout bag type system.

One such system is called the “RRG RIT NFPA Personal Escape System 60 Bail Out Bag.” This bail out bag system is designed to be a simple, quick and effective way to get out in a hurry. Fully pre-rigged and self contained, it fits on your SCBA belt with secure double fold belt loops. A mesh window allows air circulation and fast inspection of the 60 feet of 7.5mm High Heat Resistance/High Strength Personal Escape Rope (Certified to NFPA 1983, 2006 Edition by UL).

Another fire fighter PED that can be used that is fast, reliable means of egress from a burning multi-story structure is the “Petzl Personal Escape System”. A firefighter equipped with this system can quickly anchor the fire resistant rope with the hook or other anchoring device and move rapidly towards the point of exit.

Here is a YouTube video showing how a Personal Escape Device (PED) works…

For every response a fire fighter is on, you should have a general initial self size-up of the fire ground of what your able to do from your training. A fire fighter always must maintaining SCENE-SAFETY which is of the up most importance to accomplish the job that needs to be done on the fire ground. Knowing how to retreat and get the hell out if need be to fight another day is always a good option and the best when faced with it. The Ladder BailOut and use of the Personal Escape Device (PED) gives you that option.

Be Safe! : )

(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; this is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)