It's Not My Emergency Retired Crisis Manager's Brain Dump

Today I formally announced my retirement from the fire service; Pretty historic occasion in the Boyd household. After 30 years of public service in helping others during their worst day, I am turning in my badge and moving on. I ...

I’m writing this while sitting on the deck of a golf resort, overlooking an uphill tough par 5 hole that I’ve only reached in two one time in the dozen times I’ve tried.  All day long, foursomes of hackers like ...

The top down crisis management philosophy called “Command and Control” needs to go.  Yep, you read it right.  This statement is likely going to cause consternation among fellow Incident Commanders.  But, what the heck, I’m in the twilight of my ...

Columbine, Fort Hood, and now Aurora, Colorado. Another bizarre and seemingly random shooting of the innocent by warped and sick criminals.  I’ll leave it to the attorneys, terrorist experts and mental health professionals to weigh in on why.  I want ...

A couple of days ago, Dave Statter of Statter911 fame posted a link to a video that should warm your heart.  For those who think firefighters and police officers are only in the job for a “fat pension” and other ...

I recently met with a group of boathouse owners at our local marina that recently suffered a fire killing two boat owners, destroying the large boathouse and 12 large pleasure boats.  In prepping for my presentation I came across one ...

Having suffered through four years of study and research paper production required to complete the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy, I swore I would never read another research paper, abstract, study or comic book related to ...

Ever since I was a kid I religiously read National Geographic Magazine.  My grandparents kept issues dating back to the mid 30’s, and I looked forward to reading these mini-time capsules.  As I got older I added encyclopedias to my ...

I had a sobering discussion with my son last night.  He is 23 years old, works as a part-time firefighter, and also serves as a resident volunteer firefighter.  He is testing everywhere, intent on “winning the lotto”.  I have no ...

I hit the links today, determined to shake off the cobwebs accumulated during a gray Pacific Northwest winter.  After three holes of hackin’, choppin’ and basically suckin off the tee, I stood on the fourth tee box hanging my head.  ...