Ten years ago FDNY 28 Truck Lieutenant Ray McCormack presented “A Culture of Extinguishment” as the Big Room keynote speaker at the Fire Department Instructor’s Conference. After presenting at the inaugural Journeyman Fire Conference this weekend, I got to spend some time with Ray. I asked about the most surprising aspect of the aftermath of his presentation. He was surprised at the long-lasting impact. He continues to hear that his speech is presented to recruit schools as part of their training.
The entire FDIC 2009 speech can be accessed with these two links:
2009 FDIC: Culture of Extinguishment Part 1 – Ray McCormack
2009 FDIC: Culture of Extinguishment Part 2 – Ray McCormack
Ignoring the Fire Company’s Reason to Exist
Ray’s 2009 speech initially focused on the proliferation of classes that did not cover firefighting but on other topics, especially the focus on firefighter safety at the expense of the fire victim.
Your personal safety should not be about fear. Fear is the firefighter’s enemy. …
Our leaders need poise, not fear. Too much safety makes Johnny a poor leader and a terrible rescuer.
The Next Generation of Extinguishment Warrior-Teachers
Ray was happy to point out the rise of interest in engine company operations as a new generation of extinguishment-oriented warrior-teachers has arrived. They are experienced, do deep dives into hands-on research and are critical thinkers about the UL/NIST research results. They are detail-oriented and passionate. You can catch them at regional conferences, hands-on-training and at FDIC.
New Methods of Sharing Information
In Ray’s time, the progression of moving from a dedicated practitioner to a recognized expert started with training the local fire department, then moving on to teach at fire colleges or regional schools. Getting an article published in Fire Engineering Magazine was like a comic doing a set on The Tonight Show and then invited to the couch by Johnny Carson.
Carson’s signal told America this was a comic who deserved your attention. It was a signal that launched the careers of dozens of acts, from George Carlin to Joan Rivers to Flip Wilson to Jerry Seinfeld to Roseanne Barr to Ellen DeGeneres.
The new generation of warrior-teachers post on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They have a website and, often, a video library of their earlier presentations. You can follow many of them as they journey up the mountain from one of 10,000 righteous regional instructors to one of the 500 outstanding national-level instructors to one of the 50 keynote speakers.
Ray mentioned that he recently read a great online Fire Engineering article that included videos. He said that the author did not want to wait the months it would take to get the article into the print version of Fire Engineering Magazine.
Where to Catch the Rising Warrior-Teachers
Where can you find these rising warrior-teachers? Here are some regional programs that started within the past few years, there are many others.
Portland Firemanship Conference: February 22 – March 1st, 2019. Portland, OR.
The Fire Ground Commander: Central Virginia Firefighter Conference: March 11-13, 2019, Henrico County, VA
Art of Firemanship Days: May 16 – 19, 2019. Harrisonburg, VA
Journeyman Fire Conference: early 2020, West Point, VA