THIRTY-SIX ISSUES
EDITOR’S OPINION
While scouring the corners of my mind for an editorial, it occurred to me that this month marks the beginning of my fourth year as editor of Fire Engineering. Thirty-six issues… and it seems now like they have passed by in 36 seconds.
It has been a pleasure to serve you, and I’m looking forward to continuing the Fire Engineering tradition in the years ahead. I hold that tradition sacred, close to my heart. The torch I carry was passed on to me by the extraordinary men who shaped the long and distinguished editorial history of this journal—Shepperd, Woolley, O’Brien, Casey, Sylvia, Laughlin, Brennan—company and history before which I am truly humbled.
You—firefighters across the country—have carried me in my mission to serve you with justice to my predecessors. The success of Fire Engineering is your success, created by what you do, what you say, and what you write. I am very simply the vehicle by which you communicate your knowledge, triumphs, and defeats, so that all can learn from them. I am proud to help you carry on the legacy of fire service training.
I cherish editorial purity—sadly, in modern trade publishing it has become the exception rather than the norm —and the editorial freedom to put the firefighter first before all else. It is right and fitting. For me, Fire Engineering is a celebration of the firefighter, a collection of gifts from firefighters to firefighters, given out of love for the fire service. Editorial purity clears the path for that exchange.
We have a lot of work to do. We must and will continue our dedication to training—it is the one great equalizer in the war on fire.
Many thanks to you, the reader, for supporting this publication and its mission. Many thanks to you who have contributed your time, energy, and expertise to educating the fire service through Fire Engineering. Thanks most of all for your friendship. I have become a better person because of it.
The phone lines are open and the mail gets delivered here every day. Give me a call, write me a letter, let me know what’s on your mind.
