FDIC Conference Director Diane Rothschild recently spoke with Battalion Chief Daniel Sheridan, Fire Department of New York, who is keynoting on “The Invisible Hand on the Fireground” at the FDIC 2023 Opening Ceremony Day 1, about the whole FDIC International “experience.”
Diane Rothschild: How did you get into instructing in general?
Daniel Sheridan: I always was a big proponent of drilling in the firehouse. When I was a firefighter in Squad 41, we drilled daily—sometimes twice a day. That same mentality carried over into all my ranks. (I know some members used to cringe when I was working because they knew we would be drilling.) I feel drilling is the essence of being a great firefighter. My motto when I was a captain working in a slow fire company was, “You can be a slow company, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be a mediocre company.” I received a call a few years later from the firefighters in that company when they performed a task that we had drilled on with total professionalism and received a unit citation. I taught a bit at the FDNY Fire Academy but didn’t really start instructing until I went to South America. After 9/11, I was invited by the chief of the Guayaquil Fire Department to come down and see the country. I said I’d come but only if I could do some training. That was the start of a relationship that has lasted to this day. I feel that I was blessed to be assigned to Ladder 17 in the 1980s at the tail end of the “War Years” and learned so much from the senior firefighters that I have to share that knowledge lest it would be lost forever.
DR: What sets your experience at FDIC International apart from attending other conferences?
DS: I don’t go to a lot of conferences., I am fortunate to work in the FDNY, where we have a very active Training Department, which I am part of and will be more so when I am promoted to deputy chief. I enjoy FDIC because I realize that the FDNY doesn’t always have all the answers and I amazed that I can learn so much from the other departments in the country.
DR: What was your reaction to being selected as a speaker at the Opening Ceremony?
DS: It is beyond anything I could ever imagine. I remember 20 years ago submitting a proposal to FDIC and being rejected, so I am honored just to be chosen to teach here let alone keynote. It is extremely humbling to have been chosen. My only hope is that I can continue to give away that which has been so freely given to me.
DR: What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the fire service today and why?
DS: In my 37 years in the FDNY, I feel the toughest challenge that we face today is the decrease in fire duty. When I came on the FDNY, I was told by the senior firefighters that I was 10 years too late–all the fire duty was over. Today, we are facing an enormous challenge: many more dangerous fires in a sense that the fire loads have changed, the buildings are built differently, (namely lightweight engineered structures),and much larger houses with open floor plans. So, the answer is, the fireground itself is the most pressing problem.
DR: What is your “takeaway” from a week at FDIC International?
DS: I try to attend classes that make me uncomfortable. I want to learn things that are new and edgy. I use the week to learn as much as possible on what everyone else is doing right. Last year, an attendee caught up with me in town and thanked me for “changing his life in the fire service.” He is in charge of a fire academy somewhere in the Midwest and said he’s been following me for more than 15 years.
DR: Who are your FDIC International role models and why?
DS: No one in particular but those instructors who actually do what they are teaching on a daily basis. One instructor I really enjoy is Gordon Graham. He pushed me to take a look at what the potential disasters waiting to happen were in my battalion. For example, after one of his talks, I looked at a target hazard in my area—a prison barge that houses 1,000 inmates sitting on top of 80,000-gallon diesel tanks. Gordon gave me so many takeaways that I use in my day-to-day battalion commander duties that I never would have gotten elsewhere.
DR: What advice do you have for first-time attendees?
DS: I would encourage anyone attending for the first time to take classes that will put you out of your comfort zone, things that are relevant that you will not find at your local academy. Sometimes the best classes are not the most popular ones; don’t judge a class on its popularity. I’ve attended some of the best classes ever that had only a handful of attendees.
Opening Ceremony Day 1, Wednesday, April 26, 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
Keynoter:
Battalion Chief Daniel Sheridan, Fire Department of New York
“The Invisible Hand on the Fireground”
Sheridan believes there is a connection between the Divine/Providence and the firefighters on the fireground. During his 37-year career, fires have occurred in which there was some sort of intervention from Above that helped responders achieve a better outcome. Sheridan highlights a fire that happened on December 24, 1990, where numerous firefighters surely would have been crushed when a five-story building collapsed in the exact spot where they were all standing just a minute before, had it not been for the actions of a firefighter who was detailed for the night to 17 Truck.
Daniel Sheridan is a 37-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and commander of the third battalion in the South Bronx. He is a National Instructor Level II. He is a member of the FDNY Incident Management Team and president of the Mutual-Aid Training Group. He is part of the FDIC Advisory Board and has written numerous articles for Fire Engineering as well as hosting the “First Due Battalion Chief” podcast. He authored the Forcible Entry chapter in Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II. He travels throughout the United States and Latin America lecturing and teaching firefighting essentials. He is also an FDIC instructor. He hosted a new initiative in the FDNY Training Division called “Remote Tactical Training,” where he would take his crew to different locations throughout the city to film relevant topics.
