Protecting the Protectors: A Conversation with Amanda Weimer

In this episode of Frontline Voices, we sit down with Amanda Weimer, a respected fire service leader whose career has evolved from the front lines of emergency response to shaping roadway safety across the state of Indiana.
Amanda shares her journey through the Fort Wayne Fire Department, where she rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant, the lessons learned during decades of service, and the challenges and rewards of leadership in the fire service. We also explore her transition into the world of Traffic Incident Management (TIM), where she now works to improve responder safety, interagency cooperation, and roadway incident response throughout Indiana.

Join us for an inspiring discussion about service, leadership, resilience, and the ongoing mission to make Indiana's roadways safer for responders and the communities they protect.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

This is Frontline Voices. Conversations with our local heroes. Here's your host, Matthew Blake.

SPEAKER_03 0:12

Well, Amanda, thank you for stopping by Frontline Voices Podcast. It takes a lot to be able to be open and talk about things. So I I commend you on that, being able to come up and actually share your story a little bit and tell us about your experiences in the fire service, a long tenured career in the fire service, and now moving into traffic incident management and all that stuff. So I want to start before the uniform, the leadership and the statewide training programs. Who was Amanda growing up?

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Who is Amanda growing up? That's a great question. So I am Fort Wayne, born and raised, graduated from Northrop High School. But prior to that, um I will say my love for the fire service started at a very young age. I knew I wanted to be a firefighter from about the age of seven years old. I wanted to be a bus driver first because I thought buses were cool to drive around. I wanted to be a Marine because I had a sword, which I thought was a great idea. And then I started to see uh fire trucks for my local fire department, which was the St. Joe Township Fire Department. My playground butted up to um their fire station. So I would spend my lunch hour at the playground up against the fence watching the St. Joe Township firefighters come and go on runs. That was still when we blue lighted, that was still when we had the sirens on top of the buildings. So I was like a moth to a flame. So I was I was uh very young when that interest started, and I saw the guys pull up with their blue lights go and put the car in park. Next thing you know, doors go up, fire truck comes out, and like once I started to see those red and black truck trucks, which is what they had, that's just the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen is that beautiful fire truck roaring out, lights and sirens, commanding attention from everybody around it. So that's a little bit about how it started. Um at a very young age, and then likewise, there's stories of a little Amanda, younger Amanda, um, when I would hear that same fire department go by my street, I would hop on my pink and lavender 10-speed bike and I would race as fast as I could to try to catch a glimpse of it. Because they were one of the only departments that had a Q siren in Allen County. And so you'd always hear them. So that was that was one of my other very fond memories being on a pink and lavender 10-speed bike, racing through as fast as I could, um trying to catch a glimpse. So I was just very enamored, nobody in my family was in the fire service at all, not my mom, not my dad. So I had no ties to the fire service other than just something sparked, and I wanted to do that from a young age. So in um high school, I found out there was something called the Exploring Program, which was through the Boy Scouts of America, and it allowed both men and women of high school age to try on a career for size, to try it on, you know, with adult leaders, adult supervision in those fields, um, they had all kinds of different exploring groups. And I joined a Boite Township Fire Department, i.e. West Central now, and Fort Ring Fire also had an exploring program. And so under the guidance of people, firefighters already in those departments, they would host high school-aged youth to come out and have meetings twice a month, and we got to do everything from put on gear to throw ladders to hose to search and rescue, and uh so I stayed in that program for all four years of my high schooling, and I loved it. Uh, just that cemented even more for me that I knew that it was the right fit. It was the right fit for me. Just just I just couldn't get enough of it. I was I was the nerdy high school girl wearing fire shirts in high school. I was I was way ahead of my time wearing uh fire shirts to high school, believe it or not. Um, just because I was so proud. I was so proud of getting to be with those agencies and seeing what they did and and watching them give back to their community. And uh so graduated high school, went to Ivy Tech for Fire Science, had the opportunity to join St. Detontia Fire Department, the same department I watched as a little girl, uh, joined St. Detontia Fire Department as a volunteer, both Fire and EMS, because it was near my home. And uh was on that for a couple of years, met some great people there, had some great experiences, and then at the age of you could apply for City of Fort Wayne jobs, Fort Wayne Fire, Fort Wayne Police when you were 18 at that point. And so I applied when I was 18 to want to be a Fort Wayne firefighter, which I knew that was just that was my dream department. I just wanted to be part of Fort Wayne. Uh so I joined Fort I applied and uh I was on Fort Wayne Fire by the age of 19. I my higher date, the date our academy graduated, was my birthday. Oh wow. So I've never forgotten that June 19th, 1998, which is the year my class graduated and Amanda's birthday, uh was a wonderful year. So that's uh that's a little bit about the the evolution of that.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

I like how you know obviously one of the most rewarding things is when you'd be able when you're able to get into like the schools and stuff like that and see the magic on the kids' faces when they see the trucks, when they see the firefighters. So the fact that you've been able to keep that magic alive in you is really really cool. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

And anybody, I think if uh people had to use one word to describe me, they'd probably be like, passion, energy. Which is very true, which is very true, but um that's just always been me. This is not a this is not a front. My friends and family will tell you that. But um I've just been fortunate to be able to be part of something so much greater than myself, unintentionally gaining a whole new family on multiple departments. And it has been such an amazing part of my life's journey.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

That is so cool. So obviously that this was I mean, since you were a little girl, this was the path. There was no This was the path. There's no going off of the path.

unknown 6:26

No.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

So I gotta ask you, when you first when you first got into it, what was it like being a woman in a still heavily dominated male profession?

unknown 6:35

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Correct. So other women had been on Fortnite Fire prior to me, uh, worked very hard to be able to establish being good firefighters themselves. Worked very hard to break those stereotypes. Um however, that there was very few of us. I believe when I came on in 1998, there was only 15 women out of 300 some men. So still very male-dominated, which typically the numbers across the United States for career professional firefighters is less than 4% women. Now I know those numbers have probably gone up, but back then it was less than 4% of career professions. Um so I wanted to do a good job, I wanted to work hard, I wanted to show them that I deserved to be there and prove that I was smart, I was capable, I knew my equipment, and I knew what to do. I could follow orders, I could get things done. So overall, I feel like I was treated well on the basis of proving who I was, and hopefully not just because I was a girl. So, and and I'm grateful for all the other women that had gone for me also. Um But I I feel like regardless, you have to be able to stand on your own as a person in what you bring to table and the team.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

So I gotta ask you, because like like you said, 4% women, right? So when things got tough, what kept pushing you forward? I mean it'd be easy to go, girls don't do this, I'm out.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Yeah. So uh I probably have an amazing sense of stubbornness and determination and drive. And I felt like I belonged there like anybody else did. Like like I I I've worked hard to get there, you know. I I just I knew I deserved to be there. And so even on days when the chips were down and I felt cruddy or maybe I I had a a rough station I was at, and I just, you know, go home at 7 a.m. the next morning, I'm like, dang, you know, this was bumpy. This was bumpy, you know? You take some time just to regroup and go, you know what? No. I'm gonna go back the next work day and I'm gonna show that I can do XYZ. That I that I that I can do what they are asking me to do. So just regroup like everybody else does when you have off days and so the passion outweighed the passion outweighed or you know the challenge. Or the pride or the the the yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:03

So in your 27-year career, you rose to the rank of lieutenant. What drove you to pursue that leadership position?

unknown 9:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

So I always had an interest in being a leader within the fire department. I believe in education, I believe in higher education. As soon as I graduated high school, I actually went to Ivy Tech and obtained my associates in fire science degree, which was just an associate's degree at the time, but I believed in that higher education route also. Likewise, I was taking all the fire classes I could get my hands on at the time. Everything from inspector to investigator to FOSS to I was taking all the classes I could because I wanted to gain the knowledge and at least have it there. Um, likewise, I I believed I had the ability to connect with people, both on our teams, on the department, on our engine crews, as well as out with the citizens. So I believed I brought all of that to the table. And I was a younger fire officer because I assessed at seven years on the job, which is the mark that you can't assess, at least on Fort Wayne. Um, and and there were some learning curves there. You know, there's always learning curves when you become a new leader. You look at some people who are just naturally very good leaders, and you look at some people who have to grow into it. And I'm sure I had some growing into it to do, but but at the end of the day, I always wanted to keep people safe. I always wanted to make right decisions, have the right intent and the right heart, uh, and everybody go home at the end of the day. And treat people how I would want to be treated, whether that was people working with me and for me, or people that we were responding to.

SPEAKER_03 10:43

So that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Yeah, enjoy it.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

So when you obtain the rank of lieutenant, how would you describe your leadership style?

SPEAKER_01 10:51

My leadership style, I believe in servant leadership. I believe in the ability. Our firefighters are just amazing to me on on whether it's Fort Wayne Fire Department, whether it's Ashley Hudson, whether whether it's all these places that we had the opportunity to go see, work with. Um and I believe if you give people the task, they're gonna they're gonna wow you with what they do know how to do, you know, with a reason. Um and so on that note, I believed in giving people the the education if they needed it. I believed in giving people the support to go do what they know how to do and serve them. I always wanted to figure out um how to make their jobs better because if they are happy and they are content and they are ready to come to work, they are going to do amazing things for the public. And that is ultimately what you want. So I I I believe I operated more from a servant leadership style. I was not a heavy-handed officer or fire officer, fire lieutenant. I was not a yeller nor a screamer. Like I just knew that that that didn't work with people a lot, you know. Right. Like yell at people when they screw up, they'll love it, right? Like, like how do you how do you fix things or how do you how do you work through that uh without having people shut down on you? So um I think that's a very important thing to to have and to bring humility with you as an officer too. Like one of the things that I know we've talked about prior is what makes a good fire officer. So servant leadership, and then the other thing is bringing humility with you. The ability to uh engage with your people, the ability to be part of the team. You can be the smartest officer in the room, but unless you have that ability to connect with your people, you're still not you're still not getting the most out of that team.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

So there was no rule with an iron fist and this is my way or the highway.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

I I would like to say though, uh, all things considered, um when a situation was was intense or a situation needed something or we needed a split-second decision, um, I feel like my voice and my demeanor changed a little bit. Like it's it's go time.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Big series. Yeah, right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Like and people didn't hear that very often, but like when they did, I think that's the difference between if you hear somebody who just yells all the time, or that's how they communicate, or you know, eventually you drone that out. Um let people do their job and and make sure they're safe, make sure they're getting the right tools, make sure they're getting the right job done. Um, but when it's time to supervise and and you need to lead, you step up and lead. And so I think that's one of the things that at least I've I've observed over the years is like, oh, okay, it's time for the big girl voice, let's go.

unknown 13:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

So yeah, I I like that because uh yeah, I obviously I'm not in an officer position or anything like that, but being on the department for a while, talking to people with respect, people are a lot more open to listen.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

So yeah, I I totally agree with that. Command, respect, don't demand it.

unknown 14:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

You also spent a lot of time mentoring and encouraging women entering the fire service. Yeah. Why was that mission important to you?

SPEAKER_01 14:12

That mission is important. Let me back up for a second and make this next statement. Uh, women being in the fire service, I always smiled and I always felt it was important to engage, especially when you would see a car pull up beside you. You're in the fire truck, car pulls up beside you, and there's a little girl that sees you and waves at you. Mommy, look, there there's there's a girl in that fire truck. Because if you don't see something that looks like you, you don't think about that as a job possibility. You don't think about that as a career. Um and and all things aside, I think men have a lot, they see a lot of things that look like them, so there's a lot more careers or professions that they naturally go, oh, I can do that. But I think it's important to be seen and be visible and start to plant that seed early on, especially with young girls and women. So they go, Yeah, I think that'd be cool. I want to work on the fire truck. Oh, that's cool to watch them at that fire or that car crash. Um, so likewise, as that piece starts to go through and we see women start to get in these careers, and whether that's Fort Wayne Fire Department, whether that's a volunteer fire department, wherever I'm at, if I'm given the opportunity to be able to talk to women or they approach me and um have a question, have a concern, what do you think of being a firefighter? I always want to take that time to have that conversation. I think it's really important to uh talk about the positives of an amazing profession within the fire service and EMS, um, as well as some some of the other experiences. But I I think it's good to have those relationships so that you know you have a mentor, which we can talk about mentorship here in a minute, but have that person you can go to and talk with about some of these jobs because that they're not one size fits all answers either. For being a woman, woman in a male-dominated line of work, they're not one size fits all answers. So I think I've always had a heart to try to talk to women when the opportunity allows itself. Just to know that, hey, you can do this. You're here already, or you're thinking about coming here. Yes, you have if you're already thinking about it, the seed has already been planted somewhere in your mind. So my goal then is to keep that forward progress going and try to figure out okay, what what what what do we need to pivot here to keep you engaged in the career and and to know that you are valued and a part of the team. So yeah, I think that's important.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

You know, and that's one of the things, like, and I'm not I'm I could go on on a tangent about this, and I'm not going to, but you know, being able to get into the schools and being like, This isn't something that you're promoting. The fire service is so vast that yeah, maybe you're not the best at X, Y, and Z, but there's so many things that you could excel in that it could cover, and and it's really not taught that it's an option. Or it's a last option. You know, let's let's let's push college, let's push trades, let's push military service, which is great. I love that. But let's talk about the fire service too. Let's get that in there. Let's, you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Let's let's yeah, I I mean that that is such a great point because when I say fire service in general, we know I'm uh, you know, my heart and my intent is not just a career department nor a volunteer department. It's in general because that's that's where my background started. Um, so I think it's important for people to know that it is an opportunity to uh get into, and it's not everybody's cup of tea. The fire service is not everybody's cup of tea, as we know. It is physically demanding, it is tough, the hours can be long, the shifts away from your families can be long, the family sacrifice can be difficult for established families or established husbands or wives to even know where they now fit in because their loved one has found this new uh new way to give back to the community. So it looks like a very noble thing. I'm giving back to the community, honey. And uh so, but it's a very whether it's fire or EMS or um, I think it's it's very important for people to know that this is an avenue to be able to um be part of a team, be part of something greater than themselves, be able to give back to their own community the the places they work and live. Um and and that's a pretty amazing sacrifice. And I always say it's not just a sacrifice of of the individual, it is a whole family sacrifice.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

My my my immediate family at the moment and then other families. Uh when I retired, my my aunt continued to say, You're gonna be you're gonna be around for this holiday and this holiday and this holiday because I was gone working so many holidays, right? And so now that I'm on the outside, uh I didn't even think about the fact of how many the commitment and sacrifice we make.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

Yeah, what all what all you miss. Yeah. So to reel it back in a little bit since I took it down down another avenue, what advice would you give young women that are entering the fire service now?

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Yeah. I think I think we are the the the positive thing for me with that statement is I think we're seeing a cultural shift, which I'm excited about. I think due to uh women also being in more team-oriented sports, more more things that it's accepted. I'm I'm glad to see they're thinking about firefighting as a career option. Um and I would absolutely tell them that they can do this, you know, they they they have the smarts, they have the abilities, they are going to have to obviously the physical component's always going to be there, but the physical component has to be there for men or women. So I don't when I always used to hear things like, oh, well, can you can you drag so-and-so out of a house fire? Well, yeah, I can drag him out, but Bob probably can't drag him out either on his own when he's dead weight. Right. Right. Like, like, so that's why we're part of a team. That's why we're part of a team. So I would always advocate for women to know that they can do this job. We bring uh the the drive, we bring the compassion, uh, we bring the the want to learn, and the want we can we have the ability to take orders and and and do what is asked and do what is told. So I would absolutely advocate for them to give it a shot, give it a try, you know, and if they're not looking at a full-time paid department, go to a volunteer department. Go to one of the counties, go go go get in a fire one-two class and see what you think of it. So, yeah, and it fulfills a lot of different things.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

This next part can be uh somewhat difficult for for firefighters because they don't they don't like to think about that part, but you've been through it, so I want to ask. Retirement can be incredibly difficult because firefighting becomes your identity. What was it like stepping away after so many decades?

SPEAKER_01 21:22

I I was really concerned about this because I knew my identity was deeply tied into it, as it is for a lot of firefighters. And we've seen firefighters who retire and they really struggle to um because that's such a big part of their identity. They're not just um, you know, uh Amanda the homemaker. I mean, not that I would be that um they're they're my identity was tied into the fact that I didn't even realize how much my own families thought of of me for the good, but identity was also tied into. Them or seeing a fire truck go by or different things, or my sister was a firefighter, so that kind of hit me after I left of how much the identity was there. Um so it was I've had moments where where I miss it, and I've had moments where now I've had to realize, oh, now I'm just Amanda because that identity was so deep-seated from a young age. Uh and I'm very proud to be a firefighter. I'm very proud for all of us as firefighters. But yes, now that I'm on the outside, I've had a little more of a, oh, I'm Amanda now. Who am I? Who am I without that attachment of the bravado of being a firefighter? The team, the leadership, the, you know, the the concept of what friends, family, and society thinks of firefighters, which is a very cool thing. But yeah, so uh it was interesting to be on the outside and then kind of go, oh, after all these years, who am I? Who am I without being a firefighter?

SPEAKER_03 23:06

So when it was time to step away. How was that emotionally for you?

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Oh that was emotionally that was emotionally hard. Um people when they they choose to, and I always say I career pivoted. I was 47 when I retired in November of 2025. Um and so when you choose to leave such an amazing organization, whether it's uh we talk about all the different reasons. I had a career pivot, which was a good move for me at the time. Some people are forced to leave due to injury, so all kinds of things, and and how you leave, uh, if you're able to go out in your own terms, that looks a little different for everybody too. Some people do long drawn out, I'm leaving in three years, some people do uh, hey, I'm leaving in six months, hey, I'm almost ready to collect my pension. Uh for me though, I I was not I kept it pretty quiet. Um, and I didn't even tell my own crew that I was working with until I think a month before I left. And so there were moments where I was trying to take it all in knowing that that was going to be happening, and uh I had some emotional moments, and then when I would start to talk about it once the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, I had emotional moments where I would start talking about it, and all of a sudden the tears would come. And it wasn't tears of regret, sadness, remorse. It was tears of just such such a good journey, such an amazing moment. They were they were almost tears of happiness, but almost tears of of grief at the same time, you know. They they were both. So it was hard, it was emotional. Um, the lead up was emotional because every day was another, almost like another gift. Like, okay, we're getting closer. I know it's getting closer. Okay, I've told the world now, so now it's real. And um, so my last few days, I I didn't want a big retirement party. I just put it out on Facebook to everybody and I said, hey, this is what's happening. Please come by and say hi. Uh let me show you the fire station one last time. Come take a picture with me in front of the engine. And that's all I wanted. And I had a great couple last days. I'm so grateful and humble. So, but it's hard. It's hard it's hard the thought that you know that you're going to be you're not giving up a family, but you know things are going to be changing for you. And for them too. Um, so yeah. Retirement, uh, the actual physical act of retiring what was emotionally challenging. Um but but it was good at the same time. So I was glad how it it went for me.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

With that, I have to ask, because I mean, obviously, like you've laid it out, the fire service has been really a part of your life the whole way. That's all you knew, right? How scary was it to make that pivot of this is the whole life that I've known.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

This is it.

SPEAKER_03 26:10

And now we're going into a new direction.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Yeah, right. And and to know um, to know the safety and the security that I had with the fire department. You know, like I knew I was going in every third day to a great job that I enjoyed, that had um amazing people I worked with, that had good benefits, good pay, all the all the security things that I had known uh my whole career with that, it was scary, right? It was scary. It's almost that leap of faith thing. It's it's it's a major leap. Um but I also knew the timing was right. And uh so I think that made that easier. I wasn't I wasn't floundering and going out to open a bait shop or something weird. You know, I had I had the next step planned. Now, if I did not have that next step planned, I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't have I wouldn't have taken the leap until I knew that there was something secure that I wanted to do. I think life is too short to be in careers or things that you just get by and make a buck. I think that's the beauty of the fire service, is you I just believe you should enjoy doing whatever it is and get satisfaction from it.

SPEAKER_03 27:31

Did you know? I mean, obviously you knew you knew what your transition was going to be, but leading up to that, did you know that the life was gonna stay with public safety no matter what?

SPEAKER_01 27:41

I did not actually. I did not. I didn't, uh so even at 27 years on the job, we can't stay forever. Yeah, firefighting is hard on the body. Firefighting is physically hard, it's mentally hard, it's emotionally hard. And you know, as you go through a career, you can't stay forever. You can't be the guy with, well, you can be, but but um, but health-wise, you know, the the ev everybody everybody sh needs to know when it's probably becoming their time. What are you contributing to the organization is what I always say. What are you still giving back? What is your worth to it? And that's what everybody needs to ask themselves, no matter whether you're paid a volunteer, like, like, are you still contributing? Are you still enjoying it? Um so so yes, yes.

unknown 28:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:37

So with that, we'll put the past to the past, and we'll talk about the current.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 28:44

So for people that are unfamiliar with it, what exactly is traffic incident management and why is it so important?

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Oh, why is it so important? So traffic incident management is a program through the Federal Highway Administration that is across the United States of America, and it is a program that emphasizes responder safety on our roadways and highways across the country. And its target is first responders, police, fire, EMS, tow, DOT, EMA, corners, telecommunicators, any of us who have a hand on responding to the roadway, s giving responders the tools on how to be safe in um well e even going back to the dispatch component of uh getting the right information to respond, to respond safely, to um set up scenes correctly, uh, and includes all the agencies that respond with us. And so the goal is responder safety and then the impact we have on motoring safety, the motoring public, the traffic, me and you, you know, when we're driving along, and my family, your family, and how we make an impact on keeping ourselves safe and setting up good scenes when we're out there. So, and and so keeping people safe overall, both responders and motorists, and I found a niche in it when I took my first class in 2014 as as a I was I was lieutenant then, but I I took the class, the Tim class, and I was hooked because I said, Oh my gosh, we're not giving training on this. We are not giving any training in the fire service, and yet we're exposed all the time. We're exposed on a med run, we're exposed on the highway. Um and I said, Oh my gosh, I need to get this message out there. And so then it became a huge passion for me, also, for the last 10-11 years of trying to get that training out there and just help keep one responder safe, give them one piece of information to be safer themselves.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

Now you mentioned that about keeping one responder safe. Why are roadside incidents so dangerous for first responders? And I like to say first responders because it's it's all inclusive, right? So you get you got fire, you got EMS, you got police officers, but a lot of people when they hear first responders, they don't think about the tow operators, and they don't think about the highway crews that are. I mean, we're all working that scene together. Right?

SPEAKER_01 31:15

All of us.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

So why is it so dangerous?

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Uh it is so dangerous, and and the the one of the things we talk about within the program is the D drivers, the distracted drivers. So I think distracted driving has taken in taken um taken it to new levels with technology, with cell phones, with uh distracted driving. Um so I think that is one of the things that we as responders face when we are simply trying to work an incident on I-69, on the roadways, on the state roads, is just that distracted driver, uh, not paying attention, not being engaged in driving, doing everything but driving, uh, while we're just trying to work a scene. And so I think that is one of the key components that really, really hits. So, how do we battle that? What tools can I give you to at least try to keep you safer? And then for you to set up a good scene, so when I'm driving through it, or my kids driving through it, or your family's driving through it, how are they notified, ah, something's going on up ahead? So, how how do we get those two things together?

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Yeah, it's it's wild. Um, just on my own personal experiences, working scenes on like I-69, where you know you've got roadways shut down or one lane shut down, and and the close calls that even though you've got it as safe as you can you can make it, because yeah, the distracted driving is is wild.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

It is, it is. You uh I think every first respondent has had some moment where they hear they hear brakes screeching, they hear a fellow crewmate hollering at something, and you're like, what's going on back there? You don't even know, but you know something's not good, you know. Um or heaven forbid somebody has a near miss. So so it's just uh I think it's more pertinent now more than ever too, like just getting knowledge out there to help us to help us go home.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

Now, with the definition that you you gave us before, I think you pretty much already answered this question, but I want to ask anyway are roadways more dangerous now than they used to be?

SPEAKER_01 33:25

I think uh my my natural inkling is yes, just due to the distracted driving issue, due to speeds, due to people not being engaged in driving. So I would say yes, and I would say the data would say yes, especially with uh statistics we keep on uh line of duty deaths or responders struck by every year. Um those are real numbers, those are real faces, and uh so yes, I would definitely say yes.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

What are some of the biggest mistakes that drivers make when approaching emergency scenes?

SPEAKER_01 34:02

The I think a lot of drivers are uneducated on the move overlaw, which requires a motorist upon visualization of emergency lights, or even I think this is probably what a lot of people don't know, the code now states that even if you see a disabled motorist with their four-way flashers on, you are required to change lanes of traffic if you said you safely can do so, or reduce your speed to 10 miles below the posted speed limit. So I think even coming upon a scene or visualizing something going on up ahead. I don't think they slow down early enough and they don't change lanes, they don't get over, they don't give us that buffer space to work, which is probably when when I think of seeing other motors myself, I think, why aren't you getting over? You know, there's a fire truck up ahead.

unknown 34:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

There's somebody trying to change a tire. My god, it's not scary enough out on Isaac, you know, out on the interstate, but you're not giving them the space. So I think it's just slowing down, being engaged, and and giving responders or a disabled motorist that space to work.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

I have to ask you, since you've been in this and and teaching TIMS for so long, have you personally seen where Tim's training has prevented incidents and potentially saved lives?

SPEAKER_01 35:19

I would I would like to think that we are doing that by giving them to by giving responders the tools every day. Um just two weekends ago I was traveling 69 North and I was super engaged, one of the departments that we train with regularly, who has always been very good Tim advocates, uh just encompassing the practices and whatnot. I actually came upon their scene, which I very rarely get to come upon a whole scene set up. And uh I was super, I was super proud and uh just very noticing everything we've taught. And they had it set up perfect, and safety vests on. So I like to always think that those are the moments because it's hard to always quantify when have you made a potential um impact on somebody moving outward. When have you made that potential impact because somebody was in a safety vest and they were seen in that moment? So sometimes those things in this program are hard to quantify and qualify, but it's moments like that that I can't help but think motorists are seeing that whole setup and going, oh, I need to get over.

unknown 36:25

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

There's an ambulance, there's a fire truck, there's a Chiefs car being a block, you know, advanced warning back there. What's going on uphead? So I would like to think that hopefully we're making that impact regularly.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

You've seen an example of something that's really, really well, right? Their setup. What are what are we still screwing up?

SPEAKER_01 36:48

What are we still screwing up?

SPEAKER_03 36:49

What are our mistakes that we still need to really work on?

SPEAKER_01 36:52

Sure, sure. Um, I always advocate safety vests, like visibility, facing, right? I know I know uh as a as the the beauty of the program with all the trainers we have that are TIM trainers throughout the state of Indiana is we are real fellow first responders, right? We've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. We we've done things that should have had on my vest. Oops. Um, but so I always advocate making sure we're wearing our best and being seen, being visible. Um the second thing is uh scene setups. I see a lot of uh when when I'm driving by and noticing, even if it's law enforcement vehicles or whatever, I see lane and a half, or I see they they leave just enough space that maybe they've taken a lane and the engines into the next lane, but only kind of half-y. So if if you're going to take, if you're going to block through your scene, take the whole lane. Don't leave the bumper over another foot or six foot in. Make sure we're blocking if we're going to block the scene. So I think those are some some big things that I see. And then just figuring out how to navigate. Can you give a lane back? You know, we we get to watch on the traffic cameras sometimes that that some areas are completely just shutting down uh five lanes of traffic and pulling a hose line across the jersey barrier. And you're like, what? So so so what? What what why why'd you just uh because it was easier? So I think sometimes we also need to, I always say traffic is a thinking person's game, right? It's not a one-size-fits-all. So whoever's the officer or the driver, whoever's that decision maker and where we're going to park that rig before we pull lines off, before we do certain things, uh, really needs to also make sure they're evaluating, needs to make sure they're evaluating where to park that rig, get the most bang for our buck, making sure we're staying on the same side of the incident. So maybe probably just a little plot process too. Uh, because it's very easy. We're mock to flame, right? A fire truck shows up, we pop that parking brake, and we're out. So it's very easy to get focused on, ah, I see this crash up here, off we go. So, yeah, those are I think probably the three things.

SPEAKER_03 39:07

How important is communication and unified command on scene?

SPEAKER_01 39:10

Ah, communication and unified command is really important. And we talk about it, um, I'd like to say that when I think of communications, I think of the importance of starting with the dispatchers, starting with the telecommunicators, both getting good information and asking good information both ways. So a lot of times I think in public safety, we we don't give the dispatchers enough credit for getting all of the information they have to do and multitasking through that for us to be able to respond. So communications is that first key piece of really the the incident beginning, you know. So communications, the dispatchers are key, making sure we're getting the right information, responding to the right location with the right equipment. Um, those are all very key things. And then uh working together with unified command, uh obviously having some type of command set up at all. Because we say, whoever's first on the scene, you're the commander for now. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. We gotta put, as anybody's heard me say, we gotta put law and order to this right off the bat, right? Whether that's police officers showing up, if that's an ambulance showing up first, lucky you, you are command for right now, you know. So I think that's important to even just get that ball rolling from the start. And then depending upon the scale of the incident, is actually to expand that if we need to with incident command. Or I feel like a lot of what we do in large-scale incidents is a unified command approach. And part of the training that we do is actually educating other agencies that may not be familiar with what is unified command? What what what do we do? I feel like fire and EMS, we eat, sleep, and breathe. Command. Right. And so when I'm out there teaching it, I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see us. But I but the the the beautiful part is when we have different disciplines in the room, we have the toe in the room, we have law enforcement, we have other agencies that may not be familiar with it, and that's a great moment to be able to say, hey, here's why we do what we do, you know, so we can work together better, so we can get this incident resolved quicker and get the roadway back open faster. So, yeah, I think those are very key things to do.

SPEAKER_03 41:23

This this next question I have for you, I'm I'm just gonna tell you, it's definitely going to be a short and put out there because it's something that's very, very important here. So if there's a civilian listening to this this this conversation and they took away one thing about traffic incident management, what would it be? That you're like, please just pay attention to this or just pay attention to this.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Um I think being being a motorist, we take it for granted being able to drive a vehicle. And anybody anybody who gets behind that steering wheel and is driving a vehicle, that's a great deal of responsibility, whether we think of it or not. And with that comes mitigating traffic, comes mitigating traffic incidents, whether we realize it or not, whether that's a you come upon a traffic stop, whether that's the dead deer in the roadway, different things you're encompassing as a driver, as a motorist. So I think the biggest thing is slow down and move over and give your first responders a space to work. Give them give them that respect that they are trying to do something. You don't you don't always have to know, nor do you have to looky loo and slow down or get your camera out or anything like that. Right. Keep driving, keep your hands on the wheel. Get likes. Like I know there's a lot of uh different uh Facebook items right now of hey, look what no, I really need you now more than ever to stay engaged in the road. So my biggest thing to anybody who's listening, to anybody who's just a driver going, hey, what is she talking about? Is stay engaged, slow down, move over, give first responders a safe space to work. And likewise, even if you come upon a motorist changing a tire on the interstate, you know, that that's if you're not used to even working on highly traveled roadways, or let alone Interstate 69, you have a unfortunate incident of having a tire blow, and you're out on the interstate changing that tire, you're hearing vehicles whiz by you at speeds you've never, you know, there's a moment there where you go, whoa, whoa, if you if you've never had to experience that. Like us as first responders that work interstates and highways, we're used to those sounds and the whoosh. Yes, whoosh. Um, so yeah, I would definitely say slow down, move over, give first responders a place to work or a buffer area, as well as other motors that you see. Semis disabled. Slow down and move over for those of you.

SPEAKER_03 44:00

Earlier in this conversation, you alluded to some of the difficulties when it comes to the home life and with family. The fire service demands so much of you emotionally and physically. How did you balance family life and the stress of the job?

SPEAKER_01 44:20

Yeah. So the balance was was interesting. I had my child uh a couple years into the job when I was on forming fire. I believe I was three years into it when I hadn't when I had my son. So that was that was new being able to raise a child. The beauty of our schedule was one day on, two days off. So I was really fortunate to be home with my with my child from infanthood raising him, you know, through. So that was really a huge blessing with that schedule. But it does demand a lot because there were also times where I would come home and maybe I'd been up all night and I'm tired, or maybe I had a bad run and I'm just not engaged mentally. You know, I'm just kind of checked out a little bit, or what? What do you need? Or I'm in my own thought world for my own thought process. So I think it's important to make sure you you take a little bit of time for you to uh decompress and realign uh to being engaged with your family and and home life. So take that time for you first a little bit. I think that benefits you to become better a better family person.

SPEAKER_03 45:43

I and I'm sure, yeah, one on, two off. Those nights that you didn't sleep. Okay, well there's there's one of your days, right?

SPEAKER_02 45:51

Yeah, there's one of your days.

SPEAKER_03 45:53

Yeah, that that balance, that's that's wow, yeah. What are some of the sacrifices that come with dedicating your life to public service?

SPEAKER_01 46:02

Some of the sacrifices. I think we already touched about being gone, being gone for different holidays, being gone for different events. I know when I was a volunteer and the pager went off, I was out the door. And and I know that for a lot of people still, that their I am responding goes off, or their whatever goes off, and they're gone. Because it's that that commitment to the community they serve. So there's that sacrifice both both mentally, emotionally, uh, physically, to that.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

So much of your life has been revolving around helping others. Where does that drive come from that it's it's stayed with you through your whole whole career?

SPEAKER_01 47:02

I I love people. In case you haven't noticed that, I love people. I love to talk to people, I love their stories, I love the humanity part of what we get to do in all of public safety. I I I feel like we're given very unique moments to have a very small snapshot into somebody's life when things are not going well. They always say uh people don't call 911 because things are going well. You know, they call 911 because something unfortunately catastrophic has happened. And I am so humbled to be able to be in a position to hopefully help their day, their life, their situation maybe get a little bit better if I can. I have always wanted to, I've always kind of had a helper personality, I think, from a very young age, probably a little people pleasing going on. Um but but I always just wanted to help, like a sincere, uh regardless of I was always in tune to my neighbors or the elderly or trying to help little kids. So I think I just always had that spirit of wanting to help others however I could. And then once I realized that that firefighting was such an amazing profession in itself, and then I also enjoyed running EMS. I've been on different EMS services over the year too, years too, and that's it, that's a different kind of help, uh different skill set for EMS, also. Um so I think it was just life is tough. Life is tough, and these are very catastrophic moments that happen to people. And uh if we can show up and try to make that better, uh I I think that's what I always wanted to do. Just just to be able to help out somehow. And that was just the avenue that I found exciting, adrenaline-based, uh riding around in a fire truck, big trucks, with my buddies, with my friends, with uh I I always knew too that I always wanted to be part of a team. Law enforcement, kudos to all my my Leos out there that I think the world of. But I always like the team too. I like showing up as a team with three or four of us trying to figure out how we're gonna combat a problem. How do we fix this for you? So I always like the team approach too. Versus the lone wolf approach, as I call it.

SPEAKER_03 49:14

This this next portion, it starts, it starts building, and it's incredibly important, but it starts talking about a little more self-reflection type stuff. What lessons did the fire service teach you about life itself?

SPEAKER_02 49:29

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 49:34

The lessons the fire service taught me. I'm gonna hit it. I'm gonna I'm gonna say the hard fast that pops in my brain first, and then we'll backtrack to the warm fuzzy.

SPEAKER_02 49:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 49:46

The thing that pops in my brain first, because we see so many so many different types of incidents, right? We see EMS calls, we see car crashes, we see house fires, we see um we see things that happen to people that aren't always you can't always make heads or tails of it, and that life life's not always necessarily fair from the component of the runs we do make and the people we do try to serve sometimes, seeing the outcomes of some of those incidences. So, in a very, very broad spectrum, that is one of the things that the job itself taught me. Um obviously not to take anything for granted. One of the other things the the the 30 years in in this life has taught me is not to take anything for granted. You know, you you never know what's gonna happen in the next hour, today, tomorrow. Um to hold to hold the people that you care about, your friends, your family, to love them hard, you know, to love your support group. I am so grateful for all my family being my support over the years. All of my family. I couldn't have done it without them. They've always been my support from the minute the the word go when my mom and dad didn't laugh at me when I said I want to be a firefighter, and they encouraged me, they supported me. They were there to uh you know, just the home life part of raising a kid and and all of those things. So I think some of the lessons are are those different types of things. The value the value of uh I I know the world can't see what I'm staring at, but I'm staring at pictures of your department and smiles and laughs and the camaraderie and the team. I think that is the other takeaway that I will value forever is the ability to come to come to a profession where we are all together as a family, and you know, family family's ebb and flow, right? But I was so fortunate where I've been to be with amazing people who we we did some uh very cool things, uh some sad things, some happy things, some heartbreaking things, as we know in public safety. Um, and to be able to laugh and be together and support one another, like that is an absolutely amazing part of the journey too.

SPEAKER_03 52:17

I have to agree with you on that. Thinking about the the end of the road for myself personally. The the table talks, the stuff like that. That's the stuff that's gonna be the the the hard part, right? So we're gonna take the clock, roll it back to 1998. Young Amanda's walking into Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:42

The Academy. What advice would you give her? Out of everything that you know now, what would you tell her?

SPEAKER_01 52:50

And I can say this because now that I'm on the outside, I've had some opportunity to reflect that. You can't see things. When you're in the midst of it, you can't always see things. And so I find it fascinating that now that I've had the opportunity to be on the outside a little bit, I've I've had moments of clarity where I've got to see things. And uh I think some of the advice I would give Amanda as she walks into that academy is uh obviously keep holding your head high. Like you've got this, you've earned the right to be there. You you you uh have worked hard. Um don't let anybody tell you you can't. And uh continue to give 100%, continue to cherish the moments with your crews, um, and continue to enjoy the journey and the relationships and and and yeah, I think that's why I would tell little Amanda. So or sorry, 1998 Amanda.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 53:46

Which just keep Little Amanda, 1998 Amanda, you know. So yeah. Just just uh and and just to enjoy the time when you're there. Like like it's very cliche, you hear people say that all the time, hey kid, you're gonna look back one day, and and it's true, but I hopefully got every moment I could out of all those experiences and just savored every single one of them.

unknown 54:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:15

What are you most proud of?

SPEAKER_01 54:19

I'm most proud of I'm most proud of hopefully making an impact. Uh we never know how far the ripples of our actions travel. And I'm most proud of hopefully making a citizen's life better somehow. Or um making an impact on the public somehow. Um hopefully you hope you've done some good somewhere uh for for somebody. Um I'm proud of the the the crews that I've had the opportunity to work together. I'm super proud of that.

unknown 54:56

Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:01

As we come to a close, I saved this question to be the second to last question because I think it has the most gravity. And I tell every every guest this story. When I first came up with this question, it was a great way for me to find out self-evaluation, right? What do you think of yourself? And then, you know, it due to recent events, I found out how incredibly important it is to know the inner thoughts of somebody in the event that one day they're not here to tell what that is, right? So even though you've got a long way to go to get to this moment, when the day is done and it's time to hang it up, how do you want to be remembered? What do you want people to say about you? Not just in the fire service, not just with traffic incident management, but as a human being.

unknown 56:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 56:04

That's a deep one. I hope people remember me for uh friendships, like sincere friendships that I've made over the years. Uh I hope people remember me for trying to find a smile or a laugh in the moment, and and continuing to remember that uh life is tough, that that maybe I was able to uh enjoy a moment with somebody and have a laugh. Um I hope maybe I left the world a little better place, whether that was through just just do unto others as you would have done unto you, you know, and and just do something good every day. And uh likewise being in the organizations where we're giving back to the public, hopefully making an impact on somebody's life out there. So I think that's what I'd like to be remembered for. And whatever else anybody has to leave in the comments.

SPEAKER_03 57:05

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 57:06

I can't wait to hear.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

Alright, final question. We'll take we'll knock off all the heavy stuff, all the emotional stuff, and all that. So, and I always say if you have one person, but usually there's a list, to be honest with you. So I don't want to I don't want to mitigate it down to one person. But if there is an individual or multiple individuals that would be a good fit to be on this podcast, who would it be and why?

SPEAKER_01 57:34

I thought about this. I thought about this because I I wanted to pass along somebody who inspires me. And uh I I uh I think very highly of and what they've done to give back to the community selflessly, and he doesn't know that I'm going to say his name. Uh, but I say Bill McClanahan from Bill's Tony. Every time uh I I've met him, he just he has a a great spirit, a great attitude. He is giving back to the community. Uh I love his his humbleness of just you wouldn't even know that he and his family, his daughter Ashley also. But but Bill's a pretty inspirational guy to me for what he does to the community, wanting to give back, having a servant's heart.

SPEAKER_03 58:22

So I don't know if you've already interviewed Bill, but he uh I have not, but his name has come up a c a couple different times.

SPEAKER_01 58:29

So he pops in my head as somebody that I think would be just an interesting person to get as you know, he's been in the towing and wrecker profession for I believe he said 50, 40 years, 50 years now. So so he would have some very good insight too on not only community giving back line of work, uh what what wrecker professionals do, which once again we talked about earlier on, bring that full circle, is that that is another profession that we do not give nearly enough credit to, give enough thank you to, and they are such an important part of our world. They're an important piece of public safety, they're an important piece of the TIM world. So uh I hope I hope people also recognize how important our our record professionals are.

SPEAKER_03 59:15

Absolutely. Yeah, but we're I mean, literally, we're all in this together. So absolutely we are. Well, Amanda, our time is is is coming to an end, and I want to say thank you so very much. Thank you for being on the podcast, thank you for now being a friend.

SPEAKER_01 59:34

Yes, we've had a lot of conversations. We've had a lot of conversations fire service and team and and crew like just being together. So, yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 59:45

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 59:46

It's been an honor, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 59:48

So awesome. This has been Frontline Voices, conversations with our local heroes. Brought to you by Matthew Latham. We're proud to share the stories of those who serve, protect, and answer the call. Stay ready, stay safe, and we'll catch you next time.