On November 13, 2019, a career lieutenant died, and four other firefighters were injured while fighting a residential structure fire. What began as a seemingly routine night-time call rapidly escalated into a complex, high-risk incident involving crews operating above the fire, deteriorating conditions, wind-impacted fire behaviour, and critical information gaps. Early reports of life risk shaped decision making, while building construction, access limitations, and changing fire dynamics steadily reduced options for crews committed inside.

In this episode, we break the incident down using a 4D debrief framework, focusing on the timeline, the drivers behind key decisions, and the factors that contributed to a fatal outcome. Drawing from an 80-plus page investigation report, we translate the lessons into clear, practical learning that can be applied by firefighters anywhere in the world. This is a respectful, tactical debrief designed to improve understanding of fireground decision making under pressure, and to help prevent the same sequence of events from repeating elsewhere.

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This episode is one of those conversations that quietly gets under your skin.

I’m joined by Matt Akers, who currently serves in New Zealand, but whose journey through the fire service spans rural retained firefighting, aviation, London, and multiple countries. Matt’s lived and worked across very different systems, cultures, and tempos of the job, and that perspective runs all the way through this conversation.

What we really dig into though isn’t tactics or titles. It’s life. The pressure to stay busy. The way hustle culture sneaks in and convinces you that exhaustion equals progress. The idea of horizon happiness, always chasing the next milestone while missing the moment you’re actually standing in. We talk about parenthood, time, and the realisation that your kids won’t remember the late finishes or the extra emails, but they will remember whether you showed up.

Matt speaks openly about the fire service shaping his identity, the differences between rural and urban firefighting, and the privilege of doing this job when it’s kept in the right place in your life. He also shares some very honest reflections on personal struggles, including alcohol, and how travel, community, and becoming what he calls the eternal recruit helped him reset and rebuild.

The conversation takes a deeper turn when Matt talks about a health scare that led to him receiving a pacemaker, and the emotional weight that came with that. We explore identity loss, mental health, and the moment he realised counselling wasn’t something to be ashamed of, but something that helped him move forward. There’s no self pity here. Just perspective, responsibility, and resilience.

This episode isn’t about chasing more. It’s about recalibrating. About keeping passion without letting the job consume you. About remembering that you can survive without money, but not without people. If you’ve ever felt like you’re running flat out but not sure toward what, this conversation might slow you down in the best possible way.

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our partners supporting this episode.

• GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
• FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
• MSA The Safety Company
• JAFCO
• IDEX
• FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
• HAIX Footwear - Get offical podcast discount on HAIX HERE
• Xendurance - to hunt performance & endurance 20% off HERE with code ffp20

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***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

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In this episode, we take a deep, no-nonsense operational debrief of the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, November 2018, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire of the modern era in the United States. We walk through the incident as it unfolded, the early warning signs, the rapid fire growth, the evacuation failures, and the brutal reality that most of the devastation occurred within the first four hours. This is not a dramatic retelling. It is a structured breakdown of how fire behaviour, weather, infrastructure, and human movement collided at speed, overwhelming systems and removing options for both responders and the public.

In the second half of the episode, we translate those lessons directly into a UK Fire and Rescue Service context using the LACES framework from National Operational Guidance. Lookouts, Awareness, Communications, Escape routes, and Safety zones become the lens through which we ask hard, practical questions about how we would manage a fast-moving wildfire or Rural Urban Interface incident in the UK. This episode is about recognising early warning signs, understanding when the job changes from firefighting to life saving, and taking lessons from one of the world’s worst wildfires that can genuinely help firefighters make better decisions on the ground.

Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE

Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE

our partners supporting this episode.

• GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
• FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators
• MSA The Safety Company
• JAFCO
• IDEX
• FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD
• HAIX Footwear - Get offical podcast discount on HAIX HERE
• Xendurance - to hunt performance & endurance 20% off HERE with code ffp20

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew