Smoke Your Firefighter Interview


Book Description

With this book you will gain insight into the crucial part of the exam- the interview. While it is important for a candidate to focus on the written and physical ability parts of the exam, the interview often accounts for up to 100% of a candidate's overall score. Lepore has proctored hundreds of entry-level and promotional interviews. He shares his unique ability to see the interview through the eyes of the rater. This book is presented in a question-answer format. It provides the candidate with a strong foundation on how to answer over 100 of the questions most commonly asked by fire departments across the country, and provides the rationale as to why the answer is correct. Answers to common situational questions deal with: moral issues, legal issues, violations of policies and procedures, ethical dilemmas, societal obligations, interpersonal conflicts. This updated book includes additional questions and answers.




Smoke Your Firefighter Written Exam


Book Description

Most fire departments give a written examination as the first part of the testing process. Since there are usually an enormous number of candidates who apply for the position, difficult written examinations are an effective way to narrow the field. There is no excuse for a firefighter candidate to fail a written exam. Those who are committed to their goal will plan and prepare for the written exam to improve their chances of success. While there are other self-help books devoted to helping aspiring firefighters, they only provide questions and answers. These books are useless if you do not understand how to work out the problems. Smoke Your Firefighter Written Exam goes beyond providing sample questions and answers. It teaches the reader the basic rules and principles behind the questions; in other words, how to solve each complex problem. Each section begins with an overview of how to solve the problem. The reasoning behind the correct answer is presented in clear, easy-to-understand language. The reader will become proficient in: mathematics (word problems, geometry, addition, subtraction, multiplication); mechanical aptitude (gears, levers, pulleys, incline planes, screws); language (reading, spelling, grammar, vocabulary); perceptual ability; spatial relations; matching parts and figures; map reading. Illustrations are used throughout the book to teach basic principles and present problems to solve.




Mastering the Fire Service Assessment Center, 2nd Ed


Book Description

Bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Do you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to evaluate behavior, performance, and readiness? Read Mastering the Fire Service Assessment Center to identify what you need to learn and understand how to learn it. There is no way you can read and reflect on the wisdom in these pages and not become a better person and a better firefighter. Why Read This Book? The American fire service is facing a new normal fueled by mass exodus, influx of new generations of firefighters, a lack of hands-on leadership training, sweeping changes in mission, decimated budgets, and the genetics of task-oriented, reactive forefathers. The greatest and perhaps only area that we can affect directly is hands-on, inspiring, realistic, and useful training for our aspiring and incumbent leaders. This book will help you regardless of the fire officer rank you seek. It will help you know where you need to improve, how to develop a specific personal plan to become an excellent officer, and how to do well with whatever assessment center exercises throw at you. NEW MATERIAL in this second edition: --Enjoy reading “Wisdom from the Masters” from 18 fire service luminaries. They provide invaluable insights and challenges you will face as you prepare to promote, whether for the first time as a company officer or up the chain as a chief officer. --Learn lessons from thousands of students from the past 12 years whose feedback will benefit you in this second edition. --Benefit from the many new elements in this book, including relevant articles, additional exercises, and content regarding the dimensions of leadership, management, and emergency operations. The complexities of being a fire officer in the 21st century require an undercurrent of humility while continually pursuing mastery of leading in the modern fire service. Learn how to lead the modern-day firefighter in a modern world, with modern technology, modern fire behavior, and modern sociopolitical and economic challenges. Many firefighters ask themselves if they really want to do this job, but nothing is as professionally rewarding and challenging as leading others in battle to save lives! “This book will give you the greatest probability of success in your assessment center process.” —Bobby Halton, editor-in-chief, Fire Engineering magazine




Fire Interview


Book Description

This book lays out a step by step method for answering interview questions. Although this book is specific to those trying to get hired by the fire department it can help everyone improve their interview skills. The storyteller method will help you plug your personal information into a Five Step method of answering to achieve the highest score possible on your firefighter interview. I have also included a short workbook in the back for you to fill out and prepare to score full points on your next fire department interview. This book is full of stories and examples to give you a complete path to improving your fire department interview skills!




The Art of Reading Buildings


Book Description

The Art of Reading Buildings focuses on the practical art of reading a building and applying its positive and negative attributes in developing a size-up for fireground operations that center on structure fires. First-due company officers, incident commanders, and safety officers will appreciate the practical “street-wise” lessons captured in the book. Chief officers, training officers, engineers, firefighters, and fire science degree candidates will benefit from the wide range of building construction topics covered in this text. Features include: • Understand the technical and practical aspects of building construction • Learn on-the-spot building construction assessment using the authors’ custom Rapid Street-Read Guides • Develop a quick construction size-up for immediate application to fireground operations • Recognize firefighter traps in newer and alternative construction methods • This text covers objectives for the National Fire Academy’s Fire and Emergency Services in Higher Education (FESHE) Building Construction for Fire Protection course




Norman Hall's Firefighter Exam Preparation Book


Book Description

Guaranteed Top Scores on Your Firefighter's Exam! Want to be a firefighter? Do you know what is involved in taking the exam? Don't take a chance at failing a test you could ace--learn from the expert, Norman Hall. For more than a decade, Norman Hall's Firefighter Exam Preparation Book has been the #1 test preparation book for prospective firefighters. Back by popular demand, Norman Hall has completely updated and revised this hugely successful book for this second edition, presenting new tips and time-tested methods for attaining the highest scores. Practice your skills using features such as tips on how to pass the physical requirements, practice exams with answer keys, memory aids to help you master the recall test, tables for self-scoring, insights on what a career in firefighting entails, and a discussion of the final interview. Use Norman Hall's Firefighter Exam Preparation Book, 2nd Edition to study hard and score at the top!




Killer Show


Book Description

The definitive book on The Station nightclub fire on the 10th anniversary of the disaster




Mountains of Grace


Book Description

When wildfires threaten her Montana home, Mercy Yoder finds herself torn between the Amish man who proposed without a declaration of love and the Englisch smoke jumper who can’t seem to stay away. Mercy Yoder loves her students and her life in the tiny village of West Kootenai, nestled at the foot of Montana’s most northern mountains. And she is in no rush to get married . . . much to the disappointment of her parents. In fact, she has turned down the one marriage proposal she’s received. Her beau, Caleb, has yet to tell her he loves her, stoking her fears that they simply aren’t right for each other. When a devastating wildfire threatens to destroy her beloved community, Mercy and her family evacuate to the nearby town of Eureka. There she meets Spencer McDonald, an Englisch fireman. Her conversations with him are unlike any she’s ever had with a man. She finds his directness and ability to express his feelings refreshing and completely different from Caleb, who is tightlipped about his past. But what would her family and community say if Mercy chose a relationship with an Englischer? Is Mercy willing to give up all she has known and loved for someone who finally understands her? Or can Mercy find the love she has always longed for closer to home? Sweet, inspirational Amish romance Part of the Amish of Big Sky Country Series Book 1: Mountains of Grace Book 2: A Long Bridge Home Book 3: Peace in the Valley Includes discussion questions for book clubs




Granite Mountain


Book Description

The true story behind the events that inspired the major motion picture Only the Brave. A "unique and bracing" (Booklist) first-person account by the sole survivor of Arizona's disastrous 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, which took the lives of 19 "hotshots" -- firefighters trained specifically to battle wildfires. Brendan McDonough was on the verge of becoming a hopeless, inveterate heroin addict when he, for the sake of his young daughter, decided to turn his life around. He enlisted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of elite firefighters based in Prescott, Arizona. Their leader, Eric Marsh, was in a desperate crunch after four hotshots left the unit, and perhaps seeing a glimmer of promise in the skinny would-be recruit, he took a chance on the unlikely McDonough, and the chance paid off. Despite the crew's skepticism, and thanks in large part to Marsh's firm but loving encouragement, McDonough unlocked a latent drive and dedication, going on to successfully battle a number of blazes and eventually win the confidence of the men he came to call his brothers. Then, on June 30, 2013, while McDonough -- "Donut" as he'd been dubbed by his team--served as lookout, they confronted a freak, 3,000-degree inferno in nearby Yarnell, Arizona. The relentless firestorm ultimately trapped his hotshot brothers, tragically killing all 19 of them within minutes. Nationwide, it was the greatest loss of firefighter lives since the 9/11 attacks. Granite Mountain is a gripping memoir that traces McDonough's story of finding his way out of the dead end of drugs, finding his purpose among the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and the minute-by-minute account of the fateful day he lost the very men who had saved him. A harrowing and redemptive tale of resilience in the face of tragedy, Granite Mountain is also a powerful reminder of the heroism of the people who put themselves in harm's way to protect us every day.




Chasing Smoke


Book Description

"At first I'm calm as the trees fall. But suddenly a rat's nest of wood, bent horizontal and cribbed into the trees above us, comes down in a rush of a hundred machine gun snaps. Trees caught in the nest flail around before hitting the ground. Our eyes dart everywhere, trying to keep track of every moment. Trees break free and swing themselves like catapults. Splintered chunks of wood slash through the air like propellers... Falling trees is the most dangerous job in North America." --Aaron Williams British Columbia's weather and geography--hot dry summers, steep terrain, and population density in forested areas--make it one of the most difficult places in the world to fight forest fires. Chasing Smoke is an enthralling insider-account of how a fire season unfolds. Experienced firefighter Aaron Williams offers a tangible window into the intensely physical, high-adrenalin lifestyle shared by his crew of eccentrics, all eager to be on the front line. Williams shares what it's like to work sixteen-hour days in an apocalyptic landscape, where the smoke is so thick your snot runs black and you need to drink ten litres of water a day. What it's like to make a stupid mistake and singe your beard in front of your crew, or spend hours hosing a spot the size of a queen mattress and still not extinguish the burn. What it's like to hear a tree fall, a co-worker's shout, and imagine the worst. From the "curated gauntlet of abuse" that makes up rookie week, until the last length of hose is rolled up at the end of the burn season, Williams chronicles the seasonal existence of a firefighter, all while examining the wider world of firefighting--interweaving the history, mechanics and politics--as well as the micro-world of the small crew who willingly put their lives on the line.