Leadership Conversations @ The Kitchen Table
May 18, 2026 · 1 hr 26 min · 27 segments
Deputy Fire Chief Jim Whitney of the Redmond Fire Department—a leader who stood on the front lines during one of the most defining moments in modern emergency response. As the Medical Services…
Jim WhitneyGuestBerlin MazaHostTalk about the, the, the leading in uncertainty and the, you know, not knowing what's in front of you.
I mean, right, leadership becomes easy if you know what your problem that you're gonna be facing or dealing with the problem that you're now facing, and you have time, if you will, to kinda come up with the solution.
And the first of it's, you know, it's like, "All right, well, here we go," and it turned into this.
It, it, it prepared me for, for, they have a post-graduate school too, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, 'cause it really got me to a place where I value those signals, right?
The King County fire chiefs, the way they came together and supported the, you know, that, that response too, but, uh, even before, before COVID hit our shores, you know, there was preparedness going on, and there were signals about what was happening in other places and, um, uh, I don't think I appreciated them nearly enough to a place that I do today, I think, about emerging threats.
And when we see, uh, and I'll play that just, I'll just, I'll, I'll end on this, is, is having awareness of those things that are out there that we're seeing and, and signaling, this goes back to the Homeland Security piece, and what's the nexus between our public safety and what we do every day to Homeland Security.
You look at what's been happening in California and Nevada with the, these clandestine bio, bio labs that are being built up in these neighborhoods, and they're manufacturing, we don't know what they're manufacturing, right? Is it good, for good or for bad? But they're manufacturing biochemicals in residents', uh, neighborhood, neighborhood, residential neighborhoods, uh, in those two states.
I'm guessing they're probably in other places too, and what's the risk that we stumble across those or our people stumble across those on a, during a response because of a health issue or whatever and, uh, even not, maybe not to the same degree, I think that's more of a threat than, but I think even to the same degree of watching what's going on right now with the ship and the, and the hantavirus down in Africa.
Talk about the, the, the leading in uncertainty and the, you know, not knowing what's in front of you.
I mean, right, leadership becomes easy if you know what your problem that you're gonna be facing or dealing with the problem that you're now facing, and you have time, if you will, to kinda come up with the solution.
And the first of it's, you know, it's like, "All right, well, here we go," and it turned into this.
It, it, it prepared me for, for, they have a post-graduate school too, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, 'cause it really got me to a place where I value those signals, right?
The King County fire chiefs, the way they came together and supported the, you know, that, that response too, but, uh, even before, before COVID hit our shores, you know, there was preparedness going on, and there were signals about what was happening in other places and, um, uh, I don't think I appreciated them nearly enough to a place that I do today, I think, about emerging threats.
And when we see, uh, and I'll play that just, I'll just, I'll, I'll end on this, is, is having awareness of those things that are out there that we're seeing and, and signaling, this goes back to the Homeland Security piece, and what's the nexus between our public safety and what we do every day to Homeland Security.
You look at what's been happening in California and Nevada with the, these clandestine bio, bio labs that are being built up in these neighborhoods, and they're manufacturing, we don't know what they're manufacturing, right? Is it good, for good or for bad? But they're manufacturing biochemicals in residents', uh, neighborhood, neighborhood, residential neighborhoods, uh, in those two states.
I'm guessing they're probably in other places too, and what's the risk that we stumble across those or our people stumble across those on a, during a response because of a health issue or whatever and, uh, even not, maybe not to the same degree, I think that's more of a threat than, but I think even to the same degree of watching what's going on right now with the ship and the, and the hantavirus down in Africa.
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