HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

Ladies and gentlemen of my reading audience, I have been called upon to offer an apology to someone who was the subject of a blast from the famous Carter broadside. The troops at Lisle-Woodridge, Illinois took umbrage at my commentary. I am going to do this one more time.

I respectfully offer an apology to Chief Thomas K. Freeman, the officers and members of the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District for my commentary in last week’s column. My blast at the people battling the NFPA, IAFC, IAFF should not have included them. I was assured that they do not agree with the position as espoused in the email making the rounds from an anonymous Chief in Wisconsin. In fact they support my position.

I spoke with Assistant Chief Steve Rauter, and assured him that I would issue this public apology to the fine folks that protect that charming area of Illinois. Steve assured me that he was only innocently passing that silly message along. He told me that he did not go along with it.

I have made an apology to Assistant Chief Rauter over the phone and I single him out at this time for an individual apology. I also asked him to write an upcoming commentary for my website on a topic of his choosing. He will be sharing an important message on the collection of EMS data sometime in the coming weeks.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service