by Fred R. LaPoint, Fire Chief Paramedic | May 3, 2026 | Behind The Alarm
Some people choose public service. Some of us were never given the chance to choose anything else.The group photo in this piece was taken April 2014 — my first Team Rubicon deployment. Operation Silversides, Muskegon, MI. Bill Rushford, center with that smile, passed...
by Fred R. LaPoint, Fire Chief Paramedic | Apr 23, 2026 | Behind The Alarm
Northern Michigan is under a “Use Extreme Caution” advisory from the Huron‑Manistee National Forests. Burn permits are suspended across much of the Lower Peninsula. And the fine fuels are drying by the hour. That isn’t a contradiction — it’s the pattern every fire...
by Fred R. LaPoint, Fire Chief Paramedic | Mar 24, 2026 | Behind The Alarm
I may be slow, but I’m not stupid. I watched the videos from LaGuardia. I listened to the air traffic control audio. And what I saw was exactly what any firefighter, Coastie, or responder would recognize immediately: a crew responding to a legitimate emergency, moving...
by Fred R. LaPoint, Fire Chief Paramedic | Mar 8, 2026 | Behind The Alarm
In forty-plus years of fire and EMS, I’ve stood downwind of structure fires, chemical spills, tanker rollovers, and industrial accidents. I know what a petroleum fire plume smells like, what it does to the people breathing it, and what it leaves behind in the soil and...
by Fred R. LaPoint, Fire Chief Paramedic | Feb 1, 2026 | Behind The Alarm
Firefighters may retire, but the mindset, the instincts, and the bond forged in the heat, the smoke, and the darkness never fade. This is what remains long after the last call.Firefighters may hang up their gear. They may retire. They may leave the station for the...
