The Forward Firefighter Dan Retzlaff

In this episode, I talk with Chief Dawn Herlache of the Townsend, Wisconsin Fire Department.  Chief Herlache received the first Responder of the Year award for Wisconsin’s 35th Assembly District. Chief Herlache discusses her experience with the Townsend Fire Department, which serves a rural community in northern Wisconsin.

Sean is an 18-year student of the fire service.  He is currently a career firefighter on the Ann Arbor, Michigan Fire Department.  Sean is the co-founder of Build Your Culture, founder of Great Lakes H.O.T fire conference, co-host of the Make Due Suburban Fireman Podcast and Unlock Your Culture webcast.  As an active member of the Mitten State F.O.O.L.S, he enjoys passing knowledge gained from his mentors and real world experiences.  Sean travels around the country providing high quality fire and search tactics training.  

In this episode, we discuss the importance of the search, from the scene size-up to performing the search and performing a victim removal. 

I highly recommend checking out the show notes from this episode on my website, www.theforwardfirefighter.com.  There are a lot of resources to help your department train and up your search game!

Michael Perry is a New York Times bestselling author, humorist, singer/songwriter, and radio host. Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time, one of his most popular books, reveals his experiences as a Volunteer Firefighter and EMT in New Auburn, Wisconsin. Michael is currently a member of Township Fire and Rescue, serving on the EMS side. Township provides fire protection and services to rural areas around the City of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Seymour, Washington, Union, Pleasant Valley, and Brunswick are the towns the Township Fire Department protects.

Tune in as we talk about his book, Population 485, Michael's volunteer experiences, and how the fire service has changed since the writing of his book.

Learn about Brad Koenig’s journey as a volunteer firefighter on the Cambridge, Wisconsin Fire Department. Koenig first became interested in the fire service when he went to the Cambridge Fire station with his son for a celebrity event and got talking with the firefighters there. He has since worked up the ranks to become the Assistant Chief. Listen in while we chat about small town fire service.

In this episode, I sit down with the Alex Felde.  Chief of the Vernon, Wisconsin Fire Department.

Alex has an extensive career in the fire service.  With 36 years of total experience, he recently retired from the Racine Fire Department as a battalion chief.  He has been with the Vernon Fire Department for 14 years.  In this episode, you will learn how the Vernon Fire Department operates, how the department has changed over the years, and the challenges we face in the fire service today.

BJ is passionate about his work in the fire service, and search is one of the top aspects of the job that he is most passionate about. In this episode we talk about search culture, search tactics, and what it means to embrace search culture. We discuss the need to prioritize and focus on civilian lives. Career, paid on call, part-time, volunteer, it does not matter what firefighter you are or the makeup of your fire department. Citizens demand and deserve our very best, and it is on us to take ownership to do everything in our power to save them. That means using and training on the best tactics that are needed under different circumstances, including solutions that may not be covered in a textbook.



BJ is a career firefighter, AEMT, and MPO for Deforest Windsor Fire and EMS. He also serves part-time on the Verona Fire Department where he is a Lieutenant. On top of that, BJ is a member of the Brew City F.O.O.L.S., where he is also a board member.



BJ got his start in the fire service in 2008 as a wild land firefighter for the Wisconsin DNR. He has experience as a volunteer firefighter with Brodhead Fire and Rescue, where he also served as a part-time fire inspector of the City of Brodhead, Wisconsin. BJ also served as an EMT for Paratech Ambulance Service in Janesville and Brodhead Area EMS.