My Podcasts
Some funny, Some tragic, All pretty entertaining with a strong leadership lesson

Now that I’m retired, I thought I would tell some stories that have been entertaining my friends for years. Over the last 4 decades many crazy things have happened to me while working as a county structure firefighter and a federal wildland firefighter. No matter what agency you work for, you get to experience what most people don’t get to see or don’t want to see. Many of the stories are funny but not all. Some of the stories include serious topics as you might imagine. Many of them have decent leadership lessons embedded as well. But my favorite stories are the funny ones. You might hear me laugh a bit as I tell the story. No matter how many times I hear myself telling the funny ones I still laugh. l really hope you enjoy listening to the stories as much as I enjoy telling them. If you do, let me know. I appreciate any feedback and suggestions to improve the stories.
If you have a group that could benefit from a leadership lesson delivered by an experienced fire chief, drop me a line. Even with the covid crisis, messages can be delivered safely and effectively with Zoom and other platforms.
Update: Between July, 2019 and June, 2022, you have downloaded stories over 1,000,000 times. I really appreciate everyone’s interest and support. Please tell your friends to visit the site and enjoy one of our stories. Thanks!
- #109, Prisoners of Fire
- 108# Why The Grand Canyon Lodge Burned Down
- 107, Do We Really Need FEMA
- #106, Do We Need a National Wildland Fire Service
- 105, Prepare for the Crazy Unexpected
- #104, Do What I Didn’t Do…
- #103, Why Care About DEI
- #102, Some Truths About The LA Fires
- #101, What We Permit, We Promote
- #100, It’s More Than The Money
- #99, What If You Call For Help And No One Comes?
- #98, How Should We Honor Our Fallen Firefighters?
- #97, Are You Used To Risk?
- #96, Don’t Chase Your Reputation
- #95,Questions Aren’t a Threat, They’re the Answer!
- #94 – Latest Interview on OPB
- #93, Risky Business – How We Got Here
- #92, Failure
- #91, How Firefighting Changed Me – This Is No Joke
- #90, A Lesson from the Dude, South Canyon and Yarnell Hill Fires
- #89, The Presidents Budget and Federal Wildland Firefighters
- #88, The New Normal Is Just BS
- #87, How Are Your Leadership Skills In A Crises?
- #86, KJZZ and KLCC Radio Interviews
- #85, The Nevada Burn Queen
- #84, What I’m Learning on my Book Tour
- #83, Upcoming Book Readings and Signings
- #82, Get Yourself Some Cheap SunGlasses…. Oh Yea!
- Written Stories at WildlandFirefighter.com
- #81, My Interview on “Life With Fire”
- #80, Did I Cross The Line?
- My Memoir is Now Available!
- #79, Better Call The Waambulance
- #78, What Goes On Behind The Radio
- #77, Fire At The Old Mining Claim
- #76, I Want Ice Cream!
- # 75, One Thing Good Leaders Do
- #74, Does Anyone Really Care?
- #73, It Could Happen to You
- #72, My 3 Alarm Summer
- #71, No Matter What… Make It Sound Good On The Radio!
- #70, The “Grassroots” Fight for Federal Wildland Firefighters
- #69, If You Think People Might Be Watching You… They Are!
- #68, What Does it Mean to Lead Up?
- #67, Home Safety Tips From Two Knuckleheads
- #66, Hi, I’m Bobbie and I’m a Knucklehead
- #65 – Leadership, Be The Boss You’d Want To Work For
- #64 – Leadership, Little Things Have a Big Impact
- #63 – Secret Tears (There’s No Crying in Firefighting)
- #62 – Prepare To Not Freak Out
- #61- Drive Through Service at the Fire Station
- #60 – WTF, (Where’s The Fire?)
- #59 – What Does Leadership Look Like?
- #58 – The Cost Of Erratic Human Behavior
- #57 – These Are The Good Old Days
- #56 – Genius Farmer Teaches Bumbling Bureaucrats
- #55 – If You’re Feeling Overwhelmed, You’re Not Alone
- #54 – Ode To A Firefighter and His Ham Sandwich
- #53 – California Fires-Raking The Forest
- #52 – Sleeping On The Job, Life At Fire Camp
- #51 – Yellowstone Follies
- #50 – F Bombs Away
- #49 – Don’t Have the Fish
- #48 – What Would I Do Without Men?
- #47- Surprising Stupidity With Fireworks
- #46 – YOU Can and Should Protect Your Home From Wildfire
- #45 – The Hardest Part of Fighting Fire Is…
- #44 – Bulldozer Pool Hopping
- #43- Hilarious Hijinks at Fire Station Knucklehead
- #42 – When The Sh-t Hits the Fan… Will You Be Ready?
- #41- The Perfect Job For People Who Love Chaos (or who have ADD)
- #40 – Burning by the Seat of my Pants – My First Controlled Burn
- #39 – Fire Whirl Jumps The 9 Mile Burnout
- #38 – Are You Ready For The Hurricane After The Hurricane?
- #37-I’m a Hilarious Firefighter, Right?
- #36 – Tough Teacher, Tough Love For A Slow Student
- #35-Ok Guys, I Know I Screwed Up.
- #34- Smoky Pig
- #33- I Swear, I’m Not an Arsonist!
- #32- Hawaiian Luau on the Fireline
- #31- Ants Hate Me
- #30- Hey Baby, Ya Got a Nice Bumper
- #29 It’s All About You – Coping with Job Fatigue
- #28 – Sport Bitching
- #27 – There’s Nothing Wrong Here
- #26 – Why’s He Yelling At Me?
- #25 – Overdressed in California
- #24 – Into the Darkness, Saving the Boy in the Abyss
- #23 – Accepting a Gift
- #22 – Trusting Your Gut
- #21 – Leadership is Like Finding Water in the Desert
- #20 – Lost in the Pines!!!!
- #19 – Celebrating Thanksgiving When You’re a Firefighter
- #18 – Post Traumatic Stress
- #17 – Fire Bitch “We’ve never had to work for a bitch before and we’re not going to start now!”
- #16 – Flying Bodies
- #15 – Firefighter Antics
- #14 – Sometimes All You Can Do Is Shake Your Head and Walk Away
- #13 – Memories from the World Trade Center after 9-11
- #12 – Always Being Tested
- #11 – The Federalies are Coming! (A Little Humility is Always a Good Thing)
- #10 – Putting Firefighters at Risk!
- #9 – Technology Challenges on the Fire Ground
- #8- Dangerous Bio-Hazard!
- #7 – Unexpected Outcomes
- #6 – Beware the 4 Foot Spider!
- #5- Ahrrrr Ye Matey!
- #4 – North to Alaska
- #3 Looking for the Ghost