For the rural fire chief, being aware of the innocuous mistakes that rural and volunteer/paid on call-based fire departments make or can make is critically important. Rural firefighting is a different beast. We have a lack of resources, equipment, longer response times and unique emergencies that require a different mindset and with that a high level of situational and self-awareness to get everyone home after the call. In this presentation I outline seven mistakes or “cardinal sins” that when a rural fire department commits, can and will exponentially increase the risk of the job.