![]() The new chief was able to communicate much more effectively with the city manager, as well as the mayor and council. However, this chief was an instructor with the state fire academy and although he had experience as a firefighter/medic with many of those who served in the organization, he was hired because of his education. In came a new chief from the outside, a man whom I equally respect for the opportunities he allowed me to pursue. As such, he became more frustrated and eventually stepped down to a shift commander's position. ![]() However, as city managers came and went, he found greater difficulty speaking their language, articulating our needs, and building relationships with the new breed of managers that the city was hiring. He was a salty old captain who brought his previous department's way of doing things into his fire chief role. He had a great amount of firefighting experience and was respected accordingly. When I first entered the fire service, my fire chief, whom I will always respect for giving me my shot, was a retired member of a large urban department. It's the comments and blogs that follow where the debate really heats up. The chief's argument was that success in his role is determined by how good of an administrator he is, not how good he is at tactical and strategic firefighting.Īs always, the story is just the starting point. While this isn't a new conversation, it is one that has re-emerged with the story of a group of volunteer firefighters who quit their department because the fire chief who was hired lacked training certifications and abundance of experience, but possessed formal education. Read the Spring 2015 digital edition that focuses on firefighter safety.
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