A firefighter wouldn't kit up without the right gear. Fire-ED is how we kit up for public education. Field Notes Part 5 — the community risk reduction plan that was always here, validated by those who dared to show up.

NFPA 1300 mandated community risk reduction. The fire safety public education gap remains. This is what happens when a mandate arrives without a model — and without Fire-ED.

Less than three percent of fire department budgets go to public education. I knew it. I said it. And that’s when the old boys network decided I was a problem to be managed.

Four decades building something real inside the fire safety world. Then the system fought back. This is what it really costs — and why I kept going anyway.