Code 3 - The Firefighters' Podcast

Legendary former Phoenix Fire Chief Alan Brunacini stops by to talk leadership, both in the fire service and beyond. Since his retirement 10 years ago, he's been touring the country, giving seminars on the topic.

Author Mark van der Feyst stops by Code 3 this week to discuss apparatus safety on the fireground, The reminders he gives us could save the life of a firefighter. ***Don't forget, the Code 3 app for Android phones is now available. Go to Code3Podcast.com for the link to download it.

Avondale Arizona Firefighter Kyle Winterstein has produced a great new 'day-in-the-life" video about his department. It took seven months and he had to learn new skills to do it.

Battalion Chief Brad Davis joined the fire service in 1991 as a reserve. His scariest call came a few years later, when he and a much more experienced colleague went into a burning house to rescue a woman. The result was a story to be told and re-told in fireground safety classes.

Peoria Fire-Medical Department Engineer Stephen Gunn has been named as one of 12 public safety officers to be awarded the Public Safety Medal of Valor by the United States Attorney General. He risked his life, and was just seconds away from serious injury. We talk with him about the incident and how it went down.

The SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant has saved many struggling fire departments pay for enough people to staff full shifts. But what happens when these non-renewable grants run out? Prescott Ariz Fire Battalion Chief Cory Moser explains what his department is doing.

Every year, 30,000 firefighters are injured on firegrounds. How some of those accidents can be avoided is the topic this week with Prescott Fire Battalion Chief Scott Luedeman.

Central Arizona Fire & Medical Authority EMS Captain Doug Niemynski describes what his job entails and talks about what emergency medical training helps prospective firefighters get hired.

Just 4 percent of Phoenix (Ariz) firefighters are women, and the department is actively recruiting more female firefighters. Capt. Reda Bigler discuss how and why they're doing that. **Don't forget to get our new Code 3 app. It's available for Android phones right now. Get it at the Google Play store or at our website, Code3Podcast.com

Mesa (Ariz) Fire & Medical Department Chief Mary Cameli is facing the same budget problems as most department are having these days, but she's overcoming them with some new ideas, proving once again that necessity is, indeed, the mother of invention. ***Don't forget to check out our show notes at Code3Podcast.com AND download the free Code 3 app from the Google Play store!

Should fire departments continues to handle EMS calls? Or should private ambulance companies take it over? Would it save cities money do to that? Join Scott as he discusses the realities of the situation with Prescott, Ariz Fire Chief Dennis Light and Central Arizona Fire & Medical Authority Chief Scott Freitag. ***For more on paramedic history go to http://www.Code3Podcast.com

As we commemorate the fourth anniversary of the LODD of 19 of the 20 members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew, we talk with the man in the middle of the events in June and July 2013: Former Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo. He speaks frankly about the behind-the-scenes aftermath of the worst firefighter LODD since Sept. 11, 2001.

Today's firefighters need a college education. Once upon a time, a man went to the academy, and jumped on the engine and learned on the job. Engineer Eric Merrill explains how and why that's changed.

Firefighting in the old days was wild and sometime,s violent, as competing fire companies tried to be the first to respond. Money was on the line, and these guys wanted the money. Prescott firefighter Conrad Jackson wrote a book about his department's history a couple of years back, and he's now the go-to source for info about the state of Arizona's oldest department.Don't forget to check out our website - Code3Podcast.com - for more details on each episode. And please give this podcast a 5-star review wherever you get your podcasts. It helps others find us.You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter!

It's getting tougher to recruit volunteer firefighters these days, and Chief Robert Rielage says it might be because people don't even realize they're served by volunteer departments. On this episode of Code 3, he talks about ways to recruit and retain an unpaid force.

Lots of kids wanted to be a firefighter when they grew up, and then became one.Not Nathan Green. He decided in college to give it a try and then knew it was the career for him.Scott talks with Nathan this week and finds out why he joined the fire service.

Mayer Fire Capt. Tom Haney discusses how his department deals with EMS responses, when having two runs at the same time can mean he responds to EMS calls alone.

Central Arizona Fire's Jeremiah King talks Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in firefighters, his role in an Honor Guard, and why he likes being married to a firefighter, even though she's on a different shift schedule.

Our current 911 system is built on the backbone of 1960s technology, and it's going to have to be re-built from the ground up. Communications consultant Barry Furey talks about what that means to first responders and their communities.

Joe Woyjeck, VP of the LA County Fire Museum and father of fallen Granite Mountain Hotshot Kevin Woyjeck, talks about why he feels it's important for the museum to win the bid for the Hotshots' vehicles, known as buggies, in a City of Prescott auction.