Retiring Firefighter Quotes

The fire department is like a security blanket that helps citizens sleep at night; they know if the unthinkable ever happens there is someone to call for help. If and when that call is made, we respond to it like no other government agency. No red tape, nothing to be taken under advisement, just a simple call brings immediate action.

after a parent-teacher conference that his firefighter and DEA agent brothers-in-law lowered the hammer: No devices were allowed whenever they sat down to eat as a family. And that included when they dined out. They placed time limits on their computers in addition to the already installed parental controls, and they had to leave their cell phones on their parents’ dresser before retiring for bed.

Protection of life and property,” it’s a simple description, but one that’s almost poetic. It has led countless firefighters into harm’s way while trying to achieve those noble goals. Whether the call is for a burning building, a medical aid or just a young boy trying to escape the wrath of an angry dog, it’s all protection of life and property. And when you see it in that light there are no gray areas.

Police and firefighters always had unions, and they negotiated great retirement packages. You do your twenty or thirty years and you can retire relatively young with a great income for the rest of your life,

Among other modalities, he practiced Internal Family Systems, or IFS, a form of therapy that asks patients to break up their mind into subpersonalities—a kind of internal family unit. Let’s say you’re an alcoholic. You might consider that drinking is not your entire identity. There is just one part of your personality that wants you to drink all the time. IFS practitioners call it your “firefighter,” because firefighters react to triggers and try to put out the fire by comforting you—often with unhealthy habits like drinking, binge eating, or doing drugs. This framework allows you to see your firefighter as part of your “family unit” and to subsequently forgive him for his tendency to throw beer on everything. He’s just trying to calm you, after all, and maybe you needed him for a time. But also, maybe you can retire him from service now and use another, healthier part of your “family” to care for yourself.

Michael Meoli was a Navy SEAL Command Fitness Leader as well as a civilian ACE/ACSM Personal Trainer. He retired in 2013 as a Navy SEAL Operator Chief and Advanced Tactical Practitioner. Until 2018, he was a paramedic and firefighter, serving as a certified tactical paramedic for the San Diego Police Department SWAT team and with San Diego Fire Rescue. Mr. Meoli is an EMT-P, NAEMT-AF, and TP-C.

Michael Meoli, EMT-P, TP-C, NAEMT-AF, is the CEO of Tactical Rescue Options. The company provides instruction, direct support, and consultation throughout the country and beyond. He retired as a firefighter and paramedic in 2018 from the San Diego Fire Rescue. He was a certified tactical paramedic for San Diego Police Department SWAT as well as other government teams. Mr. Meoli has his teaching credentials in the state of California.