By Tanya Eiserer
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News 
 
Dallas Fire-Rescue officials have postponed two upcoming firefighter training classes because the city's civil service board apparently hadn't approved a test the new recruits passed to get hired.

The Civil Service Board on Monday postponed a vote on whether or not to approve use of the new test, which was first given to applicants in May.

The new test was passed by 97 percent of applicants, whereas only about 50 percent to 67 percent passed the test previously used by the department.

Roughly 50 recruits had been scheduled to start recruiting training on Sept. 20.

"I'm sure in the next few days we're going to have a lot of disappointed individuals," said Lt. Joel Lavender, a Fire Department spokesman. "We're disappointed for them. ... We want to make sure that the test is fair, but also that the test is challenging."

Experts have said that the new test is not as physically challenging as a standard test used by many departments around the nation. The experts said the new test doesn't adequately assess an applicant's ability to meet the job's demands and probably will result in the hiring of people who physically can't do the job. They also say portions of the test may not hold up to court scrutiny.

The board decided to put off its decision about the test until its next meeting, which is Oct. 2, so that additional information could be gathered.

"If you have a fire in your house ... you want to have the confidence that the people that come to rescue you and your family, or to save your property, that those people have the ability and the stamina to do that," said Steve Sanderfer, the board's acting chairman. "Before there's a vote, I want to make sure that we have all the facts in front of us."

Chris Hornick, the Colorado-based consultant who developed the test, continued to defend it, saying that it was a good mechanism for assessing the physical ability of candidates.

"We all want a test that gets the right people for the job," he said. He said he believes that the high passage rate indicated that "you've got a motivated set of individuals who prepared for the test and did well."

Capt. Mike Buehler, president of the Dallas Fire Fighters Association, which represents more than 1,000 of Dallas Fire-Rescue's roughly 1,600 firefighters, says the Civil Service Department didn't follow its own rules when implementing the test. He said he believes the rules require that any test given to applicants be approved by the board before it is used.

Mr. Sanderfer declined to answer whether the civil service procedures were properly followed, citing potential legal ramifications.

Patricia Marsolais, director of the Civil Service Department, said that "all proper procedures were followed before it was used. The board was kept apprised."

Fire Department officials expressed concern about whether proper procedures had been followed.

"The actions of today showed it should have been approved prior to being implemented," Lt. Lavender said. He added that Chief Eddie Burns, who assumed office in mid-April, "was stunned that all the i's hadn't been dotted and all the t's hadn't been crossed. It leaves him in a lurch."

If the board doesn't approve the new test in the form in which it was administered earlier this year, the candidates who passed it and who were due to start training might have to take a different physical ability test.

Should some of them fail, there could be legal problems. Ms. Marsolais declined to comment on what would happen if the board rejected the test.

"It was handled very poorly," Capt. Buehler said. "They've opened themselves up to liability. I think what they have to do is go back and administer a valid test that is approved by the Civil Service Board. And I feel sorry for the individuals that have to be subjected to a second physical ability test, but the first test they were given was not a valid test as far as we're concerned."