Does it have pictures?

I was having a discussion with Bill Carey of Backstep Firefighter a few days ago about a key dilemma facing the fire service.  Firefighters just don't read.

Now obviously plenty of firefighters do read, after all this blog had over 4000 views last month, and thank you for that.  However the reality is that over the course of fourteen years in the fire service and 19 years of being around the firehouse I have seen folks far more inclined to read the sports page, the comics section, or enter a progressively deteriorating vegetative state in front of Jerry Springer or Maury than I have seen someone crack open The Fire Officer's Handbook of Tactics, Responding to Rountine Emergencies, or Safety and Survival on the Fireground.  Why?

I've come to the conclusion that in part the "Textbook" world is not really written for the typical firefighter.  The focus is to generate a book suitable for use in a collegiate level classroom. The commonly accepted way of expressing yourself in the firehouse is very different than writing for academia.  I believe that is one main reason there has been an explosion in the world of fire service blogging.  When I blog I write the way I talk.  I condense my ideas down and can give a short snippet of information like you would get if we were having a cup of coffee together.

Our trade is predominately physical (psycho-motor if you will).  We have to perform TASKS on the fireground, and they involve a complicate process where we have to synthesize information while comparing the fireground reality with our past experiences.  However we have to have a depth of knowledge that is most readily attained by reading (reading aloud even to use multi-modal learning).

The reality though is that you must constantly be reading if you want to try and master this trade.  I like the example set by the United States Marine Corps.  The Office of the Commandant regularly updates the "Commandant's Reading List" which directs what books Marines at all levels (from Private to General Officer) are expected to read for Professional Development (PRODEV); some of these books are to be read every year.  That is a direct statement of the value that the USMC places on PRODEV and being a student of their trade.

We don't have ANYTHING like this that I have seen anywhere in the fire service.  I've adapted the idea and created an appendix in my book The Combat Position: Achieving Firefighter Readiness that suggests some essential reading for firefighters and fire officers.

The list is not all inclusive; it is not broken down into specific books for specific ranks.  It is an attempt to encourage a culture of reading in the fire house.  Do your part, print this out, with the list of books I've started with and then add your titles. Be a student of this vocation!

• ·         Handbook for Firefighter I and II, Fire Engineering
• ·         Report From Engine Company 82, D. Smith
• ·         On Combat, D. Grossman & L. Christensen
• ·         Firefighter Survival Techniques:  From Prevention to Intervention DVD, F. Ricci
• ·         Enchiridion, Epictetus (Dobbin Translation)
• ·         Tom Brennan’s Random Thoughts, T. Brennan
• ·         Pride and Ownership, R. Lasky
• ·         Firefighting Principles and Practices, W. Clark
• ·         Safety and Survival on the Fireground, Dunn
• ·         Stoic Warriors, N. Sherman
• ·         Building Construction Related to the Fire Service, 3^rd Edition, IFSTA
• ·         Building Construction for the Fire Service, F. Brannigan
• ·         Air Management for the Fire Service, M. Gagliano et.al.
• ·         Firefighter Rescue & Survival, R. Kolomay & R. Hoff
• ·         The Art of Reading Smoke DVD, D. Dodson
• ·         Meditations, Aurelius (Hays Translation)
• ·         Leadership and Training for the Fight, P. Howe
• ·         Warrior Mindset, M. Asken, D. Grossman & L. Christensen
• ·         Rescue Men, C. Kenney
• ·         The Last Men Out: Life on the Edge at Rescue 2 Firehouse, T. Downey
• ·         Working Fire: The Making of a Fireman, Z. Unger
• ·         Fire Officer's Handbook of Tactics, 3^rd Edition, J. Norman
• ·         Flashover! Now on DVD! V. Dunn
• ·         The Rescue Company, R. Downey
• ·         The Engine Company, J. Salka
• ·         First In Last Out: Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department, J. Salka
•       Fireground Strategies, 2^nd Edition, A. Avillo
•  ·         Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903, A. Hatch
• ·         To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire, D. Cowan
• ·         Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, D. Von Drehle
• ·         Bushido: The Way of the Samurai, T. Yamamoto
• ·         The Art of War, Sun Tzu
• ·         Boyd: The Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War, R. Coram
• ·         Report from Ground Zero, D. Smith
• ·         Delmar’s Firefighter's Handbook: Firefighting and Emergency Response, 3rd Edition
• ·         IFSTA Essentials of Fire Fighting, 5^th Edition