Join the F.O.O.L.S. Sunday February 02 @0930 Nates 306 S Main St Buda as we discuss riding assignments.

Some say engine/truck riding assignments are a good choice to aid in eliminating confusion and help streamline task completion early on in an incident. Or does riding/ tool assignment just another form of micromanaging inhibiting the fire firefighter development and restricting organizational growth, turning firefighters into zombies unable to make decisions.

GO CHIEFS!

All,
1st up is our January sermon, it will be January 5th @0930 at nates in buda. We will be discussing our likes/dislikes from 2019 and how to improve for 2020. If you can't make it please send us an email letting us know your thoughts and what you would like to see in 2020. If you have an idea of something you'd like to see more of or less of please email or attend the January 5th meeting at nates 306 S Main St Buda.

Please remember the membership renewal is around the corner so keep an eye on the website renewals close in March.

Also we will no longer be able to host the Sermon at easy tiger. If anyone has any potential places to host future sermons to accommodate our member that live north please let me know.

Please let me know if you have any questions comments or concerns
regarding the above or other chapter business

Brothers and sisters,

I hope everyone is well. I want to first thank all those who volunteered or participated in the WORK conference. We literally couldn't do it without your support. Now that the conference is over, it's time to get back on track with our monthly sermons.

What’s the difference between training and practice? Isn’t it the same thing? When given the title of “professionals” were often compared to athletes, and even more often to the military. Yet, our performance doesn’t dictate our paycheck. Even worse, and most often, it doesn’t even change the way we approach the next call. Is the use of these two words just semantics? Or would understanding how these two words are vastly different change our approach to how we prepare for the “mission”? What are the downfalls approaching each one incorrectly? Bring your thoughts and ideas Sunday, December 1st @0930 Nates 306 S Main street Buda, TX

September Sermon
Join your Lone Star Fools Sunday September 8th 10am at Easy Tiger 6406 N Interstate 35 Frontage rd Suite 1100. Our Very own Mike Heeney will be presenting his Class “Peace and Wartime”.
Peacetime and Wartime bridges firehouse management and fireground actions building a seamless mindset that supports individual development, strengthens company efficiency, advances organizational growth, and facilitates alarm mitigation. How we conduct ourselves and utilize our time when not responding is the greatest predicter of how we will perform when the tones drop. Unfortunately, peacetime structure is one of the most overlooked and misused company level assets. We must be purposeful in how we structure our day if we want to cultivate an internal cohesive social network, enhance company level trust, and strengthen functional competency. This can be challenging with the growing demands and expectations placed on us by administration and the public. The wartime component of this class will examine experience-based lessons from the fireground ensuring we are conducting meaningful size-ups, articulating worthwhile radio reports, employing hose lines without gimmicks, prioritizing ingress and egress concerns, executing searches that result in the highest potential for a positive outcome, and finding balance with ventilation practices between the studies, street dynamics, individual resource allocation, and deployment constraints. Finally, time will be spent exploring how to benefit from a candid post wartime tailboard talk so we can better expend our peacetime hours.

“Peacetime and Wartime”
Peacetime and Wartime bridges firehouse management and fireground actions building a seamless
mindset that supports individual development, strengthens company efficiency, advances organizational
growth, and facilitates alarm mitigation. How we conduct ourselves and utilize our time when not
responding is the greatest predictor of how we will perform when the tones drop. Unfortunately,
peacetime structure is one of the most overlooked and misused company level assets. We must be
purposeful in how we structure our day if we want to cultivate an internal cohesive social network,
enhance company level trust, and strengthen functional competency. This can be challenging with the
growing demands and expectations placed on us by administration and the public. The wartime
component of this class will examine experience-based lessons from the fireground ensuring we are
conducting meaningful size-ups, articulating worthwhile radio reports, employing hose lines without
gimmicks, prioritizing ingress and egress concerns, executing searches that result in the highest potential
for a positive outcome, and finding balance with ventilation practices between the studies, street
dynamics, individual resource allocation, and deployment constraints. Finally, time will be spent
exploring how to benefit from a candid post wartime tailboard talk so we can better expend our
peacetime hours.

Heading North-Central this time at Easy Tiger (not the downtown location).

The initial size-up and radio report of the first-arriving company at an incident scene is one of the most important actions undertaken by the officer of that company. This initial interpretation of conditions and action plan set the tone, tempo, and volume of the entire first alarm. A poor evaluation and response to conditions can often yield a negative outcome for the entire operation. Whats your definition of a size up, when does it began and what is included. Every officer bears the responsibility of the initial size up and action plan, regardless what your rank or experience is you must posses the ability to size up and incident with your particular function in mind.

Join your Lone star F.O.O.L.S. this Sunday August 4th at 1030 am at Easy Tiger 6406 N Interstate 35 Frontage Rd Suite 1100, Austin, TX 78752.
Think about the above questions presented in the text. What does a size up mean to you and your relative rank. when does the size up start and what do you include. Also lets talk about how you start your day the moment you get on the job. What does your take over look like and is this part of your size up?

Join your Lone Star F.O.O.L.S Sunday July 7 @ 0930 Nate’s in Buda 306 S main st.  We will discuss the dichotomy of Attitudes. Standards, and Culture in the fire service and respective departments. . The fire service is all about perceived culture. What is your department’s culture? Does your department have a standard? Is this standard only for new hires or does your department hold the most senior fire fire fighter to a standard?  How is your department’s standards effecting the attitudes of the fire fighters in your department?  There are varying definitions or understandings of fire service culture and the importance of standards.   What culture has your department built and how has that culture affected the attitudes in your department.  I firmly believe that change in the department begins with change in the fire fighter. Does your fire department need a change?  Bring your thoughts and ideas to the sermon at Nates Sunday July 7. 

Brothers and Sisters,

Please join us June 2nd at Red Horn coffee and brew house @930 13010 W Parmer LN #800, Cedar Park.. One of our own Mike Shine will be hosting and presenting the Sermon on Search Culture.

Brother and sisters, 

Fighting high-rise fires is known as the “Ivy League firefighting” due to the amount of technical knowledge needed. We’d like to welcome Lt. Rich Anderson, an 18yr veteran in the San Antonio Fire Department.  Lt. Anderson will be discussing lessons learned from the meridian Plaza fire that tremendously affected the fire service. He will touch on equipment needs, options, basic tactics, and best practices as learned from our peers. Join your local F.O.O.L.S. 0930 Sunday, May 5th at Nates 306 S Main St Buda, TX as Lt. Anderson talks about personal experience and anecdotes he’s had as a brand new Lt. assigned to a downtown Engine Co. with 96 first due high-rise structures.

This month we are proud to host Captain Kevin Willis of the San Antonio Fire Department. Captain Willis is a 3rd generation firefighter with 13 years on the job. Captain Willis has served at some of the busiest stations during his career and is currently in the training division of SAFD. Captain Willis was on one of the first due units for the tragic Ingram Fire in 2017, which claimed the life of firefighter Scott Deem. Captain Willis will be sharing his experience, lessons learned within the SAFD, and operational changes that have been implemented since. Please join us on April 7th at 9:30AM at Nate’s in Buda. Beer is served at 10.

Think back to your rookie year, what were your expectations? What did you expect from your training academy? How about walking into the fire house for your first shift? Did you have expectations of culture or training? What do you expect from your crew and company officers? have your expectations changed through the course of your career?  Most importantly are we ( your crew, your dept, the fire service) meeting the expectations of the people we have sworn to protect and serve. 

Join us Sunday February 3 at Nates 306 S main st, Buda TX @930.  Be ready for awesome conversation as we discuss EXPECTATIONS in the fire service.  Take a long look in the mirror and be your toughest critic. 

Come join your local FOOLS as we recap our accomplishments from 2018 and discuss our goals for 2019. Caffeine at 9:30. Beer at 10am.

Join your Lone Star F.O.O.L.S. as Captian Rush leads a conversation about being a stand for professionalism. Captan Rush will specifically speak about Andy Fredericks, who obviously, was a hard-working student of the craft. Capt. Rush has been a local fireman who has been a part of training events for the past 25 years. Captain Rush taught a long side Andy at FDIC and knew him both personally and professionally. I'm personally eager to hear about   the stand for professionalism that he takes, that Andy took, and many of us strive for that is the only thing keeping the fire service "professional" in any tangible way.  The current atmosphere of risk aversion, I'm number one, hit it hard from the yard etc are a byproduct of this lack of actual "professional"ism.  Andy was a well-known example and hearing about him and his stand from someone that knew him will be an experience you don't want to miss.

What do you look for in a crew? What qualities, must the men/women possess for them to be a good fit? Do you work for a department that assigns members to your fire house without the crew input? If so how do you handle an individual that doesn’t have the same approach to the job? Most importantly how do we build probies into good passionate fire fighters?
Join your LSF Sunday November 4th at Nates 306 S Main St. Buda TX.

As Firefighters we all want to be first in, and often times are training reflects this. We forget to train on or discuss, one of the most important functions on the fire ground. No matter what arrival we are on scene without water supply we are destined to fail.
At what point in the fire scene is you and your crew obtaining uninterrupted water supply? Does your engine company maximize the hydrant? Preplanning is an important part of water supply. Does your engine company drive territory or have a system to locate hydrants? Do yall note working hydrants vs hydrants that are out of order. Is there an SOP in place for the maintenance of the hydrants in your territory? Most drivers and well trained crews perform standard task of obtaining a water supply, such as reverse way or forward lay. Has a driver/fire fighter are you training on your proficiency to draft, tandem pump or create a portable standpipe?
Upon arrival, decisions must be made not just on supplying the engine but also on determining the amount of water needed to put the fire out. Knowledge of your apparatus attack lines and master streams and the gpm they flow is the key to everything. It is the job of every fire fighter on your apparatus to know and understand how your hose set up, amount of hose, adapter’s appliances effect your water supply.

Come out and support Kyle Melton , one of our members as he leads the discussion about the responsibilities of preparing a probationary fire fighter.
Everyone wants to better their department, nut no one wants a probie.
How do you prepare your probie to be a productive member of your fire department? Do you have a department guideline on what he needs to do on probation? If so, is it sufficient? Probably not. Remember we don’t train to meet the lowest standard, so why would we train our probies that way? If you do the absolute minimum probie training required by your department and your probationary firefighter isn’t impressing your crew with his knowledge and abilities, well bad news. Its your fault. Your probie is a direct result of the investment your crew takes in him.
And that doesn’t only include training. No he isn’t one of the guys yet. But if you lock him in a room to study all shift and then wonder why he isn’t meshing with the crew, well maybe its because you aren’t treating him like a real person. Yes probation requires studying and commitment but also including them in crew activities such as playing a card game after dinner or allowing them to play a game of pickleball after so many hours of studying can help to keep their eyes on the prize. We say we want firefighters who are able think through problems but then we expect our probie to be a mindless zombie.
Yes some probies will be better than others, but it is our job to train them as best we can. That means learning about them, knowing their strengths and weaknesses, and pushing them to be better. No department is perfect and everyone complains about things they feel like their department does wrong. Well the easiest way to change your department’s culture is changing the mindset of its firefighters. And it’s a lot easier to mold a PFF into what you want than change the opinion of a 10 year slug.