Always Think, and Never Not Change

Always and never. Those of us in the firefighting and fire science business know all too well about the Always and Never lists of things to do and not do when fighting fires. These have been part of academy training for many years, and it's likely that your chief is alive and got to his or her position by following and committing the memory the absolutes listed.

However, over the last several years, fire science has grown, developed and evolved to where there is an understanding that fires can be unpredictable, and maybe some of the "always and nevers" may actually do more harm than good in certain situations. Fire science has begun to prove that fires can have unpredictable behaviors just like the humans who fight them, and that there has become a need for chiefs, firefighters and incident command leaders to constantly assess and evaluate the situation on the ground and be willing to adapt and have exceptions to the always and never rules.

There is no absolute strategy or tactic to address every fire, and it's time that the "always and never" training lists get updated and modified to better reflect the reality on the ground.

It's time to convert the always and nevers from tactical or strategic planning to safety of the firefighters. Those absolutes will likely not change from fire to fire, and the less the firefighters have to think about their safety, the more they will be able to think and assess the situation in front of them and make the right, prudent decision under pressure.

There is an interesting article on firefighternation.com that goes into the "always and never" lists and how they could be modified for the 21st century. You can check it out here: http://www.firefighternation.com/article/training-0/always-and-never-principles-training and let us know your comments or feedback.