Episode 215: Episode 7-16 – Chief John Vance – “Culture in Your Fire Service”

In the last ten-to-fifteen years, we have heard various terms used to describe the fire service, e.g., “We’re a family,” and “We have a culture.” In a number of ways, both of these phrases can be used with both positive and negative references. There is no doubt that in general, we do have a somewhat unique culture based on how we serve our communities, e.g., career, volunteer, paid-on-call, etc. However, the term, “culture,” has also been used almost to boast that we might be better than other vocations. 

Chief John Vance knows about the fire service culture. With over forty years of experience, there is little about the fire service culture that he doesn’t know. As a Chief officer, he has seen the highs and lows of our culture across many facets of the fire service. 

In this interview we divide the discussion into two parts; first the general view of our culture and some of its impacts and second, how we draw new members into the culture in such a way as they feel comfortable with learning about and then becoming a contributor to that culture. 

To learn more, visit their websites and videos at:

1.    https://www.minnetonkamn.gov/government/departments/fire-department#ad-image-7

2.    https://bshifter.com/about_01.aspx

3.    https://www.youtube.com/@bshifter 

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You can view our videos on our YouTube® channel, 5-Alarm Task Force Corp. or you can listen to our audio podcast on all major podcast platforms and our website, noted above.