I’m going to a Firematic Service for a deceased honorary member tonight. We’ll gather at the firehouse in our Class A uniforms and proceed to the Funeral Home. I know a large number of members will attend, they always do. Those in attendance will line up single file on both sides of the parlor room, remove cover, listen to the brief service and then in groups of two, proceed to the coffin for a final salute.
I’ve been to more Firematic Services then I can remember. Some have been for younger members that I knew well, but most have been for senior guys who served many years ago and who I hardly, if at all knew.
What motivates so many to go to these services and pay tribute to those we might have just known in passing or given a quick, “how you doing?” nod to?
When most of us write incident report press releases for consumption by the public they are fact based with very little latitude for creative license. One way I “spice” up a release for the media is by offering quotes. I do this in a number of ways – by adding quotes into the body of the release, offering a number of quotes separate from the release at the bottom of the page or prepare a separate page to go along with the release that just contains lead-ins with the relevant quotes.
There are many cycles when I am constantly sending releases and news to the media. If my department has a particularly busy run schedule, newsworthy assessment of the incidents quickly follow. There are other cycles though when alarms settle down and the flow of information to the media takes a brief hiatus. To avoid being out of sight, out of mind, I make sure that my department, especially in the local community newspapers, has placement at least twice a month. One way I do this is with news “fillers.”
The intricacies of what we do in the fire service can seem alien to many reporters who cover us. Can we actually tackle this lack of expertise without making the journalist feel like we are questioning their lack of knowledge in firematic matters? 
