Spartanburg: Hub City Fire Conference

Contact Information

Contact: Brad Bennett
Phone: 8643471698
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More Information

The conference will run for 3 days, with many different exceptional speakers, from May 20th through May 22nd.

The full 3-day conference will cost $125.00, or you can pick a 1-day pass to experience the instructors or classes that you would like. Tickets can be purchased at: https://hubcityfireconference.eventbrite.com

For questions or assistance, please feel free to reach out to: Division Chief Brad Bennet City of Spartanburg Fire Department, SC 8643471698 [email protected]

Day 1, May 20th Todd Edwards Class – The Tactical Playbook

Tactical decision-making, options, and the overall mission. • While we often discuss the importance of a strong strategic plan, fireground success often comes down to how strong our tactics are. This class examines how understanding the residential fireground will provide us a tactical advantage when we arrive. When we gain a tactical advantage, we can also create a safer fireground as well as recreate our success on future fires. Topics include construction issues, forcible entry/security issues, hoarding, exposures, vacant vs. abandoned, offensive attack options, tank water, searching from the line, reading buildings, single- and multi-family dwellings, retirement apartments, and overcoming staffing problems.

Instructor Bio • Todd Edwards (Fire Life Training Associates) - Todd Edwards has over 36 years of experience in the fire services. Starting his career at 16 with a small combination department in Ohio, Todd then moved to Georgia, where he spent more than 30 years with Atlanta Fire Rescue. During his career with Atlanta, he held a variety of positions including Captain, Battalion Chief and Assistant Fire Chief. While with Atlanta, Todd developed and taught the majority of the city training curriculum and co-developed the city Standard Operating Guidelines.

Steve Robertson

Class – The Engine Companies Guide to Winning…Stretching for Success • What puts out fires? It's still water. This class is about engine company priorities and tactics. Topics covered are selecting and placing the first handline in service properly (a priority); apparatus placement, line selection, matching the proper nozzle to the proper line, and line placement. Overcoming difficult stretches, vertical stretches, and short staffed stretching are also covered. In this ever-evolving modern fire environment, special emphasis must be on selecting and placing the first line correctly. We must put ourselves in a position to stretch for success.

Instructor Bio • Steve Robertson - Steve has been in the fire service for 33 years, the last 29 of which have been with the Columbus Ohio Division of Fire. Steve currently serves as the Lieutenant on Engine Company 18 in the South Linden neighborhood of Columbus. Steve has been a classroom instructor at FDIC for the past several years teaching engine company operations. Additionally, Steve is the lead instructor of the FDIC HOT program Stretching For Success. Steve is an instructor for County Fire Tactics and has taught engine company tactics nationally. For the past 26 years, Steve has also been a state-certified Fire Safety instructor. He is also a past member of the State of Ohio Fire Training Committee.

Clyde Gordon

Class - Warriors, Wisdom, and Wheelbarrows • Learn real-life experiences and leadership mistakes that led to a line-of-duty death. As a young officer, the instructor was confronted many times with employee issues; however, only one still impacts him today. Common everyday circumstances, his unwillingness to confront unpreparedness (his years in the fire service; knowing and having great respect for his father, also a firefighter within the department), his lack of experience as a leader, and a mindset of “he’s transferring somewhere slow anyway” and “someone else can train him again” led to an unfortunate situation where a life was lost because of being unprepared for the fireground. Even today, this remains a common problem in the fire service--inexperienced officers and firefighters not concerned with training or keeping in a state of readiness. This class gives members the tools to recognize the importance of being prepared and preparing those around them and under their command for that one moment in time when they are called on to do what only they can do as firefighters.

Instructor Bio • Clyde Gordan (Fire Life Training Associates) - With 40 years as a proven leader in the fire service and over three decades within the Houston Fire Department, Clyde Gordon offers a unique blend of leadership, vision, and knowledge. He has a reputation for a strong work ethic, exceptional fire ground operations and management, and building uncompromising integrity and responsibility in a crew. Clyde believes in continuous improvement of fire ground skills and operations through regular and consistent training. His many years as a fire officer and District Chief at some of the busiest stations in the City of Houston has offered numerous unique fire ground experiences. He is known for his teaching through honest and personal first-hand experience.

Day 2, May 21st

Kyle Romagus

Class - Cruel Intentions • Fires are growing and extending faster in the modern age than they ever have before. The nozzleman must ensure he can think and act as an independent operator. This class is a deep dive into understanding the goals of the first-due engine, how to operate independently on the nozzle, and how to attack the fire with cruel intentions.

Instructor Bio • Kyle Romagus (Smoothbose Cartel) - Kyle Romagus is a 20-year veteran with East Montgomery County Fire Department, oversees the training division as a Battalion Chief, and is in love with engine work. Kyle is the owner of Smoothbore Cartel and founder of Engine Company Resurrection. Kyle teaches engine operations for several well-known fire service instructor groups including FD Tactics, Brothers in Battle, Oathkeepers Engine Cadre, and is also the admin of Engine Company Resurrection. His organization provides sponsorship opportunities for firefighters to attend conferences around the country.

Ray McComrick

Class - True Values of a Firefighter • What makes firefighters special is a combination of values that keep us on mission in a changing world. Ray will examine three topics Training, Culture and Mentoring and how they shape us all and how courage, determination and pride are needed to excel at this job. Let’s look at where we were and where we are going and how our values provide a high level of job satisfaction and public confidence.

Instructor Bio • Ray McComrick - Ray McCormack recently retired as a Lieutenant after 38 years. He holds a BA from the New York Institute of Technology. He was the chair and lead author for FDNYs new Engine Company Operations Manual. He developed and taught Back to Basics Standpipe for all FDNY firefighters. He was the co-founder and editor of Urban Firefighter magazine. He sits on the FDIC advisory board and Fire Engineering editorial board.  

Day 3, May 22nd

Scott Thompson Class - The Functional Fire Company - • This class provides a systematic approach and mental models for positioning firefighters for success and survival in the firehouse and on the fireground. Topics include defining what functional and dysfunctional look like at the fire company level, what the fire service can learn from police and their response to active shooter incidents and why some view policing as dysfunctional, defining success and creating a vision of success, The Colony Project, and the 10 Cs of functional success. Tools for company-level training, coaching, mentoring, and developing standards will be provided.

Instructor Bio • Scott Thompson (Functional Fire Company LLC) - Chief Thompson entered the fire service in 1981. He has been formally practicing leadership and coaching fire officers and firefighters for the last 25 years. Chief Thompson has practiced leadership as an operations officer, training chief, emergency manager, Chief of Department, and Director of Public Safety. Thompson has held a leadership position in 2 volunteer and 5 career fire departments.