38 - Challenging Fireground Assumptions with Captain Nick Ledin.
From The Forward Firefighter by Dan Retzlaff
January 1, 2026 · 49 min · Season 3 · Episode 38
About this episode
Captain Nick Ledin discusses his fire service journey and insights from the Firefighter Rescue Survey.
I am kicking off 2026 with Captain Nick Ledin from the Eau Claire Wisconsin Fire Department. I'm talking with him about his fire service journey, ECFD operations, and some massive takeaways from the Firefighter Rescue Survey, including data on victim survival rates that might just change how you look at the fireground. Nick Ledin is a Captain with Eau Claire (WI) Fire Department, currently assigned to Truck 8. Ledin has been a student of the job for 18 years and is a contributor to ‘Firefighter Rescue Survey’, was the former president of the Northland FOOLS, and is a board member of FireNuggets. He’s a technical committee member for NFPA 1700, was a former technical panel member for UL FSRI’s PPA/PPV Study, and is a co-host of the FireNuggets Podcast and GRABS Podcast. Nick is also lucky enough to be a small part of UL FSRI’s Public Education Advisory Committee. He can also grow a pretty legit ‘stache.
People in this episode
Host: Dan Retzlaff
Guest: Captain Nick Ledin
Topics covered
- fire service journey
- fireground operations
- victim survival rates
- Firefighter Rescue Survey
- firefighter training
- fire safety
Keywords
- firefighter
- fireground
- rescue survey
- survival rates
- fire department
- training
- operations
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Eau Claire Wisconsin Fire Department, Firefighter Rescue Survey, Northland FOOLS, FireNuggets, NFPA 1700, UL FSRI, FireNuggets Podcast, GRABS Podcast
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