FireFighterNation

The generational changes in the fire service have brought emphasis to the need for succession planning at the officer level. In this article, Marc Revere provides a look at what a system of succession planning looks like, from rookie to chief.

Chief Ed Plaugher and Deputy Chief John Tippett tell FireRescue Editor-in-Chief Tim Sendelbach about the firefighting and command efforts at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Plaugher was the incident commander on scene that day, and Tippett was one of two safety officers on scene.

FireRescue Editor-in-Chief Tim Sendelbach interviews Bill Butler, a retired FDNY captain whose son, Thomas, was killed on 9/11.

After 9/11, the fire service made a promise to its fallen colleagues—it would “never forget” the sacrifice of the 343. But as the 10-year anniversary approaches, Chief Matt Tobia points out that fulfillment of that promise goes way beyond a remembrance of those we lost.

Prior to the 1970s, no single system was in place to unify local command systems when multiple agencies responded to major emergencies. That changed with the creation of the FIRESCOPE program, which initially helped organize events in Southern California, but grew to be adopted by the federal government in the form of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). William Neville and Robert Neamy recall the early days of FIRESCOPE and its development into NIMS. They also offer insight into why it’s important that NIMS be adopted and used by all agencies.