The Nest

Nathan Reser a firefighter at Liberty Twp. VFD was dispatched out to Sunday's fire at Whitewater United Methodist Church while attending his daughter's birthday party. Nathan's wife Amy had recently purchased our new Firefighter Dad shirt for Nathan's fathers day present. Amy sent us this message regarding the quality of our shirt. "Hubby wore his shirt to our daughters third birthday party yesterday and was dispatched on a structure fire. He said it was the hottest fire of his life and the shirt held up pretty good this was in our local paper this morning" Thank you Amy and Nathan for sharing your...

1. Holidays and family gatherings are spent by yourself. After all: Holidays are some of the busiest times for the men and women in blue. As celebrators skirt from family to family, whisking wheels too-fast over new snow, police officers attempt to quell the chaos. You have the soul-warming food, sure; the endless and intimate family conversation; but you don’t have your partner. Which makes any holiday just a little bit empty. 2. The other husbands and wives on the force become your second family. They live with the same day-to-day fears; their bed is just as empty as yours; and they’re...

With summer upon us, fire service members must now contend with additional demands due to extreme summer conditions, from high temperatures and humidity levels to more people on the streets during a response. Firefighters can overcome these hazards and complications by understanding and properly preparing for them beforehand. Roadway and Construction Hazards Summer marks the peak of road construction season in most of the U.S. Are your crews familiar with what roadway projects are taking place and where? How will response times to areas be affected and do crews have alternative routes to take to these areas? How are homes/businesses...

The Independence Day holiday can increase exponentially the number of intoxicated knuckleheads you’re likely to encounter on your shift The months of June, July, August, and September tend to bring out a wee bit more of ‘the crazy’ than is typically encountered in the ‘dead of winter’ or the mild months of autumn and spring. Triple digit temps and extended daylight hours just seem to bring out the mouth-breathing nut jobs with greater regularity. The summertime heat begets bar patrons on sidewalks for miscellaneous mayhem far more frequently than you’d find in February, and we’ve all seen more than one...

Mindful of an evolving health crisis among volunteers, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York is calling for a 'presumptive law' that would provide volunteers with many of the health benefits afforded their career counterparts. Firefighters are more likely to develop cancer than the general population -- and those who do the job as volunteers often lack appropriate gear, are exposed to numerous cancer-causing agents in the line of duty and don't have health coverage associated with their work, experts said Wednesday.Mindful of an evolving health crisis among volunteers, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York...