Weekly Scrap #232 - Clyde Gordon, Warriors, Wisdom & Wheelbarrows

Corley: All right everyone. The scrap will be starting soon. And while everybody's logging in, while we're getting ready with the guests, I wanted to talk. About this, the V50. Lots of people have heard about it. The V50. I am very, very proud of this. It started out A few years ago as a journaling project that I did for myself and then I shared it with the vigilantes. And over seventy vigilantes did the first trial run as we did it together. And then they helped Edit and revise it and form it into what it is now, the V50 that you currently know. All about conquering yourself And it really is. The V50 is about this right here. It is body, mind, soul, and goals. Body, mind, soul, and goals. You set goals for yourself each and every day. The system is built in where you can set up each day that you want to set up. And then you prove to yourself that you are who you say you are. It's the V50 commitment. I'm super proud of it. You do it for a 50-day commitment, a 50-day commitment of the V50. Body, mind, soul, and goals. And you prove to yourself that you have the ability to set goals and then crush those goals. Proving to yourself you are Who you say you are. It's a great way to build confidence. It's a great way to be a more effective person. So I'm super proud of it. The body, mind, soul, and goals. It's all explained in the front of the book. And there's instructions All about conquering yourself. You can see this is a scoring page from Deep In It as I as I traveled through the V50 at the end of last year. I'm now in my third iteration of doing the V50, and it will make you it will form habits for you, it will make you a more effective person if you are willing to take on the commitment and complete the commitment So I'm excited about it. I wanted to share it. The V50, Conquer Yourself. You can find it on firehousevigilance. com. Of course, the Vigilantes can find it in the Vigilante Swag Shop. V50, Conquer Yourself. Go get yourself one. Make the commitment. Make the make the commitment with your crew, your shift, your battalion. It's it is powerful.

Corley: It will make you a more effective person and I wanted to share it. So there you go. V50. Now let's get ready for the scrap. Starting soon. Going live. Corley Moore, Firehouse Vigilance, it is weekly scrap number two 32. My guest this fine evening is none other than Clyde Gordon. Tonight we are going to ride with Clyde. He has 38 years in the fire service. 33 years at the Houston Fire Department. If you know him, you know his reputation for a strong work ethic, exceptional fire grunt operations and management. And my favorite part. building uncompromising integrity and responsibility in a crew. He travels, he teaches, he speaks, he is sought after, and I'm lucky to have him on the scrap. I'm lucky to call him a friend. If you ever get to enjoy a meal and a drink with this man It is an unforgettable experience. He's a husband to an amazing wife. He is a father. Chief Clyde Gordon, welcome to Scrap number 232. Clyde Gordon: Thank you. Thank you very much, Corley. It's always a pleasure to be here. I really appreciate you. Thank you for all those kind words too. You read it just like I wrote it. It was perfect.

Corley: Perfect. Is there anything I missed? Anything you want to add? Clyde Gordon: No, no. No, that was better than I could expect. You never you're never more impressive than you are on your own resume, right? So I appreciate your kind words and and it's just an honor to be here and to spend a little time with you and the folks out there and It still amazes me that anyone gives a flip about anything that I have to say. I've loved the fire service my whole life and And I've always talked about it, enjoyed it. And for someone to spend five minutes or an hour to listen to something I have to say still floors me. Corley: So thank you very much. Dude, I love it. I love the humility. I love it. That's the reason we're going to have a great time this evening. Audience. And they're logging in everywhere. All over the place. They're logging in. There's a ton. I'm going to catch you up. Good evening, everyone. Robbie Cox is checking in from Florida, from Cody Brooks. We've got hands raised from Carpi Fuego, Houston Firehouse 9, checking in from Michael Cannon. Good evening from Illinois. James Griffin. And I'm I'm proud of myself for not saying the S in Illinois. Absolutely. And everybody, tonight, for the first time in a long time, since the beginning of the scrap, 200 or so episodes, the scrap is on Instagram live. So we'll be getting questions also on from Instagram. So please, please, please get your questions ready. Sam is out there looking for your questions on a lot of the platforms. I'm gonna try and keep track of Instagram. We're gonna see how this goes. Let me see. Yeah, there's so many logging in and so many so much hype. Chief miss I don't even know who that is, but said Chief is the Sam Elliott of the fire service. So that's a pretty that's a pretty good compliment

Clyde Gordon: Man, I'm trying. They they try to make me cut it off, but I I try to avoid them like the plague. Corley: So just gotta walk the other direction when you see them coming. Clyde Gordon: Oh man, they I'm running all the time. Corley: Now let's talk about the beautiful sponsors. The OG sponsor of the scrap, Key Hose. So there you go. Sponsors are done. People are logging in. People are posting their questions. Kyle is here. He says, sorry I'm late. Ramagus is here. So Kyle is filled in questions. Brother, we're ready to do this. Clyde Gordon: As long as he doesn't ask me any hose questions, we'll be good to go. Corley: No hose, but nozzles okay? Just no hose? Clyde Gordon: From Kyle. Kyle's my nozzle nerd, man. I just Relay everything people ask me to Kyle. Corley: Just just send it to Kyle. That's a good nozzle nerd to have in your pocket. I can promise you that. Clyde Gordon: Man, I tell you what, that guy's sharp. Corley: No, there's no doubt about it. and and To know him is to love him 100%. And if take his classes to love him. Let's talk. I'm going to kick it off. I'm going to kick it off with the broadest topic I think we can start with One I know you're passionate about. One I'm passionate about, but it's training. Training. Yeah, absolutely. One word training. Take it whatever direction you want to go. Everybody, Kyle's here, Sam's here, I'm here. We're all ready for your questions. So if you have questions for Clyde, send them. All right, ride with Clyde. Let's talk training

Clyde Gordon: Yeah, well, I mean, I I don't know how you expect to be good at this job if you don't spend time training. Now, I I'll be honest with you. In 1990, I know half of you weren't born, but when I came in the Houston Fire Department We didn't train or very rarely. we we stretched a lot of hose every single day because we went to fires every single day. So the old guys went out there and and they did their version of training and talked to you and taught you how to do things and why you should be doing things. And then we went to a fire or two that day and you learned Unfortunately, that's not the world we live in anymore, as a rule. So you're gonna have to get out there and start doing things. And to be honest with you, if I made a fire every day, we would still train. there's only one way to get really good at this. And I learned as a driver that if I learn the territory. Without any issues. If I knew the pump and the hoses without any issues, then my job was so much less stressful. So that's where we are today. I mean, we're gonna go out every day as a rule and we're gonna do a little bit of training. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes it's two or three. but I don't worry about them. I don't worry about the basics getting in the way because all of that is taken care of. Now we'll spend time on a lot of kind of plan B, C, or D because we've killed plan A a bunch. So that's just where we are. If you're not making fires all the time and a lot of people aren't man you gotta get out there and and just If nothing else, go over the basics. Go over the basics. I've never seen a fire go bad because of some Dennis Leghier, Kyle Romagus, algebraic problem on the side of a pumper somewhere. It's always the basics. It's the placement or the stretch or the push or the search. That's what kills us. And you just have to be good at it. People deserve that. That's what they're expecting. You have to understand the the the public expectation is very high for firefighters. They expect you to show up and not have a lot of issues and to rescue them and save their property.

Clyde Gordon: And that's our commitment to them. So if you're not doing that, And I can tell you, if you're not training, you're not doing that. Corley: Right on. Clyde Gordon: then you're you're letting people down my station probably averages, I don't know. It's been a while since we've done the math. But these guys are making somewhere between 50 and 60 runs a day, two engines, a chief, a couple EMS units. You know, they're making sometimes each pump will make over 10 after midnight. So they're making the runs. and They're out training that morning. Of course, most of that's EMS, so we all get that, but they're stretching holes, they're climbing stairs, they're catching plugs, they're whatever. so if you're telling me you're too busy, nah, you're lying. You're lazy. Okay. Just go out there and take care of your business, spend a little time. if you're the boss, don't make it miserable. Make it whether it's enjoyable and they feel like they've accomplished something. I go out there and train with them all the time. And I enjoy it. I'd rather stretch holes half the time than some of the stuff they want me to do. So it's just imperative. And a fire department needs to pour into their employees. A lot of people like to poke fun at me about in my department about, you know, speaking to small departments Well, I tell them real quick the reason I speak to a lot of small departments is because they're willing to spend the money on their employees Mine not spending a lot of money on training. So we have to seek those opportunities ourselves. So don't be embarrassed that you're from a small place or whatever, man. You Fires in a small town are just like small fires in a big town and people's expectation is the same.

Corley: Love it, man. I absolutely love the message. What a way to kick it off. And I threw you a broad topic and you absolutely crushed it out of the park. So you ready for your first question from the audience? Clyde Gordon: Sure, yeah. Corley: It's the first question from Instagram, actually, in about three years. So here we go. It's it's from Mob Town Fire, and he wants to know how do you deal with firefighters who don't want to train, especially from your district chief position. But you can also have a company officer position all but through your experience. Clyde Gordon: Yeah, so you know, as a rule, nobody wants to train. I'll be honest with you. My guys get sick of training. you know, I have some that man, they're all about it all day, every day. And but that's few and far between. you know, you're lucky if you have a lot of guys like that. A lot of them, I think they're okay with training, but you have to keep it it within perspective If you're that guy that wants to drag them out there for eight hours, you're going to lose them and they're done and they're going to be pissed off. Okay. And you know, like I told you, my guys are running hard. So You know, they need a nap. They need dinner. They need a break. They need time to decompress. But I think I just have always, even when I was an engine company officer and everything else, I just set expectation. We're going to train If you don't like to train, there's in the Houston Fire Department, there was a hundred other places you could go work. Because I don't have the time or I'm not gonna allow you to drag us down to a point to where we can't provide the service that people deserve So if I worked in a smaller place and I was the boss, set expectation. This is what we're gonna do. and I think if you make it enjoyable and where they actually learn things and you're not just beating them death for hours and hours at a time, you'll see buy-in. Sometimes it takes a little while, but you'll get buy-in. If not, they'll go work somewhere else. I don't allow people to lower my standards to theirs. I'm going to raise you up to my standard.

Clyde Gordon: And then I hope you raise me up to your standard, which is higher than mine. that's the goal. I've always worked at busy houses because I don't have a lot of those issues Those guys know that there's certain things we're going to do every day. But you know what? At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, if my boss comes over, he's probably going to catch me on the couch next to you watching something stupid on TV When my shoes off, half asleep. Because we've done what we need to do that day. And right now we're just staging waiting on whatever the evening brings. What's going to happen? We're going to eat three good meals a day. Those type of things. It's a culture. You create a culture. As the boss, you create a culture that those guys are very important to you, but the citizens are even more important. You're gonna train them, you're gonna hang out with them, you're gonna feed them good, we're gonna have good times, and you'll be amazed what they'll do for you. If I'm gonna give you everything you expect from them, is my is my experience. If you expect nothing, they'll give you exactly that. But if you hold them to a high standard and they understand why they're held to that standard, man, they'll knock it out of the park.

Corley: Woo, I love it. I absolutely love it. I've had like four sound bites already in the first like few minutes. So I already absolutely love it. expectations. You talked about expectations, which is one of my favorite topics in the fire service, in leadership in general. And one of my big takeaways is that when you let those expectations slip, when you let them become, especially the basics, but when you let them become like a a question mark at the beginning of the day. That's where it starts to really slip. And they're like, oh, are we gonna have to do it today? Oh, we're not. Okay, yay. And then the next shift, are we gonna have to do it today? Oh shit, now we have to do it. You know, and that's where it starts creeping in. And it's not on purpose, it's just a it's just a gradual The clients. Clyde Gordon: It's just human nature, you know, and the guys are tired and they do make a lot of runs and EMS and all that. You know, we got every excuse in the world. And there are days, I'm not lying to you, I mean, we take a break, you know, we do a roll call every morning. I like to pray in the morning, I like to talk to the guys in the morning and it's just what we do. A lot of stations don't do it anymore. But I give them the the rundown of the day and and what we're gonna expect. And sometimes it's like, hey man, we're we're not doing anything today We're gonna take it easy because y'all been getting hammered. And I think they're okay with that. But they know the trucks have to be clean, they know the station has to be clean, they know they need to stretch some holes or do something And it's just expectation. But I'll tell you, you know, I was told by a good mentor of mine, Chief Miller, that every once in a while they need to see a kick a chair You know, because I was upset that I had lost my mind one evening and I probably could have hurt somebody if I'd have got my hands on them. And and you know, from all the leadership books, you're not supposed to do that, but You know, he told me, say, Clyde, every once in a while they need to see you kick a chair.

Clyde Gordon: And you know, firemen are just that. They're like kids in some way. I love them all, but they push you And they'll see what they can get away with. And every once in a while you got to snatch a nod in them. I'm not everybody's cup of tea, you know. I show up and a lot of guys don't like me. But it's because I demand a lot from them and I hold them to high expectations. And if you don't meet those expectations, I don't have a problem with saying something to you because I feel like you're you have failed us and you forget failed the people that are out there. Corley: Boom. Boom. Yes. Yes, absolutely. Mob town fire said, need more company officers like this. Need more, need more district chiefs, battalion chiefs, you name it. We need more chiefs like this. Carpe Fuego coming at you says, Chief, if you could go back to the beginning of your career, back to the 90s, what is the one thing you would train differently? Clyde Gordon: well I'm gonna do two things. One, I want to answer that question or that comment about district chiefs. Okay. At least my experience, a lot of district chiefs feel like once they make that level, they're done. In my opinion, your work's just begun. You have a large area of influence. And you need to get out there and spend time with your folks and demand a lot of from them. the problems I see with a lot of crews that I run with that have problems To me, it's the district chief level. They're allowing that to occur. And, you know, I was told a long time ago your crews are direct reflection upon your leadership. So if everybody sucks around you and they're your kids, well, guess what? You're allowing that to occur. So get out there and spend time with them. They'll get used to it. they will. It takes a little time, but when they understand where you're coming from, they don't have an issue. None of my guys, I don't think, have issue with me being around it anymore. But anyway, I'll switch in. going back to 1990, I think I would just know more about what I did. I'm going to be honest with you. Mo and I joke about this all the time. You guys are so much smarter than we were.

Clyde Gordon: We were two big country boys That someone said, you know, I tell people all the time, big, dumb, and strong. That's all HFD was looking for. Big, dumb, and strong. And them officers, they loved it I was big enough to do anything they needed me to do, strong enough to hold the line by myself, pumping 180 pounds, and dumb enough to go anywhere they told me to go. So that was really it. I didn't know anything about hose. I didn't think anything about nozzles. I didn't know anything about flows. I didn't know anything. So it was walk through the front door when your helmet and your face piece was covered in orange, you open the nozzle, which was trying to blow you back out the front door. The fire went away and we walked out the back. That was it. It was all about bravado and swinging your you know what's over your shoulder and I don't want to hear you bitching, moaning, complaining. I just want you to go in there and put the fire out So you guys have the opportunity to be so much smarter than I was. Now, I think there's a good place for some bravado in the fire service. not everybody wants to hear that. And I don't mean bravado as in male, female, all that. I've met a bunch of ladies who are tough as nails, and I'd rather fight fire with them than half the dudes I've met. But As far as, you know, it takes guts to do what we do. And you need a little bit of that. some people overthink it, I think. They make it too complicated. I was told a long time ago by an old guy, older than me guy, that said, Clyde, you know why we do what we've done since the 70s? It's because it works. And there's a certain amount of truth to that. But I would really you guys understand what's going on now so much better than I did And the fire ground has changed. It's not what it used to be. So you need that higher level of understanding. I think you need some of that bravado and and the guts to do what we do, but your understanding will allow you to do it much better and to save more people than I ever did.

Corley: Oh, I love it. I absolutely do. I love the bravado. I love the slinging them over your shoulder and getting it done. And also the amount of Information that's at the fingertips now, there's no excuse for ignorance anymore. Clyde Gordon: Never. No, no reason for it. I see People who fail at certain tasks that we need to do and and like it really upsets me because there's absolutely no reason it's somebody not holding you accountable to that And we all make mistakes, and I get that. I I'm not the I don't expect for perfection, but when you're doing something that's blatantly stupid, then I got a problem with it And you know, somebody's not out there sharing that information with you or you're not seeking it yourself. If you're just sitting waiting for it to come, it's not gonna come. and you need to be good at this and people are counting on you. That's what, you know, I've had a lot of situations in my life. I I've had I'm older than most a lot of you and you know I've lost I've had significant losses in my life, and I will tell you that that changes you to be empathetic towards what you're truly there for. And the thought of someone losing like I have, I understand that's part of what we do. And there's some things I can do nothing about, but if that occurs because of my lack of training or knowledge or whatever. I take that personally. And I'm not perfect. I'm just like you. I mean, I learn every time, but I lay my head down at night knowing that I've put the effort in. these guys that are just rolling the dice, you know, working for the Hope Fire Department, you know, I hope it doesn't happen. I hope we don't make nothing, that kind of thing. man, I don't know how you sleep at night.

Corley: The Hope Fire Department. Clyde Gordon: Yeah, if you're out there with the Hope Fire Department and that's not you, I apologize. But yeah, you know, not a lot of not the real play, not the actual township or or not the town of hope, but that hope, you know what I mean? Corley: As a strategy, yes, absolutely, absolutely. T Coles 23 coming at you from Instagram, from your experience. What techniques, this is a question we get a lot, so here it comes. What techniques did you find effective when getting people to want to train and engage in the training? Clyde Gordon: I think delivery has a lot to do with it. You know, some people are not good at delivering training. You might be very knowledgeable, but your delivery horrible. Right. Death by PowerPoint. Just you're just not a good instructor. you know, it's okay. It's okay to be smart and not be a good instructor. There's things I'm not good at, you know, and I find people who are. Right. Corley: I think that's really Kyle Romagus. Clyde Gordon: yeah, right. You know, like I don't do whole stuff. It's not my thing, right? But I will be happy to delegate Kyle or somebody else to that. and I I think that's really find what you're good at. allow others to maybe you have someone in your crew who's good at it or You know, I started a mentor program a while back with my guys. Like the drivers mentored each other. I knew I had better drivers than others. they don't need to learn from me about pump operations. They need to learn from the guy who's going to be driving that engine all the time. So, you know, get those people involved. If you if you suck at training like delivery, then at least make it short. Right? That's really You know, I mean, honestly, give them 45 minutes is a fireman's span of of of concentration, right? After 45 minutes, they're done. So either stop it 45 minutes or an hour or give them a break and come back to it. Get them involved in it. Get the old guy involved. Something there's ways to do it. There really is. You just got to put in, and then they have to understand that their buy-in means something to you and to the people out there That's really, you know, what it is.

Clyde Gordon: And we work 24-hour shifts, man. I tell them all the time, I'm asking four hours at the most out of you. The other 20, you're doing whatever you want to do. Corley: So I love it. I love it. Life hack right there. If you suck at instruct and keep it short. Clyde Gordon: So there's this there's you know I tell people all the time I'm not very smart, but I'm a good storyteller. You know, I can tell a story that people like to hear So I don't know how smart I am, but my stories are good. Well, not everybody has good stories. So, you know, keep it short, keep it simple. Show them a few things and move on. Corley: I love it I'm gonna sit there and say that's my answer to everything. Everything Kyle says, I'm just gonna say I love it. Scott Hoke Jr. he has a long question here, a long question, it's like a paragraph long, but I'm gonna summarize I'm gonna summarize and throw it at you 'cause I think this is a great question for you actually. Because he has a whole long story in front of it. But basically the question is this What advice do you have for the guys doing the right thing? Okay, let me try over. What advice do you have for the guys doing the right thing to keep up with quality training? But there's a lot of drama going on in the department. And I know Houston Fire Department might have a know a thing or two about drama going on. That's why I wanted to I wanted to paraphrase. So if there's a lot of like drama going on, how do you what advice do you have for people to just keep up with quality training and avoid the issues interfering with it? The drama.

Clyde Gordon: So I will tell you right now, I'm a huge target. Okay. And it used to bother me a little bit, but now I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you. I don't give a shit. I can't put it any more blunt than that. I'm not responsible or have any Responsibility towards those people who want to talk trash about me or give me a hard time because I'm selling a t-shirt that's got a quote on the back, or I'm on the scrap today. You know, people want to tear you down. And what I say is you're doing it for yourself, your family, and your brothers and sisters around you and the folks around you. So when I pull up And people are giving me the stink eye and they want to talk all their trash or I see it on Facebook or guys I know send me, hey man, these guys are saying this about you on a text I don't give a shit. Because I feel like I'm doing what I need to do every single day. The people that I respect, that I care for, like me. And they care for me. most of these people, what do you call them? Mutts, right? Most of these people, man, who cares? That's all they've got to do. It it shocked me not too long ago that this. particular crew, they had on their five days off, all they had to do was worry about what I was doing. That it like blows me away. You know, it's stupid. What I do is sit and, you know, the hashtags and the shirts and all that, it's fun. But I don't care what you think of me. Because I'm there for other people. My guys, they trust me, and I trust them. When I pull up, I know there's nobody. I'd rather make every fire in the city. Because in my opinion, we're going to do the best we can do. And there's a lot of crews out there. Moe's got them. There's a bunch out there. But man, I just don't care. Do what you do, man. If you're training and you're trying to be better, do what you do. And if they piss and hone and bitch, it just to me makes them look worse. They're all out there. We all got them. Corley's got them.

Clyde Gordon: I've got them. Ray McCormick's got them. Don't worry about them because when you lay your head down at night You've got to be the one that answers to you. And you did everything you could. Those guys, man, they're going to be the ones crying and whining over there. And You know, they'll have every excuse in the world why it didn't go right and why these people passed away and everything. You know what? They gotta live with that, not me. So Yeah, don't let them phase you, man. Just keep doing what you're doing. Rise above them, is what I say. Corley: I love it. There you go. That's going to be what I say over and over and over. Andrew Feskins wants to know what's your best training for maintaining calm, soothing, command radio voice? Clyde Gordon: So I got told a long time ago, just talk like you're bored. And Jerry Wedgeworth was probably one of my biggest mentors. He was my battalion chief and for a long, long time. And he was a country boy from Palestine, Texas, and I loved him to death and I'd have killed for him, but he never got excited And that made me not get excited. And I've really tried to keep that command presence. When I was an engine captain, I would drink my coffee, driving into the wards in the morning and I would just talk to myself, you know, engine 67 on location, blah, blah, blah. And I'd talk them. One of my guys told me, said, Captain, you talk them out so we can play them out. You know, it it does take practice. your confidence in a situation will help with your calmness But you've got to understand that hey you're you're the man, you're the you're the boss at that point, whatever level that you're at, and when you're arriving, and no one needs you to panic. don't think that I don't get worked up. People love the bloggett street fire and they've watched it. And when you have a few minutes and I'll tell you the truth of what was going on, I I mean I tell them you can hear the pee coming out of me. I was terrified. but I tried not to sound like an idiot because the whole world was gonna hear it, and those guys didn't need my anxiety to come across the radio.

Clyde Gordon: And then what brought me calm was they were so calm And that has a lot to do with the work that we've done. when I get a little wound up and a little spun up, usually their calming voice calms me. So it just takes work. it's a conscious thought. Think before you talk And then practice. Talk to yourself going into work every day. Give your online or give your assessment of the fire ground. Pick one and just make it up. And start making those orders and then all of a sudden at three in the morning it comes out like butter, man. It works out for you. So, but don't think that I don't get nervous. Corley: Love it. Okay, I gotta I I need okay, ask the audience. I need to say something besides I love it at the end of everything Clyde says. So please put it in the chat what I need to respond with besides I love it. I can give you 100%. this one's coming out. Sorry, I just every time you finish, I'm like, I love it, I love it I sound like a broken record. John Eric Johnson wants to know, good evening, Chief. Could you explain the importance? And I wanted to read this. Someone, who was it that said this? I'm gonna see if I can find it. You said rise above them when you were talking about the haters. And Jared Thronebury said new hashtag Rise with Clyde. So it's a play on words, but I love it, man. Rise above them, hell yeah, Chief. That came from Cameron Cooper. So Rise Above Em is might be the next t-shirt you can do that everybody's like,

Clyde Gordon: I need I need a new one, so that's awesome. Corley: Yeah. But John Eric Johnson said, good evening, Chief, which he's also, is it next week? Next week, John Eric Johnson is the guest on the scrap, so there's a shout-out. But good evening. Clyde Gordon: Nice, yeah. Solid guy. Corley: Absolutely. I'm excited. could you explain the importance in being an incident commander who is outside the car and that are in a position of opportunity to process critical information and make tactical decisions based on your senses So inside or outside the car, what's your preference and then why? Clyde Gordon: So look, I Right, I work downtown. So 45 stories or 100 75 stories of high-rise operations, I can't get out of my car I don't think there's any reason I need to isolate and because there's just a lot going on. Now I've been around a long time. So running a single story, two-story apartments, whatever, very rare likely I'm gonna get out of the car. I like to be out of the car. I have the discipline to be able to isolate myself, not run around crazy going from the front to the back and the front to the back I can get on a corner and stay there. I have developed a kind of a cone of silence around me. I'm lucky enough to have a driver, Michael Tamborillo, who's absolutely outstanding. He fields all the questions and does all the running for me and the guys know to just stay away from me. So with that being said, I like to be out of the car. I can hear it. I can smell it. I can put my arm around you And and instill some confidence in you and tell you what I need you to do. Hey, brother, I gotta get you in that attic to stop it. It's running. And my eyes looking into your eyes, I know from an engine officer and a truck officer, that meant the world to me. If my chief had confidence in me, I would go to the moon and back. I like being out there. my guys respect that and stay away from me. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with you being in the car. This is what I don't want you to do. And a lot of chiefs in my department now are doing that, the younger guys.

Clyde Gordon: They'll park down the block and they'll give me alpha. Okay, so you just became a dispatcher. I'm running your fire. If I'm standing in front of it where everybody's going in and out, that's my fire. Corley: Right. Clyde Gordon: You are now a dispatcher. I will not do that. My people, the people I'm in command of will walk past me. If I send them to their death, they're gonna walk past me to do that. I want them to see me looking at them and the confidence that I have in them. So I like to be out of the car. If I have to set up on something big, it's going to be right out front. I don't think the car necessarily matters. I think the position of the car matters. You need to run your fire. Don't give it to someone else. Let you need to run that. Give them Charlie Delta Division II, whatever you need to give them, but you run that fire. And that's really where I'm at. but you gotta have some discipline. You can't you can't chase a butterfly down the road. you have to be able to stage and be in one place. And where they can find you and things go well. I'm very lucky. I I have tambo and Man, I couldn't do it without him. He he picks up all the slack that I I drop. He helps me with accountability and 360s and And then the window knockers and the whole thing.

Corley: So all the things that make you look good. Yeah. Clyde Gordon: Yeah. Corley: I get it. Yeah. I love it. Hell yeah, brother. I'm using everybody else's now. Hell yeah, brother. Brother, nailed it. Okay, I'm using everybody else's Josh Davis and that dude absolutely love the answer. and everybody, killer questions tonight across the board. Yeah. Absolutely across the board. Clyde Gordon: I know the answers too. At least I have an answer. So that's awesome. Corley: I love it. Can't help it. Josh Davis says, Chief, how do you keep the passion alive in yourself and crew after all these years? Clyde Gordon: Oh, don't think that I don't get tired of it. I get beat up a lot. And you know And I kick around the idea of retiring. but I'll be honest with you, I'm not gonna let them run me out of there. If I leave, it's gonna be on my own accord and Just because I feel like there's another chapter of life that my wife and my family deserve. But it you go through highs and lows. I've done it my entire career. I have worked at a busy, busy engine and I swore I'd be leaving on the next posting and we'd make two or three fires and I'd be like All right, well maybe I'll stay a little longer. And you know, I stayed there for 20 years. So it happens You have to just get out of your comfort zone. Man, I tell you what, these conferences are the best thing that's ever happened to me. just being around guys who are into the job and and talking to guys who are into the job and spending some time with my buddies. it rejuvenates me. I get as much from you all that that you get from me. I come back and I'm ready to do it again all over again. So You need a break from it, but realize what your passion is. This is what God put me on earth to do. And I need to realize that. And all of the people that are barking at me and giving me a hard time about certain aspects of it. Whatever, man. It's just part of what we have to do. But man, them kids down the street or the little old lady down the street, That's really what I'm there for. So You just pull up your big boy pants and you and you just get out there again and realize, hey man, this this is bigger than I am.

Clyde Gordon: and when you make a difference in someone's life, there's nothing better. you know, I want to be on my deathbed and a bunch of firemen around there and Laughing and telling stories about all the cool shit that we've done in our life and realize what you've done is special and no one else gets this opportunity. And it's worth it. It's worth it. You know, I love it. And but I get sick of it. Don't don't get me wrong, but usually I get sick of the bullshit. Corley: Right. Clyde Gordon: I'd go to a fire right now. I'd leave Corley standing. You know I wouldn't blame him. Corley: Yeah, you're gonna be able to do that. Yeah. You'd owe us that at least. no boom You know, let me see what I'm supposed to say here. Let me see. It's nailed it right on. Amen. Clyde Gordon: Nailed it. All right, yeah. Love it. I love it. Corley: Love it. I do love it Cameron Cooper coming at you. Chief, looking forward to seeing you in Aurora at Firemanship. Got a question. Got a question. Any advice or tips on getting a crew to go train when they don't want to and think that training the basics is futile because they're so basic

Clyde Gordon: Yeah, so you know it's it it depends on what level you're at, right? So sometimes a boot in the ass works, you know, it works for me. I got a big boot. I like to tell a story. I I had I showed up at a station and asked them, you know, hey, how's the training going? What do y'all train on? You know, I was new there. And so oh yeah, we talk about stuff all the time. Oh okay, talking about it. Do we put our hands on it? Oh well we talk about it. Every EMS run we talk about it It's okay. So I said some expectations that you're gonna train every day and it wasn't being listened to So anyway, long story short, midnight we had every piece of hose off the pumper and we were flowing water like crazy and They weren't real happy about being out there at midnight and especially with an empty pumper. And I made it real clear to them that I was the boss and that we would train on a daily basis. And never had an issue since then. So, you know, sometimes you have to motivate people. And the basics is where the problems occur. I said that earlier. So if you're not the boss, man, all I can do is tell you to just keep going out there, find one guy. Somebody will train with you. And then hopefully you can encourage them or guilt them or whatever it takes to get out there with you. But you know, The guys who don't want to train, one, are probably insecure because they don't want you to know what they don't know. They don't want to be embarrassed. So you got to be very careful not to embarrass anyone. You have to be pretty gentle with the way you handle that. And over time, at some point there's a line drawn in the sand, but I'm gonna try to be very respectful to you up to that point and then in my opinion, those guys have not lost enough. they have not really realized what it truly means. If you're in the middle of BFE, wherever Ohio, You know, and you make a couple fires a year, and those fires are just the same as I'm going to make next week. So You have to realize how important it is to people.

Clyde Gordon: And I just don't know how you look people in the eye and tell them, man, we we'd have done better if we'd have practiced. I don't get it. I I I I don't know how to tell you to fix it because I don't get it. I can't live that way. Corley: There you go. There you go. I can't live that way. No, and it's honest, and that's what you get. Honesty. J-Lo coming at you, one of my favorite people, Chief. Just on Lorenzen, by the way. Chief, what would you say to the crew that gets it, trains regularly, and mainly just wants to be good at what they do? But they are looked down upon or known as the station crew that's over the top by others in the department. Clyde Gordon: Oh man. I get sacks of peanuts on my desk and I mean you know squirrel look at the squirrel right shit talked about stuff on Facebook text messages But you know what they do when no one's looking? They ask me for advice. They'll call me when none of their buddies are around. They'll send me a text message. They'll pull me off to the side So I say keep doing what you're doing and hold your head high because the more shit they talk in the fire service, to me, the better off you are. Like you are on the right track. If they hate your guts when you show up. Then to me, you're the guy because you embarrass them. They know that you embarrass them. They don't want you to be around. And You know, I think it's pretty funny. I mean, it doesn't bother me a bit, man. We got to have big shoulders in this and realize, hey, if I'm doing the right thing and these guys don't like me, then that's that's on them Right? I've noticed like I show up to stuff now and and I don't criticize people. Now if you ask me, I'll probably say something like, hey, well, maybe you should have done this, or maybe This would be my opinion. And I'm not the smartest guy out there, but I have an opinion. But now I think it's funny that guys will come back to me and they'll want to tell me why they did something. Hey, we were going to do so-and-so, but we couldn't because of this or that.

Clyde Gordon: Right? So you're actually making them better just by making them uncomfortable. It's not how you you're not out there trying to make them uncomfortable, but the way you carry yourself and the way the service you provide makes them uncomfortable. Because firemen don't want to be called out even in a in a way that like you're not consciously doing it It makes them look bad and they don't want that. So I say just keep nailing it, man. Be proud of yourself. Keep nailing it. Keep working on it. Somebody sees it Your boss probably sees it. I know I have crews that I will call. I don't care if they're sixth in line. They're going to come up. and and go to work, you know. Philip Baird, one of my officers, man, I love him to death. He was staged standing there and I said, what are you doing? And he said, I'm waiting on orders. I said, you got them now. Come with me. And I worked him like a rented mule because Man, he's outstanding. And I knew that he would do anything I needed him to do. So people are counting on you. Just keep it up. Don't worry about these other people, man. They just don't mean anything. You know what I mean? Oh, what we do is so important, and if they don't care enough, it it doesn't affect me. It doesn't bother me a bit. I think it's comical.

Corley: I love it. My problem is, A, saying I love it over and over. Second part is trying to figure out the sound bites that I'm going to use for the opening of the scrap when I when I make the podcast it's a great problem to have red stash media coming at you says when how did you did you find your passion for teaching You do such an incredible job of relating to firemen across the board without making people feel left out. Clyde Gordon: Wow, that's that's an awesome compliment. I don't know, like way, way, way back, I liked to teach. And I don't know how much of a teacher I am, other than like I said, I'm a good storyteller. I can't teach you everything. I just relate to what I've I know and I'm comfortable with. You'll notice when I talk or I go to a conference, I mean I stay in my lane. I'm not out there talking about hoses and atoms and water molecules and all that, you know, because I read a book about it. That's not me. Now, you know, I mean I've stretched a lot of hose, but I told you where that came from. That was just, you know, stretch it and squirt it. That was about all I knew. So I try to stay within my lane. I just enjoy it. And I think I have the ability to remember where I came from. And I want to relate to these folks that you know, they're not as lucky as I am. The Houston Fire Department has given me the opportunity to have a tremendous amount of experience And I'm very thankful for that. A lot of what I've learned is from you folks around the world and around the country. And then I've had the opportunity to try it here in Houston. but I I just can relate. I get it. I get what it's like to ride with three in the middle of nowhere. And I think my life experiences have given me the ability to be empathetic towards people. to feel what it's like to feel hopeless and helpless and confused and scared and and I just try to share what I know. And I truly love what I do, and I just want to make you better. You know, if I have the opportunity to make you a little bit better, that's what I want to do.

Clyde Gordon: I mean, I don't have any arrogance or ego about it. I'm just a silly kid from Tombaugh, Texas that wanted 50% off on pizza. That's why I joined the fire service. As sad as it is. I mean, that's what it is. And then the Houston Fire Department grabbed me because of Captain John Chambers, who was a friend of mine, and I had the opportunity to go to a crap ton of fires, and and now somebody thinks I have a way of sharing that information with others. All of a sudden here I am, you know, and I'm just very thankful for it. Corley: So hey, I'm telling you this, and I'll say this real quick. I was in first in fire conference. And you and your buddy Mo were teaching there. You know, I don't, I think it was about two years ago. And literally, you guys taught that morning. And then it was lunchtime. So everybody took a break, went and got lunch. And then people grabbed their lunches and then came back to the classroom and sat there and packed out that classroom where you and Mo were talking, telling stories. for the entire lunch break. And it was phenomenal. It was powerful. But and that's and and you and I know I know you're gonna dismiss this, but you say you're a good storyteller. But that is that's the power of stories in in teaching, and you are you are very, very good at it. And so it's powerful. So anyway, I wanted to say that.

Clyde Gordon: Well thank you. And I and I think it helps if you have an experience to go with a a tactic or or whatever you're trying to talk about. I was lucky to be at the Alabama Fire Chiefs Convention here in the last week and and some people came to me. I was talking about mid-rise fires and You know, just some of the information I shared. Well, I don't share anything that I read in a book. I've tried it. And I don't have a problem with telling you, hey, we tried this and it blue man we screwed this up so bad and i think that's what brings a lot of credibility is A lot of people walking this earth, you know, that are teaching out there, they want to show you every video and all of them went right. If you go to a class and that instructor shows you nothing but positive videos Never shows you a mistake, they're lying to you. I'ma tell you, the fire ground is a brutal, brutal woman. And it will school you very quickly. And I actually have a slide that says every once in a while we get it right. Because that's what I show. I show failures because we learn from failures. And You know, man, I don't have no ego to feed. I just out there doing the best I can. I'm not the smartest guy there is. And every time I'm like, God dang, I wish we'd have done this or that because it'd have been better.

Corley: Hello. No, right on. I agree with Clyde. Speaker 3: I'll say the right thing. Corley: Chuck Henness, I like your question. I like your question, Chuck. I just don't I like the direction of your question. I just don't quite understand it completely. If you could clarify it a little more, because it goes in a few directions. So if you can clarify it, I'll try to get it in here. JP Gardner coming at you. Here's a tough one for you, Chief. How do you have tough conversations with the company from a firefighter perspective when expectations aren't being met? Clyde Gordon: Whew, man, yeah. You know, that was one of the hardest things I had to learn as a especially battalion chief or district chief, was how to have hard conversations. And I realized that look, there's friendships and then there's business. What we do on a daily basis becomes business. You and I might be best friends, but if you aren't delivering on the business side of what we do, then I have to say something. And I I will tell you it's an uncomfortable position for me to be in. I would rather us be both all the time. And laugh and have a great time. But you have to realize and tell them, hey, look, this is business, okay? I love you, brother, but you're not holding your end of the bargain. You are letting me down and letting other people down. So I need you to do this and lay it out for them And if that doesn't work, then you go on to another level and another level. I've asked people to leave, I have filed complaints, I've done it all, and it's part of being in that responsible. level of the fire service. You have to realize that people are expecting the best from you. So Don't let people drag you down. Is it uncomfortable? Absolutely. Do I like it? No. does it suck? Absolutely But hey, you just got to separate it and say, this is the problem. I need you to do these things to improve. We're going to meet back here in a month and we're going to work on it. I try to offer people when people don't meet my expectations. I want to know why. And I'm going to help them reach those expectations. Some people just don't give a crap, and they're going to be a problem.

Clyde Gordon: And You deal with a problem like you would any other problem. You deal with it. Kicking the can down the road does not work. Okay? I will tell you that. If you kick the problem down the road, it's just going to become someone else's problem So deal with it. Be the person that they placed you in that position. If they gave you a promotion and made you a lieutenant or whatever, be that guy. you're not always gonna be liked. It's okay. You'll be alright. Corley: Okay, hold on. One more time, still. Just one more. All right. Steve Kaiser, I don't know what time it is there. I'll ask later. Steve Kaiser wants to know what is your go-to topic to train on and why? Clyde Gordon: Oh most people think I do mid-rise and high rise stuff, but I don't, to be honest with you. Most people want a leadership or officer development class for me. And that's typically what I do. Probably my comfort zone. Tactical things for me, I can do tactics, obviously. that's not an issue. They're just not quite as much fun because it's hard to bring in a lot of Stories and personal experience from tactics. You know what I mean? they're kind of cut and dry. but leadership stuff and and things that I have been through and things that have worked for me. is probably what I do most of. If you just ask me to come and speak at your conference, it's probably going to be on a leadership or officer development type scenario. I do talk about a lot of the mistakes that I've made over the years because I think they're beneficial for people and I want them to learn from it. I don't want them to make the same mistake. that I'd have. Some of the lessons I've learned are tough. So I share those things. I always share personal stuff. It's very this whole fire service thing is very personal to me. And that's all I've known. I was 16 years old when I walked in a fire station. And so I share a lot of personal experiences, whether it's on the fire ground or just in life.

Corley: I love it. I love it. I'm gonna say I love it. We're all right. We're all over it now. We're all friends. I've got like four pages of questions. So we're not getting we're an hour. We're an hour in with four pages of questions. So I'm just scrolling. Clyde Gordon: Hey man, I'm good. Corley: I'm over here. Clyde Gordon: Enjoying the old Forester and hey, we're good to go. Corley: So I'm looking to see which one I want to ask here. I'm scrolling. I'm scrolling. Dan Westerman says, say you're a newer company officer coming into a station with a new to you crew. New company officer, new to you crew. How do you like to set those expectations organically? And not just turn them turn the people off that's not what they're used to. So what's your what's your new approach? Clyde Gordon: Yeah, so Anywhere I've ever been as the new guy, you gotta first give it some time. Don't come in like a hurricane. Okay. I had a new officer come in a couple years ago and like he tried to change everything before lunch. You know, guess what? The guys were not doing it. They were like, whatever, dude, take a hike. so I've always given it several weeks to just kind of see, right? Maybe Monday was just a bad day for them. Give them a little time. See where they're at. And then Start just very slowly. You it takes, I will tell you, it probably takes a year to two years to truly turn a crew around Now you can come in and do it in two days, but they are not going to be very responsive to that. So for permanent change and things that you can be proud of, it's gonna take a little while. So I always just wrote it out: man, keep your mouth shut, watch what's going on Find the leaders in the group, who's really running the place, see what their problems are, and then pick one. And start working on it. Once you get that one done, then you move on to something else. Find you those informal leaders. Get those guys on your side. Start setting expectation. But it's going to take a little while. it's okay. Get your hands dirty. I made truck captain the first station I went to Man, I can't I don't know when the last time they did a an apparatus day where they actually worked all day on the keeping the apparatus clean But I was out there with them all day.

Clyde Gordon: And they were asking me, is this going to be like this every day? And I was like, well, the reason it's like that today is because y'all haven't done it in 20 years. Right? So they got the message real quick. Hey, look, he expects it to be a certain way. No problem. Right? They took care of it the next week. Guess what I did? I left them alone. They took care of their business. We had a good day. We enjoyed some time off So you just have to start setting that expectation, but don't let them drag you down to their level. That's what they're going to try first. Hey, let me see if I can just wear this officer out Man, that's not what you're there for. They promoted you for a reason. You have to hold them to a standard. And most firemen will meet that standard. It just takes a little time. Show them respect and do what you have to do. Corley: Boom. Boom. That's all I have to say to that one. I love this question coming at you, Chief. Chris Wilmer wants to know, some days are harder than others. Is there a specific way you get into a positive mental space on your way to work on the days when you are less than 100%?

Clyde Gordon: No. Corley: Nothing but honesty. Nothing but honestly. Clyde Gordon: Yeah, you know, you could probably ask the other shift. They would say I'm not a morning person. I I it's rough sometimes, man. And I'll be honest with you, you know, I I'm I've been there a long time, and there's days I would much rather be home. I used to like couldn't understand the old guys when they said, well, I don't care if I go to a fire or I just rather be at home than at the fire station. Like, I never got that. I thought, man, you're a weird dude. Like, I would much rather be here, or I'd much rather go to a fire and but I once you reach a certain point in this job, I can see it. Like there's times I I like to spend the day, but I'd rather be at home at night to go to bed. they wouldn't wake me up 15 times. But no, I mean I can't say that I do. I just have to drink my coffee and realize that, hey, it's what we do. And usually the guys get me motivated, right? I usually help Tambo cook their breakfast because I don't do much in the morning. I don't do much period anymore. I'm not gonna lie. My boss might be watching, but Tambo runs the district. he's my driver, and you know, we do manpower stuff and all that, but You know, I cook breakfast to help them cook breakfast because they're all busy and and I just enjoy getting into their lives, you know, their 20-year-old BS and their weekends and you know and and then I watch how they do what I want them to do. They're out there cleaning and checking and training and You know, we just enjoy each other and and I think that's part of it. Then they start running and I'll make some runs with them and you know, I worry about what's for lunch and what's for dinner because I think they deserve that. But I'm the slow guy in the house, you know, I only make three or four or five or six or something a day. it's what I can do for them. So I will tell you that like I said before, you know, I've had ups and downs, and but you just gotta realize what you're there for and You just reset and regroup, man.

Clyde Gordon: You go out there and do something cool. Go to a conference, man. Hang out with cool guys like Corey and them and Kyle. you know talk fire stuff and be around 600 dudes who are cool and think about what you think about and Get get off to watching fire trucks run down the street, and you'll go back and be like, all right, man, we're gonna hit it hard again. Here we go. Yes. Corley: Here we go. Clyde Gordon: Yeah. My guys hate it when I come back from a conference because I bring some new crap and they're like, oh here we go. Corley: Chief went to the conference again. Clyde Gordon: Random shit he's come up with Corley: I love it. All right. Jeff Stone, throwing one at you. Chief, can you share your experience with Rodney and how that has impacted your career as a firefighter? The relationship your family has with him is one that will motivate anyone to be a better human. Clyde Gordon: yeah, so You know, I've always worked in real low-income, high crime areas. And I've always just given those folks a little extra time. And You know, I worked in a real highfalutin area. Old President Bush used to work live there for about six months, and I learned real quick that none of them people needed me. They had all the insurance and all the money in the world and a dozen people that could come and help them at any moment, but Poor people and destitute people and whatever, man, they really need you. And I want to be needed. If I'm going to do this job, I want to go to where the job is and I want to try to make a difference for these folks. So anyway, Rodney is If you don't know, it's just a young man, just like every other young man, I've met a thousand of them. He was about eight years old when I think Captain Story was one of the first ones, a handful of guys. He was just a kid from the neighborhood. And He there was something a little different about him. The firemen seemed to really like him and You know, he just was around. Just like every other kid, he was around. and, you know, like I've said, there was a bunch of them. But he was a little different. And the firemen started taking care of him, and he realized the firemen were pretty good to him.

Clyde Gordon: So he realized what shift and what station would take care of him. And that was probably a hundred, two hundred, I don't know, firemen from 46s to Mo Station to mine to 7s and 25s and 68s and this young man would just ride the bus and show up at the fire stations and hang out and they'd do homework and You know, he he came from a a hard, hard neighborhood, and he came from a hard family. Anyway, it really has nothing to do with me. I introduced him to my wife when he was about 11 years old, and she gave him his first birthday party. And I think the lesson of the story is you don't know where people are and you don't know what your how your kindness will impact them. And I always tried to be good to those folks and to those kids that I met in those neighborhoods that a lot of fire stations are in. And you know, Rodney. he he really got into our life and my wife realized there was something really special about him. He would frustrate me and a lot of the guys because he wouldn't go to school and he'd fail and he just did a lot of stuff that Boys from the neighborhood do. And but my wife just treated him like she was ours, or he was ours. And that's what he needed more than anything was the love of a mother And so when he was about 18 years old, he he finally came and lived with us out here in the country. And now he's 20 and he's a Marine. He's a machine gunner in the United States Marine Corps. And we couldn't be more proud of him. He's my son. And I think really what it boils down to is you guys have a way to impact people. And you have a ministry or whatever you believe, it's okay with me. Just be kind to people. And you just don't know where people are coming from. When he was eight years old, he met Kevin's story. And if you don't know Kevin, he's one of the meanest guys you ever met, but he's got the s heart the size of Texas. And And who knew that Kevin would be the entrance for Rodney into the Houston Fire Department. And then guys did math with him and everything else and his life has been completely changed because firemen were kind to him And this is a kid that was saved.

Clyde Gordon: I mean, he had no reason to do well. He had every excuse to do poorly, and he's done absolutely outstanding. And and he'll be a comp He's a completely different person and and watch, he will be somebody. He is somebody now, but he will be he wants to go into politics and everything else. He will be something absolutely amazing. And it was just because firemen were good to him. And I think we all have that opportunity just to be nice to somebody. And you don't have to adopt a kid from the hood, but be nice to them. Give them some candy. Talk to them. Show them the fire truck. Whatever. You just never know where people are and what five minutes of you, how that can change people. Corley: No. Thanks. I want to say thank you, Jeff Stone, for I think I think Cla I think Kyle said it best. I'm not crying, you're crying. the Rodney story, man, absolutely. 100% though. Yeah, I love it. I love it, man. Be kind. Be kind with Clyde. That's what that's what Kyle Simmons said. That's another hashtag. Clyde Gordon: Be good to people We see people in their worst possible situation. You know, and and you can be hard. Like I get it. Like you can be a badass. But it's okay to be kind too. Just because you're kind doesn't make you weak. You know, I've met some of the toughest Kevin Story is one of the toughest dudes I've ever met in my life. But he's also kind, right? And he saw something in Rodney. And that's what I say, man. Guys try to hide their insecurities under just being a prick. And I just ask that you not do that. Just treat people the way you'd want to be treated, man. Some of these folks are hard up.

Corley: I love it. Matt Musican said he calls Melinda mom, but still calls Clyde Gordon. Clyde Gordon: Oh yeah, I'm either CG3 or Gordon and Melinda is mom. Corley: I love it. That deserves I love it, without a doubt. all right. I am coming here. book or books. One of my favorite questions. Book or books that you think firefighters should be reading. Doesn't matter what we're talking about. doesn't have to be firefighter related, but something that firefighters should read. Clyde Gordon: Oh, you know, right now I have a class with Dave McGrail, right? So man, I gotta get into Dave McGrail's book and make sure I don't look like an idiot But and and Chief Tracy from New York, right? Those are the two I'm going over right now, just because it's high-rise operations. I was so lucky to meet So I've never been to FDIC, right? And last year I went because Mo was there. And I was like, man, can I just stay in your room? And I just want to like support you. And be there for you. It might be just me and you and your class. I don't know, you know? And so I saw Chief John Norman walking through the day before I think everything started. And I've been lucky enough to meet Chief Norman and I was like, hey man, what are you doing? And he's like, oh, I was about to go to lunch. You want to go eat lunch? And I'm like. I didn't want to like freak out and embarrass myself, but I'm like, yeah, I'll go to lunch with Chief John Norman. And so we went to some burger place and And I told him later, I was like, my dad would punch me in the eye if he was still alive, because I didn't buy his lunch. Like what my brain was thinking of, I'm from Texas. I didn't buy the guy's lunch. What an idiot. But anyway So he took me around FDIC and he introduced me to every person of like it was the Christmas list of who's who And I'm being a tour guide by John Norman and I'm meeting all these people. Well, one of them was Chief Tracy. And so I'm reading his high-rise operations book, right? FDNY Manhattan. I mean, great book. And so yeah, you know, there's a lot of them out there.

Clyde Gordon: I just think you need to look at what you do and and and read something. Kyle Romagus was the best thing that's ever happened to me as far as that because he got me into audiobooks. So I'm all over the board. I think you should just listen to things and read things. But you know, some of them I get tired of and I set them to the side and I go get something else, but Guys, there's so much information out there. You would you're doing yourself a disservice if you're not looking into something Corley: I love it. I love it. I've been just gonna keep saying it all night tonight. Which takes us, which takes us to the 5Q3, the five questions for firefighters. version 3. 2. This is the third version. I believe you got the second version when you were here last time. So this is the third version. And it's actually the third 3. 2. So My question for you are of course the question is there's no right or wrong answers. There's just your opinions. And the point the points are arbitrary. They're assigned by me with the assistance of the audience. So My question for you, Clyde Gordon. We know you're gonna love it, though. Basically. Are you ready for the five questions for firefighters version 3. 2?

Clyde Gordon: Let's do it. Corley: Here we go. Number one, what is the skill that has carried your carried you through your fire service career? Clyde Gordon: Oh wow, a skill. I think remaining calm has been a skill It has been something I've worked on. It's something I concentrate on. Experience helps, but just relax. Right? Take a deep breath and relax. Talk like you're bored. And I gain a lot of that confidence from the guys around me. They're so good, man. And you know, I I that's really what you know I was I was gonna we made a fire the other day, right? And the plug blew out of the ground. We comp lost all water. And I had to go defensive, and I hate to go defensive. I had to pull them all out because it takes time to reset, right? As soon as we got water again, I was gonna send them back in and And they asked me, so why'd you go defensive? You don't typically go defensive. And I was like, because I knew you guys wouldn't come out if I didn't pull you, if I didn't make you go defensive And Jason Martinez is the captain at Sevens, and he was like, man, I was getting some badass footage on my helmet camp And I was like, that's why I had to go defensive, is because you won't freaking listen to me and do smart shit. So anyway, you know, I mean you gotta work with these knuckleheads, but I think just remaining calm. I didn't get too worked up about that and and they know you know it but that's a learned skill you have to work on that and the confidence of them around you will help but they know when I'm a little anxious and I want them to really get in there so

Corley: No, it's absolutely absolutely max points. Easy, easiest max points I've given in a while. and if you don't believe it, like go and Fire Station Furniture, I believe they posted the YouTube clip of the Blodget Street Fire where you have Chief Clyde Gordon's radio traffic in route. Clyde Gordon: And that's the first fire I've ever made, by the way, as a the battalion chief. So I I'm not like people like it, but I don't. I was embarrassed. I mean I was anxious to say the least. That was Trump's election day. I've been sitting there looking at emails all day long about terrorist groups and everything else. And I thought they had blown the building up. So I wasn't as impressed with me as a lot of people are. There are better fires out there. I just I don't make any videos of them, so you'll just have to ask though, I guess. I don't know. Corley: I'm just telling you, man. It's impressive when you see that that header That that column in the in the distance and your your radio photo. Clyde Gordon: I wonder the throw up. I'm not sure. Corley: I believe it, but it doesn't sound like it Like unless you said that, no one's gonna sound like an idiot.

Clyde Gordon: Just don't sound like an idiot. That's what I was saying to myself over and over again Corley: Well, I believe that skill has carried you through your career. So absolutely. Clyde Gordon: But if you'll listen to those guys on the engine, like they were solid. You know what I mean? Like, hey, I'm doing this. Hey, I'm doing that. And I was like, oh man, they got it. They made this look easy. I don't know why I'm so anxious. Corley: I love it. Number two, it's job town, it's time You're in route and responding. You got to think of the scene from Backdraft where they slap that cassette deck or that cassette into the tape deck, right? What what song are you playing in route? Clyde Gordon: Oh man, y'all are killing me. I don't know any names of songs. Well you can sing it. I was not watching today though. It was like a deaf leopard song. It was pretty cool. I don't know though So I'm a country guy, but I did like Def Leopard. but yeah I have no earthly idea. Y'all got me on that one Def Leopard, dum dun dun dum dun dun That's all I know.

Corley: I'm not sure I can get there off that. I'm not sure I can get there. Clyde Gordon: No, somebody out there knows they're like, oh yeah. But yeah. Dan Bahn A C D C old man. You gotta realize. No, hey, yeah, there is a Spotify playlist with But I'll I'll be honest, we have to turn the radio down and the and the and the Communications radio up because my brain, like, I can't hear nothing. So yeah, we usually mute the radio. Corley: All right. Number three, what is your favorite fire service tradition? Clyde Gordon: Oh wow I must say meals. you know, we It's real important to me that we at least have breakfast and dinner together. would turn down the radio or the TV and You know, there's a lot of lot of work that goes on there at fire station meals. I've seen fire stations fall apart when they've decided to not cook anymore. I started going before Tambo to the store, making the store run. and doing some of the cooking just because I was the slowest engine or the slowest company in a house. So And guys laugh and they like, man, I've never seen a chief ever make a store run or do any cooking. And I'm like, what, what, what else? You know what I mean? These guys are busy. So it's it's just something I can do. Tambo likes to cook, I think, but you know, it's very important to spend those meals together. We're family. So we turn we don't have phones at the kitchen table and we spend some time together. There's 16 of us there, so it's hard. But we need to have a connection because it's important and as long as I'm there we're gonna eat good. You know. my first captain told me, he said, man, Clyde, you never know when you're gonna go down in the big one. So make sure that you eat. good so I'm a I like to eat so we eat good and I love it. I think it's real important.

Corley: No, absolutely. Mills, Mills, the table, the dinner table surrounding the and the fact you said we're family. Man, 100% max points on number three. Clyde Gordon: Number four, this one family time. Corley: This one is on the clock. Sam will put the clock up there so you can see it. The audience will see it. You have one minute to answer. And this one is Because we get no honorable mentions, no second places. You get four people to put on your Mount Rushmore of the fire service. Clyde Gordon: Oh, good lord. Corley: And go. Clyde Gordon: Man, I've been so lucky to meet some of my absolute heroes in this fire service. I watched Ray McCormick, Mike Champo, John Norman, Golly, I I I don't even know all of them. on Facebook and Fire Engineering, and to be able to spend a few minutes with those guys. these guys have done things that I have never even considered doing. I'm just so honored that they call me friend and call me and hang out with me and you know You know, there's just so many. I I I I'm just trying Todd Edwards, Steve Robertson, Fisher. I mean there's a million of them, but you know, I'm just very thankful to all of them that they spent a few minutes with me.

Corley: And time. That is a great answer, man. Too many to even begin. You did say these are the names that were mentioned So Champum, Corm, Edwards, Robertson, Fisher. Those are the ones that were mentioned. So just on the record. But I get what you're saying. How do you pick it up? Yeah, I mean, you know, how do you it's such a ridiculously unfair question? Clyde Gordon: It is man you put me on the spot because somebody's like that's bullshit he didn't talk tell me. I'm like no really Corley: You're one of my favorite people. Mike Dugan? Clyde Gordon: Like, I mean Oh yeah. Corley: How'd you leave Mike Dugan off that? Yeah, I don't know. Clyde Gordon: How? I don't know. Jeff Cool. I mean, hey, give me an extra minute or two. Corley: Yeah. Clyde Gordon: Give me a second. Corley: I will give you max points just for the sheer passion behind the answer. Number five. The question, this is the same question. This question has never changed. Heavy fire, searchable space. Would you rather be assigned to the nozzle or first in on VES? Clyde Gordon: look, man, I'm not gonna lie to you. I love being an engine officer. Probably because some of it was a little less thinking involved. but I like I like just stretching a line and being that guy If you got heavy fire people trapped, then I want to be on the truck because we're going to make a big difference. We're going to get in there. there's no reason for us not to get in there or very rarely is there a reason. So I just think it's cool, man. I I just wanna make the fire. I'll be honest with you. I don't give a crap where you put me. As long as it's not third end. I just want to make the fire. is really what I want to do. And I'll find, I can promise you, I'm gonna find something to do. And you know, that's just where I am now. I mean, I like making them as a chief. I like making fires. So I like watching them young guys go to work and when they're proud of themselves and they come bailing out of there and they did a solid job. I mean, that makes me feel good because They're where I was back in the day. So I love them and I want to let them work, man.

Clyde Gordon: Let them eat Corley: This is this is how much I love you. I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I I I don't like when people don't give me a straight up answer. I don't like it when they like both. That was such a beautiful answer. It's absolutely max points and well earned because it's a beautiful answer. I don't care who you are. That is a beautiful answer. Just I want to make the fire. Plain and simple, man. Clyde Gordon: Yeah, I don't care if I'm driving, engine, whatever. I just want to make the fire. Corley: Man, there he goes. There's so many people saying, don't disappoint me, Clyde Gordon. That came from Smoothboard Cartel. Day Ruin. Josh Everson, I just want to talk about it. Clyde Gordon: Well, that's old Kyle. He just wants me to talk about smooth ports. It ain't happening, Kyle. It ain't happening. Corley: I just want to make the fire best answer to this question. Michael Ramirez, hey, there's another one. New shirt. I don't want to be third in. I don't want to be third in. Y'all have to remind me. Clyde Gordon: Somebody send me a text so I can remember this. Corley: There's some good ones tonight, man. I'm telling you, there's some great quotes tonight. Absolutely. And that officially Except for the lack of a song. That's the only thing that marred your perfect run. The drum beat wasn't bad, but we couldn't figure it out. Some people said they think it was Armageddon But they're not a hundred percent they're not I don't know.

Clyde Gordon: I'll have to look it up. I don't know. I'm not that guy that can remember all those. I'm just like, oh yeah, I like that one. Yeah. Corley: I like that one a lot. Okay It did, it did, just being honest, it did mar a perfect run on the five questions. Clyde Gordon: I don't know. Corley: It is what it is. Clyde Gordon: Can't be perfect. I've never been known as perfect, I can assure you. My wife's right in there. She's like, oh yeah. Corley: He got your back. And that officially makes it 232 scraps in the books. Clyde Gordon, thank you. Thank you for sharing your evening with me. Man, I mean that. If someone wants to get a hold of you, what's the best way to do so? Clyde Gordon: let's see, HTON Firetraining. at gmail. com, right? Facebook Messenger is probably the easiest. Sometimes I miss it for a day or two, but yeah, hit me up there. But yeah, that's it. or my cell phone, call Corley, he'll give you my cell phone number. I don't want to put it out for the whole world. Corley: I like it. I like it. Clyde Gordon: Yeah. Corley: No, absolutely. there we go. Housekeeping. Go to firehousevigilance. com. you can get everything there. PDFs from classes. You can get the book list of every book that's ever been suggested up to a certain episode I need to get a link for the Spotify playlist of all the songs that have been suggested by the guests. It's out there. There's a Spotify playlist. You can find it at the Firehouse Digitalist Discussion, but I need to put it on the website. I will. It has every song except Clydes. We'll figure out Clyde's. We'll get it on there. I promise you.

Clyde Gordon: If I'd have known, I'd have worked on it better. I mean, you know, come on. Corley: Just a surprise. There we go. People are saying, woo, this was a great scrap. Great show. Thanks, fellas, from Walter Lewis. Ryan McCormick says it was a great scrap. Steve Mauch said fantastic scrap scrap Yes, I love it. Ride with Clyde, Jason Jeffrey. There we go. Yeah, go to firehousevision. com. Be a vigilante. Five bucks a month. You can sign up for a year. I'll be posting a link for the scrap after party. Clyde has agreed to come in there and be roasted by the vigilantes. We always threaten that we're going to roast the guest. It never happens. I'm very proud. Yeah, all that all that's going on. Become a vigilante. I said that. Okay. Next week it is John Johnson. And then Chief David Rhodes. You will not want to miss the episodes because how great has 2024 been so far? Like this is unreal. This is off to a killer killer start. And it's just going to keep on. Clyde Gordon: Yeah, man, John Johnson's solid, solid guy. I'm real, I have a lot of respect for him. He's done a great job. And of course, David Rhodes. I wouldn't be at FDIC if it wasn't for David Rhodes.

Corley: I'm very thankful to Which we didn't even get to talk about your class. You want to plug your class? Clyde Gordon: Ah nah, they you hey We're out there, right? I'm busy. I'll be at FDSC in a lot of places, but I we do a lot of in-house training too. So anything I can do for you, please just leave reach out to us. Corley: I love it. There you go. It'll be my last I love it for the night. We'll get the link up in the Vigilanties group for the after party. We're gonna roast him. Audience, man, 100%. Everybody on Instagram, first of all, thank you for being a part of the first. Scrap on Instagram in I don't know a couple years at least, three years probably, because we finally got it to work. Everybody, thank you for the phenomenal questions. We we didn't even get to the we had five topics to discuss. Clyde covered a lot of them because he's good at what he does, but your questions absolutely drove the discussion tonight and it was awesome. And it happens because of you. So thank you for tuning in each week and making this what it is. And I really do appreciate my guests, the audience, you guys make it magical. So thank you very much. Thank you, Clyde, for sharing your evening with us.

Clyde Gordon: Thank you. Thank you all so much. Thank you. Speaker 3: Everybody else, I hope the tone stays silent. Unless it is burning. Everybody, stay safe out there.