I think we should all take a moment out of our Fourth of July festivities to think about, and express our deepest gratitude to the founding fathers of our great country for what they did in establishing the framework of a democracy that has survived the test of time.
Of all the forefathers, the one we should place on the highest pedestal is Benjamin Franklin who among his greatest accomplishments was the founding of the volunteer fire service.
What is it about blue lights? In New York State a blue light can be used by a firefighter responding to an alarm, but it serves strictly as an indication for another driver’s courtesy. The public does not have to yield. It seems blue lights have this hypnotic, mezmorizing effect that causes most motorists to become totally oblivious to your attempt to get to the fire house as quickly as possible while staying within the speed limit and rules of the road. Many doesn’t know exactly what to do, a number of sadistic drivers intentionally slow down, while a few good citizens actually yield.
A fire incident in my own town, created serious circumstances that could have easily become deadly serious. While we strive to be as transparent as we can with the public, it is also the responsibility of citizens to be transparent with us, especially when potentially deadly conditions exist on the fireground.
During my quick trip to Las Vegas, I’m glad someone was on fire watch at The Fire PIO desk. I want to thank Bill Carey at Fire EMS Blogs who does such fantastic work managing these blogs as well as well as websites for FirefighterNation.com/ Fire Rescue Magazine /JEMS.connect/JEMS.com LawOfficerConnect/LawOfficer.com.
The first piece Bill brought to my attention was written by Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post. It is about stressed newroom budgets and how reporters must multi task to get a story out.
As a PIO I always look for opportunity to educate the public as the result of a specific incident that my department responds to. When we have the first chimney fire of the year in the fall I usually float out to the media a story on chimney safety. Similar lessons to be learned are sent to the media after CO incidents, MVA’s, electrical fires etc. It’s a great way to let the public know about an incident and ultimately how it can be avoided.
The Las Vegas Fire Department is catching the ire of many residents who are upset at seeing fire apparatus parked in front of health clubs while entire crews workout during shift hours. This is a potential full community mega ton public relations bomb that can be diffused with some communications finesse.
The most practical government applications for Twitter are in public safety and emergency notifications. I’m currently kicking around a blueprint for exactly how I can use Twitter more effectively to keep the community instantaneously informed of fires, road closings from MVA’s, power outages etc.
From a PIO standpoint, I thought I would never say this, but I would rather see a total press blackout then continue to allow the blather coming out of government official’s mouths about the tragic fire in Flint, Michigan last Saturday night that took the lives of four young children.
From a community and public relations perspective things are not looking good in Flint, Michigan. First, response time was questioned in the tragic fire last Saturday night that took the lives of four children ages 1-4, and now the Mayor of Flint announced today that 23 firefighters will be laid off tomorrow. The layoffs will leave just 65 firefighters in a city of 118,000. Flint can also lose two fire stations, which would leave just 3 for the entire town. The city is trying to close an $8 million budget shortfall.
This television PSA is from Great Britain. “Embrace Life” is an extremely creative and well done commercial about the importance of seat belts. It’s free to share on YouTube. 
I am going to place it on the Department’s YouTube page as well as feature it on our website with statistics about seat belt use and safety.
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