By Rob Fleeup, Battalion Chief of Operations
The fire service is built on tradition, courage, and operational excellence, but it is also an industry that constantly evolves with new challenges, innovations, and lessons learned. One of the most critical ongoing discussions in the fire service today is how to balance aggressive firefighting with a strong safety culture.
As a Battalion Chief, I have spent decades working to ensure firefighters operate effectively while managing risk intelligently. I took the recently released FireRescue 1 survey “What firefighters want”, and this article explores my reflection of answering the survey honestly.
I consider myself, my shift, and my firefighters to be aggressive yet disciplined, striking a strategic balance between aggressive firefighting, a strong safety culture, and effective leadership. Our approach emphasizes calculated risk-taking, tactical proficiency, and continuous training, ensuring that aggression is driven by intelligence, preparation, and safety-focused decision-making. By prioritizing key safety training initiatives and leadership development, we enhance operational performance while protecting both our firefighters and the communities we serve.
Defining Aggressive Firefighting: Intelligent, Calculated, and Tactical
Aggressive firefighting is often misunderstood. Some equate it with reckless behavior, while others believe it means avoiding risk entirely. In reality, aggressive firefighting is about calculated risk-taking based on the best possible situational awareness. It requires:
- Accurate Size-Up and Situational Awareness – Rapid assessment of fire conditions, structural integrity, and rescue needs.
- Risk-Based Decision-Making – Understanding that every fire ground carries risk but ensuring those risks are justifiable, measured, and mitigated through sound tactics.
- Coordinated Tactical Execution – Implementing strategies that align with fire behavior, available resources, and command priorities.
- Commitment to Training and Readiness – Ensuring and strongly encouraging firefighters to be well-trained in fire dynamics, building construction, and modern suppression techniques to operate effectively in high-risk environments.
Aggressive firefighting is not about taking unnecessary chances; it’s about applying knowledge, skill, and discipline to make the right decisions under extreme conditions.
The Fire Service Safety Culture: Managing Risk, Not Avoiding It
A strong safety culture in the fire service is not about eliminating risk—it’s about recognizing, managing, and mitigating it. Safety must be ingrained in every aspect of fire service operations, from training and preparation to on-scene decision-making and post-incident analysis.
Key elements of a progressive safety culture include:
- Risk Recognition, Not Risk Aversion – Firefighting is inherently dangerous, but the key is understanding and controlling those risks rather than avoiding action.
- Training as the Foundation of Safety – Realistic, scenario-based training prepares personnel to make rapid, informed decisions under pressure.
- Accountability at All Levels – Safety culture is strongest when leaders model and enforce safety standards while ensuring all personnel are invested in their own well-being.
- Continuous Learning and Adaptability – Safety culture evolves with new research, technology, and operational experiences. An environment of open communication, near-miss reporting, and post-incident debriefing ensures growth and improvement.
- Wellness and Resilience – Firefighter safety extends beyond the fire ground. Physical fitness, mental health support, cancer prevention, and work-life balance are essential to long-term firefighter health and effectiveness.
A department’s commitment to safety must be proactive, not reactive, ensuring that every firefighter goes home safely while still executing the mission effectively.
Can Safety Culture and Aggressive Firefighting Coexist?
Absolutely. A strong safety culture enhances aggressive firefighting by ensuring that risks are managed, not ignored. These two principles must work together for a fire department to function at the highest level.
For safety culture and aggressive firefighting to coexist, departments must prioritize:
- Training as the Foundation – Firefighters must be trained to operate aggressively and efficiently, but always within their skill level. The best way to ensure safety is competency through continuous, realistic training.
- Risk Management, Not Risk Aversion – Firefighters must take calculated, justified risks when necessary. A sound safety culture helps them identify and mitigate risks without delaying life-saving actions.
- Situational Awareness and Tactical Discipline – A strong safety culture reinforces fire ground discipline, clear communication, and accountability so that aggressive actions are based on real-time conditions, available resources, and command strategy.
- Command Oversight and Decision-Making – Incident commanders must recognize when aggressive action is necessary and when a tactical shift is required based on fire behavior, structural integrity, and personnel safety.
- Wellness and Resilience – A department committed to firefighter safety must also focus on fitness, mental health, cancer prevention, and post-incident recovery to ensure longevity in the profession.
At its core, aggressive firefighting is about making well-informed, strategic decisions while managing acceptable risks, and a strong safety culture ensures that firefighters have the training, discipline, and resources to perform at the highest level.
Fire service leaders must continue learning and evolving to meet the demands of modern fire operations. Training should focus on:
- Modern Fire Behavior and Tactical Safety – Staying updated on fire dynamics, wind-driven fires, and flow path management to improve fire ground decision-making.
- Behavioral Health and Resiliency Training – Mental health awareness, PTSD management, and peer support training to address firefighter wellness.
- Occupational Cancer Prevention and PPE Advancements – Ensuring decontamination protocols, PPE advancements, and exposure reduction strategies are followed.
- Incident Safety Officer (ISO) Training – Attending NFPA-compliant ISO training and refresher courses to strengthen fire ground risk management.
- Active Shooter and Hostile Event Response (ASHER) – Training in tactical EMS (TEMS), rapid deployment, and unified command strategies for high-risk incidents.
- Technology in Fire ground Safety – Leveraging thermal imaging, UAV (drone) technology, and AI-based predictive modeling to enhance situational awareness and reduce firefighter risk.
Putting Leadership into Action: Practicing What I Preach
It’s one thing to talk about progressive change in the fire service—it’s another to actively implement it. Since 2006, I have been a strong advocate for firefighter health, safety, and operational efficiency, championing and implementing policies and initiatives that not only enhance firefighter performance but also reduce long-term risks.
- Cancer Prevention & PPE Innovation – I have long pushed for routine PPE decontamination and access to second sets of bunker gear, recognizing early on the importance of minimizing exposure to carcinogens. Now that these practices have become the standard, I am focused on addressing the next major challenge—forever chemicals (PFAS) in uniforms and PPE. I am currently involved in testing newer, lightweight, and more flexible bunker gear, aiming to reduce cardiovascular strain and the risk of strokes (CVA) among firefighters.
- Behavioral Health & Peer Support – As a Battalion Chief, I ensure that peer support and behavioral health activation are prioritized following critical incidents. Firefighters face invisible injuries as much as physical ones, and fostering mental wellness is just as crucial as physical safety.
- Tactical EMS & ASHER Preparedness – I manage our Tactical Paramedic Program, ensuring that local law enforcement has ALS support during high-risk operations. Additionally, I am actively involved in reevaluating our department’s ability to handle large-scale Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) incidents, ensuring our personnel are prepared for evolving threats.
- Modern Fire Behavior & Tactical Operations – One of the most significant challenges I face in fire service leadership is changing a department’s culture of “this is the way we’ve always done it.” Implementing modern fire ground tactics, prioritizing search operations, improving mayday communication policies, and assigning early truck company support roles has been an uphill battle—but a necessary one.
For fire company officers and aspiring chief officers, I encourage you to push for change, even when it challenges the status quo. Fire service tradition has its place, but we must constantly evolve to protect both our firefighters and the communities we serve. It can be frustrating, but if something is important to you and your crew, you will find a way to improve it. Leadership is about taking action, not just talking about it.
Final Thoughts: Leadership’s Role in Balancing Safety and Aggression
As a fire service leader, my role is to create an environment where firefighters can be aggressive when needed, but always with intelligence, discipline, and safety at the forefront.
- Aggressive firefighting and safety culture are not opposing forces—they are complementary when managed correctly.
- A strong safety culture ensures that aggressive firefighting is calculated, tactical, and effective.
- Continuous training and leadership development are the foundations of a successful, progressive fire department.
By embracing safety, training, and intelligent risk-taking, we can ensure the fire service continues to evolve while protecting both firefighters and the communities we serve.
