How do you stay honest about risk when the world around you is changing faster than the systems meant to protect it?

Hello Smart Firefighting Community!

Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy.

Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, and Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience Conference in Perth, Australia.

Greg Mullins has lived every part of the fire service, from teenage volunteer to Commissioner of Fire and Rescue in New South Wales. With more than fifty years of experience across Australia and around the world, he reflects on the moment he realized fire behavior was changing in ways that no longer aligned with the patterns the profession once relied on.

He shares how Black Summer sharpened his concern about political inaction, why public trust in firefighters still matters, and how his work with Emergency Leaders for Climate Action grew from a simple belief that truth and safety must come before comfort.

Greg also explains why collaboration between fire engineers and frontline responders strengthens community protection, how education opened unexpected doors in his own career, and why optimism remains essential in high risk work. His perspective is steady, candid, and grounded in decades of service to communities on their hardest days.

So take a listen to hear what he has to share.

Episode 299: Fire Service Leadership, Climate Truth, and the Courage to Speak Up with Greg Mullins