If you want to read a literary book on firefighting or small town living then this is the book. Population: 485 is a hilarious and moving collection of essays written about New Auburn, Wisconsin; a town of, yes, you guessed it–485 people. Not only is Michael Perry a skilled writer, he is also a volunteer firefighter/emt, and…
Read More“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” –Charles Dickens, David Copperfield Since I began Triple F, I have received many personal messages from women all over the country who are struggling in the…
Read MoreConfidence is key to high performance. For women in the fire service, confidence can be elusive, but it is essential if we are to thrive (and not simply survive) on the fire ground. Confidence gets ladders up. Confidence tears doors down. We need it to be our best, but ample obstacles exist. It is challenging…
Read MoreWe are still doing it. After all the critical incident stress debriefings, suicide prevention workshops, and unacceptably high number of firefighter suicides, (3 in one year on my dept.), we are still shutting people down who try to speak about calls and the sorrow they bring. In the past two weeks I have heard…
Read MoreMy officer and I are rescue divers and awhile ago we pulled a person from a lake. (I’m being vague for privacy’s sake.) The call came in for a possible suicide attempt. The lake was large and dark. It was at night and we couldn’t see anyone. Resources were called in. Police and Fire were…
Read More“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca I have believed for a long time that the hardest thing firefighters do is get up every morning and go to work, never knowing what the day might throw at us. To face that uncertainty is the one truly brave thing we do.…
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We are experiencing a time of great turmoil right now; destruction, chaos and pain. It’s exhausting and overwhelming. But it is also an opportunity. Because the possibility exists for the inconsequential, the small and mundane desires that no longer serve us, to be swept aside as deep, consequential energies rise to the surface. Questions…
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It’s so easy to lose yourself, becoming buried in the BS of our daily lives, trying to climb some imaginary ladder of success not even knowing where that might lead. ____ Who’s definition of success are you even climbing towards? What if that ideological epitome of success that society has engrained in us is a…
Read MoreThis is a time of transformation for our planet and the human race. Cosmologically, we’re entering a new 200 year cycle and it’s playing out in big ways. Transformation hurts. It’s chaotic. Things die for new life to be born. This is the Year of Karma when our life choices come to fruition in…
Read MoreAngel of the Air Before I was hired as a Minneapolis firefighter, I worked as a 911 call taker and as an ambulance dispatcher. A small percentage of people make sitting in dispatch a life-long career. The revolving door in and out of those positions is a fast one, for a variety of reasons. Some…
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