Raising The Barr: Uncommon Firefighter Survival

I wrote this book to share my 41 years of experience with the Houston Fire Department. It’s for fire service members and those who care about them. The survival tactics and techniques are simple and can save lives, with practical fire safety tips for every home. Readers will become more aware of hazards in their homes, garages, and routines.

My purpose for this book began simply: to save lives. I wanted anyone who read it to learn how to be a great firefighter and survive today’s fireground, which is far more unpredictable than the one I learned on. As the book took shape, my hope grew. I realized firefighters cannot rely on luck. There is a much greater power protecting firefighters. My prayer is that this book reveals that truth, changes hearts, and saves souls.

I hope this book opens the eyes, ears, and hearts of its readers and touches you the way writing it has touched me. I began this project believing my faith was already as strong as it could be; I was wrong. Today, my faith has exploded, strengthened by the knowledge of the fires we survived and the moments where I can pinpoint the exact second something happened that prevented a tragedy.

This book also emphasizes the critical importance of passing on our knowledge and wisdom. What we share can continue saving lives long after we are gone. I can personally account for twenty firefighters in the Houston Fire Department who are alive today because of the knowledge contained in this book. Even the lives we’ve lost contributed to the wisdom woven throughout these pages.

I spent the first thirteen years of my career trying to master the art of fighting fires. Once I felt I had achieved that well enough, I was promoted to Captain—only to discover that fires were changing and no longer the fires I thought I knew. Like many others, I didn’t yet understand why they were becoming more violent and unpredictable.

Five years into this new challenge, my friend Ruben Lopez, a District Chief with the Houston Volunteer Fire Department, rode with me on Engine-25 at my request on December 4, 1996. We responded to a house fire with a trapped occupant. Ruben immediately rushed in to try to rescue her, but forty-five seconds after we arrived, the house flashed over, trapping Ruben and taking his life. He left behind his wife and seven children. From that moment on, I began to see fires differently. I no longer focused only on how to fight them—I studied how to survive them. I made it my purpose to learn from those who had survived, to expand on that knowledge, and to share it with anyone willing to listen.

This book is more about how to survive today’s new fires than how to fight them. Ruben’s death was the first firefighter fatality inside a burning building in Houston in over a hundred years. Sadly, since 1996, Houston has lost thirteen brave young firefighters to the new fires we face today.

I have been called by my Lord and Savior to do all I can to show how to be great firefighters—the kind you’d want showing up at your home—and to show them how to do it with the least amount of risk. I want to teach uncommon and often unheard-of tactics that help firefighters survive today’s fireground.

I am not responsible for creating many of these tactics and techniques, but I am responsible for adopting those proven to work and making it my mission to pass them on. When I hear of a firefighter who thought they might die, I give them time to calm down and reflect on how they survived. Then I sit down, listen to their story, and share it. What better way to learn how to survive than by talking to someone who thought they wouldn’t but did? This book is full of real stories of survival.

Be Trained – Be Prepared to Survive!
Senior Captain Dale Jenkins (Ret)

My 41-year career with the Houston Fire Department can be divided into three distinct phases.

The first was learning the job. Beginning October 19, 1978, as a rookie at Station 7, I worked my way through the ranks, serving as a chauffeur, captain, and eventually Senior Captain. Along the way, I learned the fundamentals of firefighting, ventilation, leadership, and the importance of training from some of the finest firefighters in the Houston Fire Department.

The second phase began on December 4, 1996, when District Chief Ruben Lopez lost his life while attempting to rescue a trapped occupant. That tragedy marked the beginning of what I call The New Fires. Over the next several years, Houston experienced multiple line-of-duty deaths as modern fire behavior changed faster than many of us realized. I came to understand that I had to relearn not only how to fight these fires, but how to survive them. Those hard-earned lessons became the foundation of this book.

The third phase began in 2012 when I became a full-time Safety Officer. Responding to more than 250 working fires gave me a unique opportunity to observe fire behavior, tactics, successes, and mistakes from a different perspective. Those years reinforced the importance of preparation, sound decision-making, and uncommon survival tactics.

During my career, I served at Stations 7, 19, 21, 25, 35, 46, and 2, retiring on October 29, 2019—41 years after I first walked through the doors of Station 7.

The firefighters who lost their lives during my career are the reason this book was written. My hope is that the lessons within these pages will help firefighters everywhere recognize today's fireground hazards, make better decisions, and return home safely after every call.

My career in Houston may have come to a close, but I'm not done.