‘Courage to be Safe’ Highlighted in February Newsletter

The Beacon Hose Blaze newsletter for February 2015 highlights Chief Jim Trzaski’s messages about the necessity for safety during emergency responses. Read Chief’s message and the entire newsletter below, or click here.


February reminds me of the beginning of the end of winter, although our current pattern is creating some challenges. Thank you to everyone who has been braving the cold to respond to needs for service. Members have been giving time for standbys, chaining the vehicles and maintaining a state of readiness.

I have received a lot of positive comments and feedback from the information on the Beacon Hose website and Facebook. Thank you to Kyle Brennan for keeping the public and our members informed.

Recently, Asst. Chief Brian DeGeorge and I attended a seminar on leadership and safety for the fire service. Oftentimes as we go on with the day to day operations of being members, we forget the awesome responsibility bestowed upon us by the public — and more importantly, by our families. Yes, we have a duty to respond to emergencies (often during very adverse conditions), but we also have the duty to operate safely. There is always a certain amount of risk involved with our job; some risk is calculated and some unfortunately we cannot control.

Becoming a member of Beacon Hose, you have made a commitment to serve and protect Beacon Falls from the effects of fire, medical emergencies and natural or man-made disasters. Many members have given countless hours to educate and train themselves in an effort to better serve our community. The training that we attend not only enhances our skills, but it also increases the margin of safety during our operations.

There is a push for cultural change in the fire service, from doing the job no matter what to operating as safely as possible. As the leaders of Beacon Hose, we believe that we owe it to the public and our families to operate as safely as possible. The fire service has always been branded as aggressive and we encourage that attitude — it is what defines us. We also encourage the attitude of having the courage to be safe.

If you see something, say something. Encourage safe values from the newest probie on up to the top of the organization. It’s as simple as wearing your PPE, driving with due regard and buckling up. Beacon Hose members have numerous opportunities for training within the next few months, so please make an effort to take advantage of those opportunities.

Thank you for the time you give, and I will see you at the next training.

— Chief Jim Trzaski

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