Dragon's Den is a firefighter podcast hosted by Chris Scott. It features casual and sometimes educational conversations with retired and veteran firefighters from the South Louisiana area, preserving local fire service history through funny stories and memorable experiences. The show also discusses serious fire service topics such as leadership, training, fitness, discipline, and service with other members of the fire service. The goal is to share both entertaining and useful conversations for listeners connected to the fire service.
Episodes
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 32 (Kevin Lewis) Culture Building on the Ground Floor
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have retired Batt. Chief out of Cobb County, Kevin Lewis. Kevin talks to us about the development and growth of the Cobb County Search Program from it's early inception. We talk about it's mission, it's early struggles and it's success. Kevin also discusses some of him time teaching at conferences and how the impact of the program h
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 31 (Todd "Shakey" Bourgeois) The Best Job in The World
Today we were joined by a local legend. This was probably my most requested guest, from our area and also one of the most respected. This is 3 hours of passionate discussion on Todd's view of how to to do the job right, fire stories and various other rabbit holes. Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications. You can follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_tra
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 30 (Thai Guidry) From the Corps to the Call
Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have Thai Guidry. Thai is a company officer in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was born and raised in Lafayette Parish and he's also my cousin in law. I've known him for over 20 years and Thai has always been a guy that I've looked up to, even 20 years ago. He's the classic stoic marine. Chiseled jawline, dashingly handsome and f
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 49 (Jon Quon) Firemanship and the Pursuit of Mastery
On this episode we are joined by a Pacific Northwest Native, Jon Quon. Indiana Smoke Diver, One Bad Tour graduate, Brothers in Battle cadre member. A jam up fireman, by every metric. We discuss his journey into the fire service, family/work balance, doing hard things and when is "enough", "enough"? We also discuss a topic that he's hoping to write an article about...sometime soon.
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 48 (Nate Carn) Rough Seas, But Damn Good Times
Nate Carn is a truck company captain in Deland, Fl. He's got roughly 20 years on the job. He's a FLorida Smoke Diver, OBT founding member, teaches with the Proactive Rescue Operations cadre and has taught for many organizations and places, including FDIC and many places throughout the state of Florida and the Nation. More importantly, Nate cares deeply about the fire service and improving the liv
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 47 (Stone Brothers: Round 2) Passion Doesn't Pay the Bills
On this episode, we explore an upcoming class that Shannon and DJ will be delivering at the LIFT conference in South Louisiana.
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 46 (Brock Patterson & Brian McLendon) Rescue in Summerville, South Carolina
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we are doing an episode of The Debrief, where we break down a successful rescue from South Carolina. We are joined by Brock Patterson and Brian McClendon. They set scene and discuss the good, bad and ugly of a realistic fire ground rescue, so that hopefully others can learn from their unique experience. Thanks for listening.
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 45 (Paul Watlington) Embrace the Target
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Paul Watlington, out of North Carolina. We discuss spousal support, fire ground decision making, scene leadership, officer's role in managing fire house morale and embracing the target that you receive when you start voicing your passion for the job. Thank you for listening.
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 44 (Mark Ware) Mentorship, Mental Health and Work/Life Balance
Today we have on Chief Mark Ware. Chief Ware hold multiple college degrees in the fire service and is a doctoral candidate. He is the first black fire Chief in his parish's history. He currently serves as the Chief of the Carlyss fire department, a small department outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana. We talked about his history, mental health, mentorship and work life balance. Hope you enjoy.
Dragon''s Den Podcast Ep. 43 (Chris Tennyson) Accountability, Standards, Training
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Chris Tennyson. Deputy Chief of Training for Summerville Fire. He's a Georgia Smoke Diver. Tennessee Smoke Diver. GA FLAMES graduate. NC Breathing School Graduate. Taught at various places around the country, including FDIC. We discuss fitness standards, training, accountability and touch on things like mental heath and bein
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 42 (David Douget) Passion for Training
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Louisiana native, David Douget. David is the fire Chief of the Iota volunteer fire department and on the career side he is a Chief of St. Martin Parish, in charge of training. He started the Central Acadiana Fire Symposium, is a plank member of the Cajun FOOLS. He is unsuspecting and quiet, but his love for the job and the a
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 41 (Ryan McCormick) Get Outside of Your Box/First In Conference
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Toady we are joined by Arkansas Legend, Ryan McCormick. Chief McCormick, most notably, started the First In conference, within his home state, but he also joined us to talk about haters, limited staffing, the 48/96 schedule, the power of networking, getting outside of your bubble and much much more. Hope you enjoy listening.
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 40 (Stephanie White, Corley Moore, Nick Ledin) Artificial Intelligence
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Stephanie White, Corley Moore and Nick Ledin to have a casual conversation about AI in the fire service and even digging a little deeper on the overall picture of AI. What's good? What's Bad? What does it mean to be an "artist"? How do they use AI in their daily life? We didn't solve any of the worlds problems, but I thought
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 39 (Wayne Prejean) Tailboard Riding and Being a Young 1970's Fire Chief
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Chief Wayne Prejean. Chief Prejean started with the Lafayette Fire Department in the early 60's and spent 20 years with Lafayette, serving 10 of those years as the Fire Chief. Chief sat down with us to tell us about his rookie year, his time in fire prevention, battling the administration and trying to fight the good fight,
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 38 (Dennis Reilly) Leaving It Better
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we are joined by Chief Dennis Reilly. This was a impromptu podcast when I travelled back and forth to One Bad Tour with Chief. We talked about a lot of different subjects and he told many stories, but one that stuck out was one where he built a recruit academy in 2 different organizations that was ridiculed in the beginning and now it'
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 37 (Dustin Yates) LIFT and The Louisiana Firefighters Foundation
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on the St. George mayor, Dustin Yates. Chief Yates was previously an admin Chief of the St. George fire department and he's the current president of the Louisiana Firefighters Foundation. Dustin sat down with us for a couple of seconds to talk about the early days of the LIFT Conference and to highlight a few of the projects th
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 36 (Joe Mera) A Fireman's Fire Chief
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have Chief Joe Mera. Chief Mera is the recently retired fire chief for the Leesburg. This was originally going to be a short interview about Chief's involvement in the One Bad Tour training program, but it turned into a full episode after I heard Chief give his speech to the candidates at OBT 10. He's a fireman's fire chief. I hope
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 35 (Reilly & Cotter) The Debrief #4
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have another episode of The Debrief with Colin Cotter and Reilly Kilbride. These gentlemen were able to make a successful grab in their department and we brought them into to discuss it. We hope to learn from their experience, to better prepare, should we find ourselves in a similar situation. Thanks for listening.
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 34 (Gavin Reynolds) Setting the Bar of "Professional" Fireman
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we talked to Gavin Reynolds. Gavin in a volunteer in rural Georgia and has been at it for 7 years. He's a father, husband, former infantry marine with 2 deployments, graduate of the Georgia Spartan program, One Bad Tour, Georgia Smoke Diver and an ultra runner, with no real plans of slowing down. Yes...all of that, from a volunteer. He
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 33 (Miller and Lloyd) Founding the Oklahoma Smoke Diver Program
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today's guests are Bryan Lloyd and Chad Miller. We brought these 2 men together to talk about the process of starting the Oklahoma Smoke Diver program. We discuss the trails, tribulations, success and lasting impact of the program. It was an absolute honor to talk to men with such a passion and commitment to making the fire service better. W
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 29 (Joel Miller) Who IS Chief Miller?!?
Welcome to another episode of The Dragon's Den Podcast. Today are joined by none other, than Chief Joel Miller, more commonly referred to as "Chief Miller". Chief Miller runs one of the largest fire social media pages on planet earth and works as a federal fire Chief here in central Louisiana. He's avoided all podcast appearances for the last 12 years, so it was actually shocking that he told me y
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 28 (Meg and Aaron Kowal) Culture, Training and Firefighter Marriage
Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we sit down with the power couple, Aaron and Meg Kowal. Aaron is a captain on the special operations truck in St George, Louisiana and Meg is currently the Public Education Chief for the same department, although she also worked on the floor at St George before moving into that position. They are both 2nd generation firemen and Meg star
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 27 (One Bad Tour #9 Recap)
Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. On today's episode myself and fellow cadre member Josh Bourque recap our experience going through One Bad Tour, Class 9. Right out of the gates, if you are listening to this in order to know the "curriculum" of the program, then you are wasting your time. The how, why, when, where, what of the program are going to need to be experienced
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 26 (Small Town Conference Super-Cut on Outside Training)
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we did something quite different. This is a collection of 12 or 13 clips of a bunch of guys from around the fire service answering the same question at Small-Town Job-Town. What, in your opinion, is the value of outside training and do you have a personal story in relation to that outside training? I've already released all of the indi
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 25 (Stolzle, Lopez, Smith) Smoke Diving and the Never-ending Pursuit of Excellence
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we filled the podcast with killers. We have Jacob Stolzle, Donald Smith and Ian Lopez. All of these men are Mississippi Smoke Divers out of St. Tammany Parish. Jacob is also an Oklahoma Smoke Diver and has completed One Bad Tour with Ian Lopez. I stepped aside for this episode and let Josh Bourque jump in to host because we truly didn'
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 24 (Jacob Johnson) The Pearland Way
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Todays guest is Chief Jacob Johnson. Chief serves as an Asst. Chief for the city of Pearland Texas. Disclaimer: I am a moron. For the entirety of this episode I called Pearland, Pearl Land. Why did my brain read it that way? I don't know. Did Chief say it correctly repeatedly and I never catch on? Yes. Because I'm a moron. Did Chief ever cor
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 23 (Nick Ledin) Firefighter Rescue Survey & Data Driven Decision Making
Welcome to another episode of the Dragons' Den podcast. Today we joined by Nick Ledin. Many know Nick for his heavy involvement in the Firefighter Rescue Survey, being part of committees and advisory boards and teaching around the nation. All of those things are true, but one of the things I love most about Nick is his unwavering commitment to truth, science and tracking down the facts to the best
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 22 (Hannah Elmore) IAFF Center of Excellence (Ft. Clint Sanchez)
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Hannah Elmore. Hannah is the Senior Outreach Coordinator for the IAFF Center of Excellence. The CoE of a treatment facility for union firefighters that are battling things like addiction, PTSD, depression and other mental illnesses. We also have Chief Clint Sanchez. Clint went through the CoE program and put me into contact
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 21 (Matt Berkins) Leadership, Special Forces & Creating Change
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we finally return back to South Louisiana with our next guest, Matt Berkins. Matt serves as a fireman out of Slidell, LA. I first met Matt at the LIFT conference, just last year. We spent a good amount of the conference having conversations during breaks and social events and I loved his mindset and the things he was trying to implemen
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 20 (Preston Lyons) Passion and The Relentless Rejects
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today's guest is Preston Lyons. Preston is a firefighter in Colorado and runs the Relentless Rejects podcast. He first hit my radar when he was on the Weekly Scrap with Corley Moore. I had no idea who he was, but his story and message really resonated with me. It seems we shared a similar journey, mindset, and struggles in trying to make cha
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 19 (McVey & Chacon) Mission, Mentors and Mississippi FOOLS
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have on Jacob McVey and Marcos Chacon. This episode was very last minute. Myself and Chief Sparacello went over to Bay St Louis to teach for the Coastal Magnolia FOOLS first ever training. Once I found out that the presidents for both the Coastal Magnolia FOOLS and the Old South FOOLS would be together, I thought it was the perfect
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 18 (Spanka and Shetler) Oklahoma Smoke Divers Adversity and Perseverance
Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Justin Spanka and Caleb Shetler. I first met Spanka when he came to teach at the Central Acadiana Fire Symposium with Sean Ryan and the Animal House cadre. I tried to get him onto the podcast pretty early and he kept saying no, but I was finally able to convince him after he and Shetler completed the Oklahoma Smoke Diver prog
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 17 (Shannon and DJ Stone) THE 850 Firemen
Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today it is my absolute pleasure to have on both of the Stone Brothers. Chief DJ Stone and Chief Shannon Stone. DJ currently serves as the Training Chief with South Walton and Shannon currently serves as the Fire Chief for Midway fire. They both have very extensive bios, so I'll leave those in the show notes if you want to read them. Whi
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 16 (Dennis Reilly) Expectations and Tactical Excellence
Welcome to another Episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Chief Dennis Reilly. I'll probably say this until I shut this podcast down, but I'm honored to have such a distinguished guest spend his time talking to me about the job. Chief Reilly has a very extensive bio, but the highlights are this. He's got over 50 years of experience, deployed combat veteran, responded to 9/11, has be
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 15 (Chris Watson) Culture of Competence
Our next guest is Engineer Chris Watson. I met Chris at the Small Town Job Town conference in Hammond Louisiana and immediately knew that he was a dialed in fireman. Not only did I notice it, but the other students also commented on it. It was so shocked by how good he was that I said “I’ve gotta talk to this guy”, so I texted him after the conference and invited him on. Our schedules lined up and
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 14 (Jimmy Gregory) Cobb County Search Culture
Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Lt. Jimmy Gregory from Cobb County Fire. He's a loving husband and father of 6. He's got about 17 years of fire service experience, served in the Army and currently still serves with the Air Force. He's taught at multiple conferences, including FDIC. He's a Georgia Smoke Diver and one the main reasons that I reached out to hi
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 13 (David Pruitt: Live Fire Acquired)
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. On today's episode we have Chief David Pruitt. Chief currently holds the position of Chief of Emergency Management and Innovations for the City of Hillsboro Texas. He's been there for 23 years and is clearly passionate about the fire service. He was gracious enough to give me a couple of hours of his time, right before teaching at the LIFT c
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 12 (The Debrief #3 with Shane Murray)
Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have another episode of The Debrief with Shane Murray. Shane only has a couple of years on the job and while working at his part time department, he found himself in a situation where he could make an impact. While fighting a fire, he was given a report of a victim and in a low manpower scenario asked a Chief Officer if he could do
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 11 (Ragan Underwood) LIFT, Training & Maydays
Welcome to the another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Captain Ragan Underwood. He currently serves as a Training Officer for the St. George Fire Department. He is a loving husband and father of 3 children. He's a combat veteran, cadre member with Insight Fire Training, has taught at many conferences, including FDIC, and was involved in a Mayday during a training burn of an a
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 10 (Mike Dragon) Fitness for the Service & Life
Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Deputy Chief Mike Dragon. Yes, his real name is Dragon. Chief Dragon popped up in a firefighter fitness page that I run, a couple a years ago. He was contributing his thoughts into the group and you could tell he was deeply committed to fitness. I later found out that his name was actually Dragon, so once the podcast sta
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 9 (The Debrief #2) Tucker Royer Solo Rescue in Sunset, LA
Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have with us Tucker Royer, for our 2nd Debrief. On our last episode of the Debrief, I said that I would keep an ear out for any grabs that were made in our area and I'd invite them on to come and talk about their experience, so we can learn. I figured it would be many months before we'd have another one, but it didn't take long. Whil
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 8 (Josh Bourque) Faith, Family & Mississippi Smoke Diving
Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we are joined by Engineer Josh Bourque. Josh is a 2nd generation firefighter, with 11 years of service. He spent almost 10 of those years at the busiest station: Station 2, also known as "Pelican". He recently became a Mississippi Smoke Diver and to my knowledge is the first person in the department, and probably the region, to ever att
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 7 (Ray Landry) LFD in the 1960's
Today we talked to Chief Ray Landry. Ray joined the Lafayette Fire Department in 1965 and spent 23 years with the department, ultimately retiring as a District Chief. He was with the department during times where there was a lot of change and growth. When trying to document the firefighting history of our area, there aren't too many that are better than Ray. It was pleasure to have him on and tell
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 6 (The Debrief with Eng. 7)
On this episode we speak with an Engine crew from my department that recently made a grab on a house fire. Although this was never the intended purpose of this podcast, I believe there was an opportunity to use this platform as an educational tool and learn from the fireman that recently had a experience that very few of us have an chance at.As I learn about grabs that we make in our area, I'll tr
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 5 (Boudreaux/Spell/Marty/Dore) St. 6 Shenanigans
On this episode we talk to 4 retired fireman that combine for over 125 years of service. These 4 guys worked at the same station for several years and Troy Martin was the main inspiration for the stories that I wanted to try and preserve. He's a people person who is 100% positive on the fire service and he was always fun to work with. The cast of characters around him have some fond memories. We k
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 4 (Sam Sparacello) Small Town Job Town, Training & Networking
Welcome back to another episode of the Dragons Den podcast. On today's episode, we have Chief Sam Sparacello. Chief currently serves as the Chief of Training for the Hammond Fire Department. After screwing up the first attempt, we were lucky to have Chief give us another shot in his very busy schedule and during the Small Town Job Town Conference, which he's mostly responsible for running. I alway
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 3 (Jacob Auzenne) Functional Fitness in the Fire Service
In this episode, we sit down with Jacob Auzenne. He has almost 10 years in the fire service and owns the training company "First Due Fitness". He's deeply passionate about physical fitness as a foundation of the first responder community. Seth Richard also came in and filled a seat for Skippy, who was out of town. It was a little longer than expected, but I enjoyed the conversation and we hope you
Dragon's Den Podcast Ep. 2 (Sonnier & Spell) Old Stories and Life Lessons from LFD
In this episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast we had the honor of interviewing retired Chief Gerard Sonnier and retired Chief Lonnie Spell. These 2 combine for 70 years of firefighting experience. We were barely able to scratch the service of what they had to offer and there's no way that we won't have them back, at some point. We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.
Dragon's Den Podcast #1 Pilot Episode
Welcome to the pilot episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. It's a very short video on who we are, how we got here and our general idea of what we would like to do with this podcast. If you think you might be interested, please like and subscribe to the Pod.You can follow our Cadre Page @ https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/
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