By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 Editor

Photo Jamie Thompson Chief David Daniels presents an education session at FRI Thursday morning.

DENVER — Creating a cultural change within the fire service is vital to improving firefighter safety and reducing LODDs, according to a Wash. fire chief.

David Daniels, of the Renton Fire Department, highlighted the need for a significant shift in attitudes during an education session at Fire-Rescue International in Denver Thursday.

Chief Daniels said while specifics on how to achieve change can seem hard to come by, there are strategies that can be implemented.

Touching upon the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives, drawn up to try to reduce LODDs, he said the most vital one is to "Define and advocate the need for a cultural change within the fire service relating to safety, incorporating leadership, management, supervision, accountability, & personal responsibility."

"If we cannot accomplish that one, we cannot accomplish the other 15," Chief Daniels said. "That's the root of the issue."

Having served in more than 20 different capacities during his fire service career, Chief Daniels is in a good position to identify how change can be achieved — and he explained that chief officers play an important role in creating it.

"Weak chief officers make weak organizations," Chief Daniels told the session, "strong chief officers make strong or organizations"

He urged those looking to attain a senior position in their careers to look at their current attitudes and work ethics. Poor standards now, Chief Daniels said, will be remembered further down the line.

The formal process that goes with selecting a chief officer, he said, is complimented by an even more important informal process.

"I would argue the informal process is how you get selected," he said. "It's not just about what you know, it is about who you know and who knows you; what we know about them and what they know about us."

Today's Facebook and MySpace generation should be cautious about what they post about themselves online, he said.

Chief Daniels went on to warn firefighters to think twice about going for a position they are not 100 percent certain they want — and against pushing members too heavily toward a promotion.

"In some cases people don't really want that job, but it will show up later," he said. "That's the fire chief dragging the hose line away from the firefighter because they don't want to be at the command station.

"If you can't see yourself in that spot before you get there and haven't thought through what that job means, you probably shouldn't be going for it yet."

Chief Daniels reminded members of the audience that for the fire service to move forward, old "traditions" — such as hazing — have to become a thing of the past.

"This is not a club or those college days," he said. "This is a business. If it doesn't belong at a Bank of America, then it doesn't belong at a fire department."