PIO Podcast (12/11/25): USAR, Ice Hockey and the Worcester 6
San Bernardino County Fire: PIO PodcastShow Notes
Host Captain Shawn Millerick comes to you from the kitchen table at Station 72 in Fontana in Episode 18 of the PIO Podcast.
Episode Highlights Camp Life, EMT School, and the Road to Becoming a Paramedic Shawn sits down with Firefighters Dominguez and Pitts while dinner finishes on the stove. The group walks through time at the fire camps, EMT school, AO assignments, tower spots, and what it takes to move from the box to the floor as a newly minted paramedic.
Ice Hockey and the Legacy of the Worcester 6 Dakota shares the story of playing ice hockey in Worcester, the memorial games honoring the Worcester 6, and meeting family members of firefighters lost in the 1999 cold storage fire. The conversation connects hockey, line-of-duty sacrifice, and the shared culture of the fire service on both coasts.
Ontario Fire Hockey Team and Giving Back Listeners get an inside look at the Ontario Fire hockey team and the Anaheim Ducks First Responders League. The crew talks rivalries with Orange County Sheriff, LA County Fire, and FDNY’s Fire on Ice game, then pivots to a fundraiser shirt for Spandrio's family, designed in partnership with Violent Gentlemen and supported across the department.
Station Pride, Logos, and Design Work Dakota explains how a love for jerseys and graphic design turned into station logos, mechanic patches, October breast cancer shirts, and other apparel projects that boost morale and showcase “County Cowboys” pride throughout San Bernardino County Fire.
USAR Training Preview Inside the USAR World at Station 72 USAR specialists Andy Lujan and Ryan Brown join the podcast to talk about life in the USAR program, busy call volume, and recent incidents, including mine rescues and jumper calls that require major set-ups and teamwork.
Army Visit and Joint Training The crew breaks down an upcoming visit from Army engineer reservists who want to learn more about collapse rescue, mutual aid, and how USAR resources can support large-scale incidents after experiences overseas. The team plans a hands-on equipment and capability overview at Station 72.
New Rigs, Standardization, and Tech Tools Andy and Ryan walk through plans for new rescue apparatus at Station 91 and 72, efforts to mirror compartments and tools across rigs, and a wish list of future equipment. The episode highlights new cameras for machine entrapment calls, twin-tension rope systems, heavy-lift drones, and the new fire engine at 72 that is headed up the hill for photos and field testing.
This Day in History For the “day in history” segment, Shawn travels back to December 11, 1978, to tell the story behind the Lufthansa heist at JFK Airport, later dramatized in Goodfellas. The crew talks about the real-life robbery, the mob connections, and why the case still captures public imagination.
Links Mentioned in the Episode: Worcester 6: Heroes Remembered - Full Documentary Ontario Fire Jersey
More from San Bernardino County Fire: PIO Podcast
This episode marks a milestone, the show’s 40th installment, and it comes together in an unusual way. Part of the conversation was recorded back in June, and part was recorded this October, so the show jumps between the two recording sessions, almost like time travel in a movie, to bring five different segments into one episode. The show kicks off by digging into a box of old VHS tapes, including a mystery news clip from 2006 that has the studio trying to guess which current department member is on screen. The real news of the episode is the announcement of this year’s Salute to Service award winners. The crew walks through every category and announces this year's winners: Sustained Superior Performance Champions of Change Awards (Mentorship Excellence, Synergy Star, Rising Phoenix) Legacy Award Exceptional Service Award Annual Awards (Ambulance Operator of the Year, Fire District Employee of the Year, Firefighter of the Year) Fire Chief’s Distinguished Service Awards Medal of Valor Award Tech Corner covers two drones now in testing, one built to drop water on hot spots and another designed to fly hose packs up to firefighters on steep terrain, plus a new robot dog making its debut around headquarters. The episode wraps with surprise phone calls to a retiring 20 year veteran on his way out the door and a firefighter with a wild past life as a Dodger Stadium visiting clubhouse bat boy, along with groundbreaking news on Fire Station 227 and updates on several more stations in the pipeline.
CAL FIRE Battalion Chief David Acuña joins the PIO Podcast to walk through a career that started with the Orange County Fire Explorers back in 1986 and wound through paramedic work, a stretch away from the fire service entirely, and stops at Riverside County Fire, CAL FIRE, the Emergency Command Center, and now statewide Battalion Chief and Public Information Officer. He breaks down what a CAL FIRE PIO actually does day to day, covering a coverage area that stretches from Siskiyou to San Diego, and shares a crash course in fire weather and behavior fundamentals including LCES. Acuña talks about Aware California, a platform set to change how agencies share incident information, and talks candidly about the personal impact of the 2020 Creek Fire. The conversation wraps with his thoughts on mentoring and recruiting the next generation of firefighters.
Second District Supervisor Jesse Armendarez welcomes the PIO Podcast into his own office for a conversation on Fontana roots, public service, and building opportunity from the ground up.
Vice Chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr. joins the PIO Podcast for a wide ranging conversation on family, public service, and what's coming next for San Bernardino County. Baca, Jr. talks growing up in Rialto, his years as a teacher and softball coach, and how those experiences shaped his approach to representing the 5th District.
Host Captain Shawn Millerick is back in the studio for a conversation with San Bernardino County’s Third District team: Chairman of the Board Dawn Rowe, Chief of Staff Claire Cozad, and Communications Director Scott Ward. Chairman Rowe shares her path to the board, from losing her husband in Iraq and staying in Yucca Valley to raise her kids, to land use frustrations that led her to the planning commission, town council, and eventually the county board. She talks about the steep learning curve of representing the largest district in the county, which touches Arizona, Nevada, and LA County and has been ground zero for the El Dorado Fire, the Line Fire, Hurricane Hilary, and Snowmageddon. Chief of Staff Claire Cozad discusses her work on Capitol Hill, her experience as a chief of staff managing a team of twelve, and the advice she would give any young person starting out. Scott Ward reflects on more than three decades in radio at KFROG, including a Blue Angels ride that produced a memorable barf bag photo, and the transition to public service communications. The group also digs into county budget priorities, the importance of Starlink in remote desert response, leadership lessons, and a mass casualty incident exercise that turned into an accidental rescue of a county supervisor stranded in the desert with a group of high schoolers.