Backfire
by
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Kennedy Seagrave is a retired battalion chief of the fire service. She outlines how her fire experiences gave her insights into how to fight fires in her personal life. She recognized that fire terminology applied to fighting fires off duty. Her strategy in the fire service didn't always work but it made her find new strategies that did work. She realized early on she would need a strategy to navigate safely through her fire career.
Fire flashed on and over her during her fire recruit academy inside a large commercial structure. A flashover occurs when burning materials during the burning process put off gas that ignites upon reaching its ignition temperature. The result is a violent, sudden all-encompassing ignition of this gas. It’s hard if not impossible to escape the effects of the intense heat.
There was loud crackling and popping and the sounds of a heavily involved roaring fire inside. Their crew was in trouble and needed help and should have called a Mayday. They hadn’t sized up their situation correctly or used the correct strategy.
She hesitated to retreat because of concern for her crew and because of fear of failure in the fire recruit academy.
A size-up in the fire service is conducted on every emergency incident. It starts with the initial call for service. A size-up quickly assesses the situation and is important to conduct to ensure firefighter safety.
Strategy in the fire service is how you orchestrate tactics to achieve fire control, extinguishment, and rescue fire victims. She recognized that everyone experiences dangerous situations and needs help.
Fire size-ups and strategies can help navigate through any dangerous situation.
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About the Book
After twenty-six years in the fire service, author Kennedy Seagrave came to realize that many of the tactics used in firefighting could be helpful in fighting metaphorical fires in everyday life as well. Now she seeks to share the wisdom she gained over the years, while telling her story along the way.
Backfire provides a series of practical strategies and problem-solving approaches that can be applied to anyone’s life, in a wide variety of circumstances. For example, small decisions made correctly can make a tremendous difference in life. Identifying the significance of choices is also essential. Embracing a “size-up” outlook in life can help you to disregard the often overpowering distractions and evaluate the situation before you make a decision—whether it’s entering a burning building to save a life or deciding which college to attend. From the initial sizing up of the situation to the postincident analysis, each step offers methods for dealing with the difficult situations in life based in the techniques used by firefighters every day.
Based on the personal narrative and knowledge of a firefighter with more than two decades of experience, this self-help guide presents problem-solving strategies for all people.
About the Author
Kennedy Seagrave is a retired battalion chief of the fire service with more than twenty-six years of experience in a metro fire department. She and her husband own a business that uses interactive management to train for better emergency management command and control. She holds associate’s degrees in fire science and business administration, a bachelor’s degree in business management, and a master’s degree in public administration. She attained both the Chief Fire Officers (CFO) from the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) and the Executive Fire Officer (EFO) designation from the National Fire Academy.