During my search through the Fire & EMT blogosphere for the TOP blogs, we found a ton of great bloggers. There are countless firefighters and EMTs out there with great advice, stories and suggestions.
But while I searched, I also found a whole different kind of fire blog: blogs that represented entire units of firefighters, instead of just one particular FF! This bigger take on the fire world opens up whole new opportunities for fire blogs.
We are so pleased to profile one such blog today! Ladies and gentleman, today’s top blog is…
CAL FIRE: Inyo-Mono-San Bernardino Unit!
If you are looking for an inside look into a CA fire unit, this is the blog for you. But that’s not all CAL FIRES offers. It’s also a one-stop-shop for information about the Unit and its personnel, fire and life safety information, access to fire safety videos, product safety, regional cooperators in fire and life safety, and a large collection of fire service pictures of training, fire fighting and firefighters accomplishments.
Phew. That’s a lot of coverage. But what’s great about CAL FIRE is that it actually delivers.
My favorite thing about CAL FIRE? The blog does a stellar job of presenting relevant, useful fire and safety information in clear, interesting ways using great photos and linked resources.
Exploring the blog, I started to wonder how it came about. So we chatted with a CAL FIRE editor to get the inside scoop!
How would you describe CAL FIRE?
Our blog is an information site both for CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit personnel, CAL FIRE personnel and the public at large.
What is the focus or mission of the site?
The mission of our blog is to provide up to date information on what CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit personnel are achieving and accomplishing. The blog is also designed to provide fire and life safety information to the general public while providing information of interest to the news media.
Why did you start it?
We began the CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit blog site to provide information to unit personnel, the public and the news media about what was going on in the Unit as well as fire and life safety information.
How long has it been filling this role?
Since May 25, 2010 when the blog was created.
How long have you been blogging?
On and off for more than five years. This is the first consistently maintained blog that I have done.
What’s your favorite thing to write about?
For the Cal FIRE San Bernardino Unit blog, everything I write about is my favorite. I enjoy spreading the word about the accomplishments and achievements of our personnel as well as keeping fire and life safety information before the public and news media.
What can you tell us about your blog ‘community’?
Our ‘community’ consists of interest from around the world such as Russia, Germany, Brazil, Egypt and South Korea to name a few. I am not only surprised by the reach of our blog but that so many different people would be interested. Last month for example we had 3,742 page views… I am humbled and inspired to do the best job I can in providing information that displays our unit and personnel to the world.
What has been the best your best experience as a blogger?
When we were named a top fire department blog last year.
(Woo hoo, Congrats!)
What have you learned?
I have learned that people hungry for information and this, as I mentioned, inspires me to provide the best information and photographs possible.
Any great stories to share with us?
Yes, during the annual ABC7/Firefighters Spark of Love Christmas Toy Drive in 2011 we were able to have the “Angel Cars” at two events. The toy drive events were held in the cities of Highland and Yucaipa, where the CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit is the city fire department. Both events were honored to have these cars which pay tribute to the fallen emergency responders who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and United Flight 93. These beautiful white cars contain the names of every person who died in those tragic events. We were indeed honored to have them as a part of our Christmas Toy Drive efforts to help less advantaged children in those communities to have a brighter Christmas.
If you win, to which charity will you donate your $200 winnings? Why?
If I win, the money would be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association because not only are they a great organization that is working continually to find a cure for this disease, but this is an organization that all of CAL FIRE has chosen to assist in raising funds for a cure.
To check out CAL FIRE, click here! To vote for them in our blog competition, click here! You can also keep up with their great fire and safety content by following along on Twitter.
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