The Curious Probie

Back when I first started in the fire service, I was told “There was no such thing as a stupid question”. From my dad to my teachers in both my schools, they have told me to ask every question I can think of. No matter how dumb a question is, I was told to ask it. Because no matter what, someone could either answer or try to answer to the best of their ability. Like my dad, any question I ask him he can 90 percent of the time give me an answer, the other 10 percent he will look into it and come back with an answer. Whether you have a question about a firefighting tactic you saw online or you are questioning a decision made by an officer or senior member. It reminds me of a time recently when we had a structure fire in Litchfield. It was an unattached garage between two structures about 20 feet apart. Deputy Chief Laroche had command and I heard Engine 67 get on scene and pull a 1 3/4 line for fire attack. At that point in the call, a sufficient water source had been established so I wondered why they didn’t pull a 2 1/2 off for a quick knockdown.

Just recently in my FF 1&2 class, we talked about not being afraid to pull the bigger hose if you have a sufficient water source, sure the hose might weigh more than a 1 3/4, but the fire will get knocked down faster than a couple 1 3/4 lines. I was nervous to ask my captain why they wouldn’t use a bigger hose, the probie asking a Captain about the methods they used. I thought he would be so mad but I sacked up and after the fire was over, I asked Capt. Stevens, “Why wouldn’t you just pull a 2 1/2 off for a quick-fire attack?” he then replied and said, Wales Tank 33 was first due and had already knocked down most of the fire before 67 arrived. So there was no need for a bigger hose line. I thought about what my generation calls is “cooked”. I thought questioning their method would get me in trouble but it didn’t. That’s why I question everything, the answer might be different from what you wanted to hear, but it’s better to ask than not know.

“Fire Fighters on South ST” by Bob Mical is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.