By John F. "Skip" Coleman, Technical Editor
I remember having discussions with the shift commander (deputy chief) stationed at my house when I was a lieutenant in the early 1980s about my engine laying a supply line in at a working fire. We were a busy inner-city engine company, and because we were in the old part of the city, every station around us (everyone had as a minimum an engine assigned) was approximately one mile away.
The chief insisted that we lay a supply line in anytime I saw smoke or fire. I insisted that if I got reports of people trapped, I would have the next-in engine lay a supply line into my engine and I would go right up to the fire. Seconds count. The conversation always ended with, "Chief, I'm going to do what I feel is right; after that, you do what you need to do!"
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