CRACKYL Magazine

Bill Heffernan is a retired West Haven Fire Department lieutenant, longtime department historian, former technical adviser and consulting producer for the hit comedy Tacoma FD, and cousin of Tacoma FD actor Kevin Heffernan. He now serves as a Connecticut state representative. His blend of frontline experience, historical insight, and behind‑the‑scenes perspective fuels Off the Record with Cousin Bill Heffernan, where he answers your questions biweekly.

A monthly column from the Health & Safety Leadership Alliance in partnership with CRACKYL There is a version of this career most people in public safety never see coming. Not the calls. Not the injuries tied to a run number and a date on a report. Not the ones that arrive with a clear cause and a diagnosis and a direct line to a single incident. The other version.

Your need for quiet after a demanding shift isn’t rejection. It’s a normal nervous system transition, and explaining it can strengthen the relationships that matter most Q: Is it normal to not want to talk to my family after a shift? Doc: Yes — it’s normal. In fact, if you walked through the door after a tough shift and instantly flipped into warm, present, fully engaged mode, that would be unusual. Here’s what’s really going on.

Years of intrusive thoughts, trauma, and mistaken diagnoses led to an unexpected answer, and a renewed hope for healing I thought about killing myself. I know, a heavy way to start this. I wasn’t sure how I would (hypothetically), but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The thoughts would go away for awhile, and then they came back for months at a time. The constant back and forth was awful.The first time was at 14. Then again (heavily and abruptly) at 21. And again at 32.

Kevin Kubler’s The War Years and Back turns decades of FDNY testimony into a story about fire, corruption, brotherhood and the danger of forgetting what came before Kevin Kubler has long been drawn to New York City in the 1970s, an era remembered through contradictions. The music was alive, the culture was expressive, and the city held a sense of freedom that still occupies a place in the American imagination.

The fire service may not have a shortage of solutions. It may have a problem understanding what it’s actually trying to solve We build programs, launch initiatives, distribute surveys, track participation and study the numbers that come back. When the results fall short, we adjust the delivery, revise the messaging or develop another resource. The assumption is usually that the solution needs improvement.

Firefighters cycle from Hamilton to Ottawa to honor Canada’s fallen and stand with the families they left behind On Sept. 9, in front of the Hamilton Fire Training Academy, a group of firefighter cyclists will gather for the Canadian Fallen Firefighter Memorial Ride — a three‑day journey of more than 500 kilometres to Ottawa. It is a physically demanding ride, but the purpose goes far beyond cycling.

A LEAN-inspired 5S approach can help chiefs and officers organize their thoughts before overload takes hold Cognitive overload can overwhelm even the toughest fire service leaders. We only have so much bandwidth before we reach our limit, at which point feeling overburdened begins to impact our decision-making.

Bowstring truss roofs, which are often hidden in plain sight, remain some of the deadliest structural traps firefighters face Bowstring truss buildings are some of the most dangerous structures that we fight fires in. Firefighters have paid a terrible price in these buildings. In 1967, five firefighters were killed when a wall collapsed on them in Cliffside Park, N.J. They were on the exterior of the building. In 1978, six FDNY firefighters were killed when they fell through a collapsing roof.

Recruit academy fitness programming requires more than random workouts. Learn eight pillars that improve performance, reduce preventable injuries, and support long, healthy careers Recruit academy may be one of the most physically and mentally demanding experiences in a firefighter’s career.