Genesis

Erich Roden, Publisher and Senior Editor

Welcome to the revolution.  Not a revolution in terms of mission, tradition, or fire service  ideology of course; rather, a revolution in how we participate and contribute to all three. Urban Firefighter Magazine wasn’t created overnight. The genesis began a long time ago with a couple of minds and a thousand ideas. As these ideas came to fruition, it was discovered that a quantum-leap was made in fire service content and cultural delivery and participation. In other words, Urban Firefighter Magazine has become a product of technology redefining convention, both no longer remaining a stubborn dichotomy in the fire service.

The ability and desire to connect with each other, as well as our fire service content, academia and culture, is growing exponentially. Current economic realities notwithstanding, there is also the desire for an easy, efficient, and cost-effective means to get this content and culture at our fingertips. That’s why we are offering Urban Firefighter Magazine to you free. See, our mission will always be to connect everyone to Urban Firefighter Magazine, and the urban fire service, so we can all be a part of it, together. How?

Urban Firefighter Magazine is accessible twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Urban Firefighter Magazine will be brought to you online, which allows you to enjoy, connect, and be part of us in a manner that suits your needs. As the content is distributed via the magazine, website, or social-networking, you will have immediate access to our authors, contributors and goings-on. Letters to the editor are redefined as you can now comment and become part of the articles and content the minute they come out. That’s what fosters enlightening discussion, new ideas, and innovation to our dynamic, yet traditional profession.



Urban Firefighter Magazine is not simply another trade magazine with an accompanying website, we are something else; We are not an elitist magazine either. Our name simply reflects the specificity of our content and by no means insinuates a dismissive position or an attempt to disenfranchise anyone from the urban fire service. To the contrary, we hope to celebrate the urban firefighter in all of us. So please stop by often and become part of the revolution.

So how do you use Urban Firefighter Magazine? The first step is to visit us everyday on the web as well as the social-networking sites we participate in. We will continually update our content to bring you credible and applicable content through: the magazine, photos, video and the blogs. You can find us on the social-networks by clicking on their icons located on every page on the website.

The magazine itself is accessed by clicking on the magazine’s icon on the homepage (“Read the Magazine”). The magazine is extremely user-friendly and allows you to flip the pages with your mouse (for all of you magazine purists, or by the directional arrows). The magazine can be viewed in either normal or full screen, and even as a slide show. The table of contents, or contributors’ page, has each article linked with its respective author and page number(s). You can zoom in on every inch of the magazine which makes the copy as readable as you need it, and the photos even more revealing. Each page is also “thumbnailed” so you can easily find the page you are looking for. Feel free to email and print out the magazine; or simply print out the pages you want, it’s your magazine! The magazine is downloadable as a PDF file so you can always have it on your computer, or take it to another if you cannot access the internet. You will always be able to read Urban Firefighter Magazine and be a part of it.  Thank you and welcome…