10/14/2026
Still a couple seats open for tomorrow! See you there!
Still some spots left for the Type III Building Construction Class! Come listen to Lex and Chris Tobin!
Register HERE:
https://forms.gle/VxM1jzxV6pMjmXHFA
Seeing Deliberately:
The goal is simple: Become the firefighter with the strategic foreseeability to avoid being lost on the fireground. To have a holistic set of skills so you can connect your environment with your conditions and to then make the best tactical decisions. Due to the nature of building construction, this course is aimed at all levels. The fact is, we all see buildings, but few understand what they’re actually looking at. That’s a problem, for two important reasons; a building is the one thing that directly or indirectly effects everything we do on the fireground, and the only thing we can do about a compromised building is avoid it entirely. We can mitigate smoke, fire, and rescue trapped victims, but we can do nothing about the leaning wall. You can know all there is about fire behavior, your tools and strategies, none of which hold any value if you’re unfamiliar with the space in which they are relied upon. This is why knowing your buildings on a visceral level is paramount. If you want to be able to forward think you must understand the data you’re receiving. We’ll discuss the three things we commonly see across buildings as well as how to utilize the information to make tactical decisions. The goal of this course is to help to younger members understand the importance of intimately knowing your buildings as well as to provide solutions to reengage more experienced members.
Lex and Chris Tobin
Chris Tobin is a firefighter with the St. Louis Fire Department currently assigned to Rescue Squad 2. Lex Tobin is a firefighter/paramedic with the University City (MO) Fire Department. Chris and Lex are both multi year FDIC instructors as well as contributing authors to Fire Engineering Magazine. They previously co-hosted a podcast “Main Street Firefighting” on Fire Engineering Blogtalk Radio as well as co-authored a monthly “Main Street Memo.” They both also instruct locally with their respective fire academies and local training organizations.
