In this week’s True Grit Nugget, the focus is on practical lessons and communication on the fireground. Learn why firefighters should stay low, communicate conditions, take action when they see something that needs to be done, and understand how patience, positioning, and teamwork can make a difference during fireground operations.

This training took place at the Colorado State Fire Fighters Association 2026 Fire College in Aurora, Colorado.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

 Uh, we use the term, you know, it’s not, it’s not a monologue, this is a dialogue. We have to have a conversation so that we can all learn something here. Ask questions throughout the day to any of the instructors. If you’re not satisfied with that instructor’s answer, go ask a different instructor, and then the truth lies somewhere there in the middle probably.

But the timing of the fireground is paced by the fire, not by a command worksheet. Finding stairs while you’re low is a lot better than finding them when you’re tall. And if you come across a firefighter laying on the ground, probably a good reason to call for the mayday and check on that cat because he shouldn’t be taking a nap anywhere.

Don’t walk by something you can do. You gotta treat chiefs like babies. You gotta keep them happy, right? Fed with information. They got so much stuff going on, they might have forgot to give you an assignment. The person who knows the most about what needs to happen is the person in the room who sees what’s going on.

If victims are on the ground, you might as well be down there. The nozzleman is your best, worst friend. They have to be patient, which is really, really hard, and the more they pull, usually the worse it gets. I think if you’re just constantly flowing, you might not get the, the feedback you want from the fire.

So I like doing truck work because I’m, I’m light and fast. I’m not attached to that road anchor that I gotta lug around through an entire building, right? If we’re talking like a three-man company, two-man company, that second guy, third guy, especially that third guy, that dude’s working his ass off. Yep.

And he gets the, the least sexy position on the entire fire department. Yep. If you can’t see your feet, you gotta get down. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll tell you what we found that works for us. Doesn’t mean it’s the right way or the only way, it’s just a way. Crappy answer. Yeah. It’s a crappy answer. There’s something I was gonna say.

It just left my mind. It was cool, too.

* The training views expressed in this video are those of the training instructors, and not Fire Spotlight. The actions in this video are inherently dangerous and could result in death; should the viewers choose to adopt any views expressed in this video, he/she is doing so at his/her own risk. Fire Spotlight encourages viewers to review his/her department’s Standard Operating Procedures when adopting any new training views.