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.

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.