There is no shortage of cringe-worthy things we've heard and said on the job. The things we say reflect what we are thinking, even if it's only what we are thinking at the moment and not representative of our deeply held thoughts and beliefs. For an officer in the fire service, what you say is registered by the crewmembers and will alter how they view their leaders — even the flip remarks. Nobody will always say the perfect things, but for company officers, it is critical to avoid these five statements. I don't care what you think: You're the officer, right? You're in charge. So you might feel that the only opinion that really matters is your own. Most officers realize how stupid this thinking is, but sometimes people do get caught up in it, especially on emergency scenes. Of course you don't want to have a debate or a consensus discussion when you need to act quickly under emergency conditions. But you still need to have a way for all others to be able to convey information to you, from the senior engineer down to the newest firefighter.  

An overpass was set aflame after a semitrailer hauling thousands of gallons of fuel overturned in Indianapolis on Wednesday. The tanker hit a guardrail on an on-ramp from Interstate 465 to I-70, which split the tank and overturned the semi, according to the Indianapolis Fire Department. Witnesses told the fire department that the driver of the truck exited the tanker on his own with his clothes on fire. The driver, identified as Jeffrey Denman, 59, was in critical condition at a hospital. At least two witnesses, identified as Holly McNally and Mitch Navarre, stopped to help the driver get away from the fiery wreckage. The semi was carrying 4,000 gallons of jet fuel when it overturned, triggering two explosions that caused a much larger fire, the fire department said. "Holly told firefighters that the jet fuel was literally pouring down the embankment as they retreated," the fire department's statement said. Investigators believe unsafe speed contributed to the rollover.  

For FDNY Firefighter Robert Thomas and his three sons, fighting fires and saving lives has become a family affair. All four are city firefighters stationed throughout Brooklyn, joining a growing number of the department's black "legacy" families, where children follow their mothers and fathers into the FDNY. "It's an incredible feeling knowing that they're following in my footsteps," Robert Thomas, 61, told the Daily News Wednesday. "Being in the FDNY is truly a family experience anyway. Over the years it meant more to me than I originally thought it would and I know it would be the same for them too." Thomas took the test for the FDNY in 1982. When he got accepted, he first turned it down, deciding instead to take a job with an insurance company, the Brownsville native remembered.  

The Milwaukee Fire Department is already in training for a building that hasn't broken ground yet. Ascent, an apartment building near downtown Milwaukee expected to break ground in a few months, has a tall timber frame. At 25-stories, it is expected to be the tallest building of it's kind in the world. The word "timber" might suggest big trees, but UL Manager of Industry Relations Sean DeCrane says tall timber frames are made of smaller pieces of wood. "We're using small dimensional lumber, putting it in layers perpendicular to each other to engineer a larger size wood product." Since wood burns, you might think that a tall timber frame is susceptible to a fire, but DeCrane says in a fire the frame will stay intact. "That wood chars. It acts as a protective mechanism… think of like an armadillo," he said. How does UL know a tall timber frame can withstand fire? They built a small version of a building, and lit it up.  

On February 20, 2003, in West Warwick, Rhode Island, the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in United States history occurred in The Station nightclub. More than two-thirds of the 462 people in attendance were either killed or injured (100 dead, 230 injured). A live band that was using fireworks as part of its act ignited foam insulation that had been installed around and over the stage. The fire department was notified about 40 seconds after the fire was ignited and arrived on scene in less than five minutes. In that short time frame, fire had engulfed the club, and fire was showing through the roof. The damage was done. Before the fire had cooled, the investigations began. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as well as state and local agencies conducted in-depth analyses of the fire, the evacuation, and the processes that may have failed to protect the concertgoers that night.  

VIDEO: In its three years, the Skyway 10K has seen thousands of participants. A few have traveled the bridge each year, like friends and firefighters Tom "Bull" Hill and Mike Junge. Hill walks the Skyway to honor firefighters who lost their lives to cancer and PTSD. Hill walked the Skyway in 2018 with a pack covered in the names, shields and objects from firefighters who had died from cancer or suicides related to PTSD. His goal was to bring awareness and change. Now, with laws covering PTSD and cancer for firefighters, Hill walks a little lighter, despite having even more packs. "It's great sharing it with other people, you know. You can actually smile a little bit and say, ya we've made a couple changes," said Hill. He set out on a mission after he lost a friend, a firefighter brother, to cancer.