David Cain

David Cain was deputy chief with the Boulder (Colo.) Fire Department for 34 years. Since his retirement in 2013, he has worked as a consultant for PSTrax.com, a cloud-based service that digitizes fire department apparatus and equipment checks. You can reach Chief Cain at david@pstrax.com or 303-972-9444.

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Articles by David Cain

• Mental toughness in the fire service

  Wednesday, October 11, 2017

  ​On Sept. 28, I was up at 0430 listening to the rain fall and feeling winter's warnings. My wife, who gets up at 0330 every morning was off to the gym for her workout/run. The gym is close to home, so she returned to shower and get ready for her 10-hour day at work.

• Different takes on lessons in leadership

  Thursday, May 25, 2017

  ​Where to start? The idea of writing an article on leadership is no easy task. First, you have to define it. Then you have to understand it. And, of course, you have to explain it. My attempt at tackling this came to me after a lot of thought on how my article could be different. Leadership is one of those topics that has been written about for years from many different perspectives.

• Applying cowboy ethics to today’s firefighters

  Wednesday, March 22, 2017

  Growing up in rural Wisconsin, I dreamed of being a cowboy someday. For whatever reason, my real fascination was horses. I have lived with horses and dogs most of my life, but I would never consider myself a cowboy. I was fortunate enough to know some real cowboys and even got to ride in a two-day round-up of 300 head of cattle. That was a blast.

• Bridging the gap for firefighters

  Thursday, February 09, 2017

  It is difficult to imagine that firefighters are not prepared for the future. As times have changed, the issue of protecting ourselves is about more than just the bunker gear we wear or the SCBAs on our backs. Our profession has come a long way in providing us with all the tools we need to do the many tasks at hand, but there is one area we're often left unprotected. What am I referring to?

• Time to exit the ‘fire bubble’ and embrace preventive maintenance

  Wednesday, November 04, 2015

  ​Accounts of ​budget-challenged Detroit firefighters using pop cans, coins, door hinges, pipes and doorbells to get emergency alerts were alarming to say the least. But, in many ways, it's all too similar to fire departments continuing to use unreliable, outdated paper logs for equipment and apparatus maintenance checks.

• Are you sure your maintenance checks are current?

  Thursday, October 15, 2015

  ​What's cheaper — fighting a fire or preventing one? While the answer is obvious, the same line of reasoning somehow seems to elude fire departments when it comes to maintenance of their apparatus and equipment. Why? In part, it's because of the proverbial "head in the sand" mentality to ignore issues that aren't imminent threats. Adding to the mix is the workload of today's firefighters, who generally are focused most on acute challenges, not potential problems.