We’re Back

We were firefighters, officers, professors – armed with credentials; working in training, operations, special operations, and more. We were informed about, and participating in the important international trends. We were driven to share what we were learning, and teaching – as we were increasingly asked to speak and present across Canada and the United States.

We identified the best research, we read it, we summarized it, we presented it, and we followed its meaning and effects through the evidence-based decisions it eventually supported – and our magazine quickly became a success.

I retired in July 2023, after 40 years with Toronto Fire Services – leaving two sons, Jerami Haden and Denning Wells, also firefighters with Toronto Fire, to carry on the legacy. That legacy is more than just about being firefighters.

We’ve journeyed through the experiences of pre-service education, training, recruitment, hiring – working in operations, communications and on specialized teams – and improving related knowledge and skills as part of progressive lifelong-learning philosophies, and in that we have learned much about where the fire service is, where it wants to go, and both the challenges and accomplishments it is experiencing as it works to improve in becoming (where it desires and pursues), and being (where it already is) the best in the world.

We’ve also learned that there is no single Canadian digital resource providing information for the fire service at a level capable of effectively supporting progressive change through evidence-based decision-making.

As I did in 1997, my first action was to call on a Canadian periodical publishing icon to again school me – this time in how that industry has changed, and how I can best return to it. That icon was, and still is, John Kerr of Kerrwil Publications.

John, once again, became my mentor – providing outstanding leadership in guiding me through the complexities of how to both aspire to and become a leader in digital publishing. There’s a lot to learn.

John provided access to some of his resources, and directed me to the best in others. I proudly followed his lead, even down to mimicking some appearances, but, stubbornly, and proudly – this is not a Kerrwil publication. It is, however, a publication that would not exist without John Kerr and Kerrwil, and I am forever thankful to his team, and especially, to him. Any failure of Work‘n Fire to achieve success will be on me. If, however, it grows, and it will, it will owe its roots to John.

So, here we go.

I will write, compile and edit, as I did for The Fire Service Journal. Sue Wells will consult and edit, as she did for The Fire Services Journal. Denning will handle operations, as I try to enjoy at least some spare time in retirement. Jerami will contribute (as older brother) through editorial, remarkable photography, and his increasing fire service experience. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.

You know…I saw a lot in that 40 years, including a number of colleagues pass because they didn’t know what we later learned. I sometimes think about their families. If we can change the progress of the fire service learning versus time curve so that we can improve outcomes on the years of service versus mortality curve, we will have served the memory of those who came before us well. And to paraphrase Einstein, it is best to cherish what others have won at great sacrifice.

Let’s get to work.

I finish as I did for the 10 years of The Fire Services Journal, with…,

Just a thought.

Dan Haden