Hi, I’m Paul Darley, and thanks for tuning into our August/September issue of Inside Darley. You know, these days the news has a lot of headlines about all the wildfires taking place in Canada. But you might be interested to know that here in the United States, the number of wildfires through July 10 were down roughly 85% compared to 2022. And as of that date, we had had 4.8 million acres of fire of land burn, and this year it’s just over 700,000.
Those are statistics available through the National Interagency Fire Center. That’s nifc.gov if you want to check it out, but also encourage you to go to noa.gov and nasa.gov. They also have a lot of great information. Back in 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, and as part of that, there’s a lot of funding going to the US. Forest Service and other groups within the Department of Agriculture to help fight the increase in wildfires over time.
With that initiative in mind, Darley partnered with Ford Motor Company, and we came out with a Bronco Wildland Firefighting Command Rig, and the first one was just donated to the National Park Service. So we’ve attached some information for you on that. You know, the fire apparatus market right now is in a lot of flux, and the most recent issue of Fire Apparatus magazine had a couple of great articles in there that talked about it. One is titled The Crazy World of Buying Apparatus fire Apparatus, and it’s by Ricky Riley. It came out on July 17. We’ve attached a copy, and it talks about the pricing increases and delivery being out as much as 48 months, if you can imagine, and the impact of EPA changes taking place in a few years and things of that nature. So you might want to check that out.
There’s also an excellent article in that same issue that we published relative to compressed air foam, and Troy Carothers is quoted in that. And if you’re interested in learning more about compressed air foam or interested in buying one, just come to Darley.com and search CAFS, or compressed air foam. It’ll bring you right to our wide line of products there.
It’s hard to believe the kids are back to school here very shortly. And at Darley, we’ve got the same coming up with our October Pump School. It’ll be taking place October 9th to the 11th. We’ve attached an application for you. It’s free of charge, held at our plant in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. We would encourage you to take part of that.
Also, McKinsey just released an incredible resource on Leadership Traits of Successful CEOs, and I think it’s got ten or twelve different articles that we’ve attached for you. From What Separates the Best CEOs from the Rest, to How to Be a 21st Century CEO, and more great articles on emotional intelligence.
In closing, a lot of people are getting more and more information through podcasts, and I would encourage you to go to theleadershipcruciblepodcast – and this is put out by Chief Randy Brigman. He was the Fire Chief at the city of Anaheim for a long number of years, and one of the most respected fire officers in our industry. And episode 28, which was just released yesterday, August 1, features an interview with me. But there’s all sorts of great interviews, some fire service leaders we’d encourage you to check out.
So thanks for tuning into this issue of Inside Darley. If there’s anything we can be doing to support you, we hope you’ll reach out to us.
Resources:
CAFS – Is it the Right Fit for Your Department (PDF)
Darley Pump School Registration – October 2023 (PDF)
The Crazy World of Buying Fire Apparatus Right Now (PDF)
Leadership Traits of Successful CEOs (McKinsey.com)
The Leadership Crucible Podcast #28, Interview with Paul Darley
