Major Changes Planned for The Northland Fire Wire in 2010
February 3, 2010 — The year 2010 will mean some major changes for The Northland Fire Wire. According to Managing Editor Jan Makowski, the most significant change is that Fire Wire publication will be coming to an end this December. "We have published the Fire Wire for 22 years and we looked at a number of factors before making this decision," said Makowski. "While cost was one of the major factors in making the decision, we also looked at flexibility and ease of operation. Today, with the Internet, we are able to get stories, pictures and even video out to our readers. The electronic age that we are in gives us so many advantages and it is something that we want to take advantage of."
While the Fire Wire publication will come to an end, there will be a major expansion of The Northland Fire Wire website. "We plan to add more stories and pictures to the site and we plan on adding video links to the site as well," said Makowski. "We plan to build an extensive network of videographers in the Arrowhead Region who will provide the website with video clips of training exercises, fires, rescues and other fire department related activities. We see lots of possibilities!"
For the last several years, the Fire Wire has employed Carl Samuelson of Kenosha, Wisconsin as the website's webmaster. "Carl has brought a number of creative ideas to us and we want to incorporate those into the website. He has a lot of experience in website production and we are pleased that he is consulting and working with us," said Makowski. "Carl is thinking ahead as to what the Fire Wire website can do and how it can be a better service to our readers. In short, he has some really great ideas!"
The Fire Wire publication was launched as a way of getting out information to the many fire departments which were members of the Arrowhead Regional Firefighters' Association. It is published on a quarterly basis and comes out just before a regularly scheduled regional association meeting. "We are proud of the Fire Wire's years of publication," said Makowski. "With the major changes planned for this year, we aren't looking behind as much as we are looking to the future."