On April 19, 2026, after a week of being locked out of my Company Commander FaceBook page, the Meta AI algorithm told me that my appeal for being too young – an appeal I did not make – was rejected. The page was taken down. After 18 years, the non-monitized Company Commander FaceBook page averaged 32,000 daily visits, with some curated news posts exceeding 500,000 views.
What started with posting 4-6 curated news items in an early morning hour drifted into 20-30 posts a day, taking two hours in the morning and one to two hours in the afternoon/evening. It was entertaining and addictive.
There have been persistent efforts to hack into the page. I conducted a major security renovation of the business suite a couple of months ago, during which I found that rogue agents had become strategic partners. April 12 was another hack. FaceBook has been acting weird over the last couple of months, leading me to believe the Company Commander page has been corrupted.
This shutdown is a good thing because I need my early morning time to focus on proposing, developing, and delivering my Public Policy PhD dissertation. I need a new place to track issues and trends in the fire and ems industry that eventually show up in a class presentation or a deep-dive article.
I was a fan and follower of Dr. Jerry Pournelle, always reading his Chaos Manor columns. He was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he worked in the aerospace industry, but eventually focused on his writing career.
His blog site included a “DayBook” page where he posted items related to what projects he was working on, correspondence with followers and colleagues, articles of interest, and random pictures. I will try using the same format here.
My mornings will be spent working on my dissertation proposal, the last step to completing my Ph.D. in Public Policy. Later in the day, I will post a DayBook. It will have a few fire/EMS curated news items, as well as articles or media that I plan to use in my classes or projects.
Building a workable research and writing process
Most of this week was focused on a trial-and-error process to develop a dissertation research and writing process that will not drive me crazy. The tools and techniques I used to write the fire officer textbook – Microsoft Word with EndNotes and Grammarly – are not the most effective now. MS Word/EndNote struggled with a 35-page white paper with 55 references that I wrote last year.
My document must be in Google Docs. The first reference management system I tried worked pretty good, but it cannot handle the massive number of references a dissertation requires. The second reference management system can handle the workload, but 10% of the 30-some references in my first document are not properly formatted in APA 7. The online information and YouTube videos have not been helpful. Arrgh!
2026 April 19 DayBook
Yantic fire chief continues to lead shuttered department. 4/18/2026 by Daniel Drainville The Day News
Norwich [CT] — Chief Robert “Bobby” Allen and Deputy Chief Frank Blanchard, in an uncontested vote by members of the Yantic Fire Engine Co. No. 1, were reelected last Sunday to their roles, making them the first fire officers in city history to lead a shuttered fire department.
Allen, 61, was elected to his second term as chief and Blanchard, 57, to his second as deputy chief. The two lifetime members of the department ran unopposed.
Last Tuesday, the two sat at the wooden table in the engine bay where two Yantic fire trucks once were parked.
“There’s not a lot going on right now,” Allen said. “There really isn’t. It’s just keeping everyone engaged.”
It was in early February when the city shut down the 179-year-old Yantic department, cutting off its access to city funds, stopping them from responding to fire and medical calls, and repossessing their five fire trucks that had been purchased by the city.
City Fire Chief Sam Wilson and City Manager John Salomone stated the reason was that Yantic had failed to sign an agreement to comply with Unified Command, the new city-wide fire policy they established last August.
Yantic, along with the Taftville, Occum and Laurel Hill volunteer departments, have sued the city over the policy. The fifth department, East Great Plain, has not.
Fire departments typically do not shut down. And when they do, it is usually because of a lack of members.
But Yantic has 58 active members.
Allen, elected to his first term as chief last April, has become the face of a department at odds with the city. And yet, he has maintained his usual light-hearted disposition.
“I don’t dwell on it,” Allen said. “I think the big thing is just to keep the guys engaged on training. Keep them informed on what’s going on — on the legal aspects. And, just keep driving forward, and keep the positivity here. … I think you have more guys at the station now than we did when we were in service, because they want to keep it together. They want to keep trainings and things like that.”
Leading a shuttered department has also meant speaking at public meetings against the city’s action and rallying public support.
Allen said other departments, like Taftville and Lisbon, have invited his firefighters to attend their drills and use their equipment and trucks for training.
Ashley Nicholas, secretary for the Yantic department, said Allen has done a good job keeping morale up.
Allen said during the last six weeks, the department has polished all of its antique equipment.
“It’s brought a lot of guys together to come down,” Allen said. “And I think in the long run, you’ll see this crew of guys, that when you look back on it, they bonded probably even more now. Because there’s one common goal now, which is to remain positive and get our doors back open.”
Leading the legal charge
Allen’s and Blanchard’s leadership has also involved having to get involved in the legal process.
A few weeks ago, Allen and Blanchard, along with leaders of the other three volunteer departments and their lawyer, Mark Kovack, engaged in a single mediation session with the city in an attempt to resolve the lawsuits short of a court hearing. That mediation was unsuccessful. But Blanchard said they and the city are still in what he called “back channel communications.”
“The ball’s in their court,” he said.
Salomone and Wilson want Yantic to agree to the fundamental principles of Unified Command, which established a single command structure with Wilson at the top, and standardized training, communications and emergency response protocols for both paid and volunteer fire services. But the four departments want to retain their autonomy, continuing to be in charge of emergency calls in their own districts.
Allen said he just laughs when City Manager John Salomone says Yantic will still have its autonomy with Unified Command.
Allen said what Salomone means is “They’ll still be able to do their steak suppers and chicken barbecues.”
“(But) we’re a firehouse that does steaks. Not a steakhouse that goes to fires,” Allen said.
Blanchard said even newer, younger members of the department, in a short time, have grown to like the camaraderie and “family style” of the department.
“I think that’s a huge draw for a lot of people,” Blanchard said. “They want to help the community, but the social aspect. This is a place where you can stop in with your family. Cook some hamburgers and hot dogs on the back patio. Walk your dog out in the field. It can be like a second home.”
Yantic, he said, has prided itself on being a place where members know they can come spend time, and have their efforts go appreciated, while they hone their skills in public safety.
Allen just retired from 42 years as a driver for UPS. He said it’s been a lot easier to lead the department while not going to work at night.
He cracked a joke about his email address, UPSFireman1847: “I’m going to have to get rid of UPS and fireman right now. It’s just going to be 1847.”
Members say Allen’s uncontested reelection shows they are happy with how he’s handled the shutdown.
“Everyone’s behind him,” said Blanchard, who served 20 years as chief. “Not only me. Everyone’s behind him, to make sure that this place succeeds.”
“The passion he has for this department is second to none,” added Blanchard. “Just like everyone that was before him. And he’s leading the fight. He drew the short straw.”
Allen said continuing the department’s lineage of esteemed leadership is important to him.
“One thing that I think is huge for this fire department — since Walt Kane was chief in 1960 — is that Yantic has always strived to do the best at things. Firefighting. Public events. Yantic has set the bar high for themselves. And we constantly strive, you know, to maintain that level of consistency.”
But Allen stressed the most important thing to him is that his department continues the work that began in 1847.
“We’re still doing the job, and doing it well. That’s really the message,” he said.
https://theday.com/news/886431/yantic-fire-chief-continues-to-lead-shuttered-department
‘A job that’s equal for everyone.’ Wu appoints Rodney Marshall as Boston’s first Black fire commissioner. 4/16/2026 by Niki Griswold The Boston Globe
Mayor Michelle Wu on Thursday appointed Rodney Marshall as Boston’s new fire commissioner, making him the first Black man to lead a department that has long struggled to diversify its ranks to reflect the city it serves.
Marshall’s rise to the top of the department marked a historic moment in its nearly 350-year existence. Marshall, 58, has served in the Boston Fire Department for 35 years, most recently as a deputy chief and one of its chiefs of operations.
He will be formally sworn in to the department’s top job later this month, replacing Paul F. Burke, who has led the city’s fire department since 2022. Burke reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 for Massachusetts firefighters this month, according to the mayor’s office.
As recently as two years ago, the department’s effort to recruit more women and people of color was still struggling through fits and smarts: 71 percent of that academy class was white and 93 percent were men. Demographic data the city posts online show that 73 percent of the department’s employees is white, even though 44 percent of the city population is.
“We’re going to make this a job that’s equal for everyone,” Marshall said Thursday. “Men, women, people of color — whoever wants this job is going to have the opportunity.”
He pointed to the department’s efforts to recruit new firefighters from all of the city’s neighborhoods through the cadet program, as well as its Teen Academy — a paid summer job program for 14- to 18 year-olds that introduces youth to fire services.
The mayor’s office did not immediately provide updated demographic data for the department or its most recent fire cadet class.
“It’s important that we reflect who we are in public safety, in our schools, in the cabinet, and wherever there’s positions of power in the city,” said state Senator Lydia Edwards of East Boston, who has previously criticized the department for its handling of reports of racial and gender discrimination.
But while Marshall’s appointment marks a turning point, Edwards said, she is most impressed by the Boston native’s decades of service, which has earned him the deep respect of his peers.
Wu on Thursday thanked Burke for his leadership, calling him “a shining example of what it means to be a public servant.” She said it is an “honor” to appoint Marshall as his successor.
“He served all across our city in East Boston, Back Bay, Brighton, South Boston, and has seen firsthand the needs of our neighborhoods and the people who call them home,” Wu said of Marshall. ”Rodney has earned a reputation as someone who earns trust, and that’s the kind of leadership this department, the oldest and the best, deserves.”
Burke also celebrated Marshall’s promotion, saying he has personally witnessed Marshall’s “steady leadership, sound judgment, and commitment to our mission” over his four years as fire commissioner.
“My title might have been Commissioner, but Chief Marshall and myself were equals,” Burke said. “We did everything together. His instincts were unbelievable when things got tough, … and I’m proud that it’s him. It couldn’t be a better day.”
Marshall first joined the fire department in 1991, before rising through the ranks to become deputy fire chief in 2022. He was recognized by the department in 1998 for saving several lives during a six-alarm fire, and earned another commendation for rescuing people trapped in a bus in 2013, according to Wu’s office.
Marshall also designed and launched the fire department’s cadet program, which aims to recruit young Boston residents.
Marshall is a Grove Hall native and graduate of Boston College.
Joined by his family, friends, and colleagues on Thursday, Marshall emphasized his commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of Boston residents and his fellow firefighters.
“It takes a team to assemble a 50-foot ladder and stand it up; it takes a team to stretch a two-and-a-half hose line down the hallway; and it’s the strength of that team that makes the difference between life and death on this job,” Marshall said. “I take this job very seriously. I love this department, and I love this city.”
Marshall’s appointment comes after Wu has seen the departure of several high-profile Black officials from her administration in recent months. Jessicah Pierre, Wu’s former chief of communications, left the administration last November after Wu resoundingly won a second term. Segun Idowu, the city’s former chief of economic opportunity and inclusion, resigned from his job in January.
Then last month, Wu’s tourism chief, John Borders IV, stepped down for a role with Boston’s new women’s professional soccer team, Boston Legacy FC.
The Boston Fire Department has long faced criticism for its purportedly change-resistant culture, and lack of diversity, as well as reports of racial discrimination, and sexual harassment and assault.
In early February, 12 elected officials of color, including City Councilor Brian Worrell, sent a letter to Wu urging her to name the city’s first Black fire commissioner.
Marshall’s appointment is well-deserved based solely on his resume, Worrell told the Globe, but it’s also “an inspiration, and it continues to show that Boston will not be a city that sets barriers on any of their residents.”
“This is us continuing to take that step in the right direction, making sure that we create a fire department that is reflective of every neighborhood in the city and that every resident could see themselves in,” Worrell said.
The city hosted the announcement of Marshall’s appointment Thursday at the Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club in Dorchester, where his two children attend after school programs.
Whenever he picks them up while in uniform, Marshall said it sparks the curiosity of other kids.
“I love these questions because they present an opportunity to have a conversation about this job, this profession, and this department,” Marshall said. “These conversations open kids’ eyes to what’s possible, and to considering a path” they didn’t know existed.
Marshall said that, as a child growing up, he didn’t know what firefighters did, and remembers walking past a fire house on Washington Street that always had its doors closed. This summer, he said he plans to issue a directive for all fire stations to keep their doors open during the warm months.
“I want city kids, kids from every neighborhood, to be able to walk in, see the trucks, talk to the firefighters, and experience the wonder and excitement of seeing this job up close,” Marshall said.
His hope, he said, is that one of those children will grow up and land the department’s top job — like he did.
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