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Minimum qualifications for entry level firefighters: Firefighter II/ EMT with a preference for Firefighter II/Paramedic
Number of calls per year and breakdown in % nature of calls made: Approximately700responses per year with 75% being EMS related.
1. What do you consider the most challenging issue or issues facing your department today? The most challenging issue for the Jerome Township Division of Fire is
the rapid and continued growth of
the township. Growth is estimated to nearly double the population in a very short amount of time. The challenge is to match the level and type of service we provide to the growth, plan not for today, but for many years into the future, and develop the personnel for the upcoming changes and challenges the growth presents.
2. What do you consider the most challenging issue facing the U.S. fire service? There are a num- ber of issues facing the fire service and to focus on one is tough. I would say training and development of our person- nel. We are seeing the demand for more education for our personnel than we ever have. Development of personnel starts on day one of their appointment until they retire. For years we have investigated Line of Duty Deaths
and found contributing factors to the death or injury of a firefighter. Even with all of the information from the investigations, fire departments continue to make the same mistakes others have made. 10 years ago while on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina, I witnessed the tragic Super Sofa Store fire from across the street. The lessons learned by the Charleston Fire Department allowed them to make vast changes in their operations and move the department forward. Unfortunately, fire departments and firefighters are still making the same
mistakes today. The training we provide our personnel must be quality driven
and not quantity driven. Training must be a combination of refreshers on basic skills and challenging our personnel with advanced skills. As a firefighter and a fire chief, I feel I will never know enough about my profession.
3. Hiring good people is only half the battle. Specifically, what do you look for in hiring a new recruit, and once hired, how do you motivate your firefighters to perform effectively on a consis- tent basis? I was asked this question
as I sat on an interview panel for new firefighters and most recently by the firefighters at Jerome Township. I have a few simple things I look for not only in a recruit, but in every firefighter. First and foremost, I want an ass kicker and a go getter. The department officers do not have time to babysit, they must be able
to trust the firefighter in following orders and doing their job. I want firefighters that are going to be an adult, be profes- sional, and be accountable. Come to work and be ready for whatever the day throws your way.
There are a number of things fire officers can do to keep firefighters motivated
to perform their job. As I stated in a previous question, it starts day one with the new recruit. Invest in your personnel, show respect for them, build them up
to be the next chief, develop them to be the next leader, and give them buy in. I wrote a research paper a few years ago on morale in the fire service. The results were amazing and some of the big issues that affected morale were how the people were treated. Bottom line is that our fire- fighters are our greatest asset; we should be treating them like that.
4. How would you describe your management style? Along these same lines, what do you consider to be some of the greatest chal- lenges facing a fire chief in the
management of a contemporary fire department? I would describe my management style as ever changing. I feel we must be flexible in our leadership style especially in the fire service. There is a time and a place for being the leader that gives an order and expects it to be followed, but there is also the time when we must take the role of being the fol- lower or supporter. What better way than to develop our personnel to be the next leader.
There are hundreds of challenges facing fire chiefs every day. As the new chief to Jerome Township, I was met with some
of the same challenges as other chiefs.
At the end of the day, we are human and we will make mistakes, but we must learn from those mistakes and not make the same ones again. We must not become complacent in our duties as a fire officer, a fire service leader, and as a mentor to our personnel. We must walk the walk if we are going to talk the talk.
5. Does your department have
a formal long-range strategic plan? (i.e. capital improvement, apparatus replacement, staffing, etc.). If so, is this plan integrated with your local government’s overall strategic plan? Has a fund- ing mechanism been identified for plan implementation? The Jerome Township Division of Fire does not currently have a long range strategic plan or a capital improvements plan.
One of the major goals and objectives when I assumed the position of fire chief was to develop a strategic plan for the department. As with any department, we continue to develop our plan, the operat- ing and capital improvement budgets, and the funding mechanism to support the department for years to come. Our goal is to be proactive in matching the type and level of service the community demands, obtain the funding to support the opera- tions of the department, and build on the relationships with our regional partners. u
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