thesecretlist

Episode 249 - Chief Billy Goldfeder

Chief Billy Goldfeder is a 46 year veteran of the fire service and the creator of Firefighter Close Calls and The Secret List. We discuss the importance of learning from our mistakes, cancer prevention, sleep deprivation, mental health and much more.

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Chief Billy Goldfeder, EFO, a firefighter since 1973, serves as Deputy Fire Chief of the Loveland-Symmes FD in S.W. Ohio. LSFD is an ISO Class 2, full service ALS department providing a full range of traditional and non-traditional emergency & community services. A Chief Officer since 1982, he has served as a Fire Chief in Ohio, Virginia and Florida. Chief Goldfeder also served as a Public Protection representative covering southern New York, for I.S.O. as well as a Company Officer, starting with the Manhasset-Lakeville F.D., in Long Island, N.Y.

A 1993 graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program, he is the former Chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs VCOS Comm. In 2001, Chief Goldfeder was honored with an appointment of Hon. Battalion Chief of F.D.N.Y. and is a member of the Board of Directors of: The International Association of Fire Chiefs, The September 11th Families Association, The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and provides expert review assistance to the CDC NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program.

Goldfeder is the recipient of numerous operational and administrative awards and recognitions including most recently the Loveland-Symmes FD Departmental Award of Excellence in 2003 and again in 2010, the Int’l Assoc. of Fire Service Instructors Fire Instructor of The Year Award for 2004, the Dana Hannon Fire Training Award for 2004, the Int’l Assoc. of Fire Chiefs Presidential Award for 2005, the 2007 (IFSTA) Int’l Fire Service Training Assoc’s Everett E. Hudiburg Memorial Award for Firefighter Training Excellence, the 2007 Nassau County (N.Y.) Frances X. Pendl Fire Service Humanitarian Award, the 2008 Firefighter Cancer Support Network Dallas Jones Memorial Award and in 2008, the Billy Goldfeder Fire Service Organizational Safety Award (awarded annually) was named and created through the IAFC and is co-sponsored by VFIS.

Chief Goldfeder completed a 6 year term as a Commissioner on the Commission of Fire Accreditation International and he serves as an Associate/Contributing Editor for FIRE ENGINEERING, FIRE RESCUE, FIREHOUSE Magazines (including several regional fire publications) as well as a news editorial columnist for Firehouse.Com. He has spoken on, as well as published, numerous articles on subjects such as fire service risk management, leading combination FD’s, fire command and tactics, firefighter/fireground safety, apparatus design/deployment and fireground staffing. His monthly column “Close Calls” appears in FIREHOUSE Magazine and his podcast radio show “Through The Smoke” is hosted on Firehouse.com.

Chief Goldfeder has served on several NFPA and IAFC Committees, was Chair of the Int’l Assoc. of Fire Chiefs Safety, Health and Survival Section and also serves on the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting Task Force Board (IAFC). He is and has been an Instructor at all national fire service training conferences including Fire-Rescue international, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, FD Safety Officers Association, the FDNY Fire Officers Management Institute (F.O.M.I.) and at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (F.D.I.C.), where he has instructed for the past 30 years as well as serving as a member of the FDIC Advisory Board for the past 20 years. He has and does provide consulting services for municipal and private corporations with a clear focus on firefighter safety and survival.

Chief Goldfeder co-hosts the website: www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com , a 100% non-commercial, independent and free site with only 1 focus: Firefighter Safety, Survival and Getting Everyone Home.

Pass it on I, II and III (coming soon)

Other recommended books:

Make Your Bed - William H. McRaven

Anything by John Salka

Anything by Rick Lasky

Anything by Vincent Dunn

Winning the Fire Service Leadership Game - Hugh J. Caulfield

Recommended Movies:

Moscow on the Hudson

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