In the five years that I have been writing for VolunteerFD.org, I have received a wide variety of responses to my columns, some positive, some negative.
My article on Balancing Requirements, which looked at what is required of us, and what we require of our members, received quite a bit of feedback, and I thought I would share this one from a chief:Mr. Zigmont,
I just read your article on balancing requirements for volunteer firefighters vs. paid firefighters. I will just come out and say it; the article puts all liability, blame, sacrifice and ignorance on the chief, chief officers, training officer, commissioners, city, county or anyone in the position of managing the fire department.
I have spent countless years reviewing a better way to change requirements to meet the objectives of our volunteers vs. paid firefighters. I am the chief of the hardest type of fire department to manage and that is a combination department. It is fact that if you are the manager of an all-volunteer department then all you need to do is be one of the good old boys, and if you manage an all-paid department then you know you need to do whatever is REQUIRED to keep your job and family life.
When we bring paid staff into the department, your problems are just starting. The paid and volunteers SAY they are equal and want to be treated the same UNTIL they see requirements. Volunteers want it to be the way it was, paid wants volunteers to have the same requirements. I can continue all day with other problems we have with a combination department that you will not see within an all volunteer department or within an all paid fire department.
The bottom line is that fire cannot tell if it is killing a volunteer or a paid firefighter. The family member will always want someone held accountable, no matter how many times a firefighter has told me, ‘My wife would never sue the fire department.’
I would like to see more information about volunteers as it pertains to a combination department and how that recruitment and retention is working. I can tell you that I have arguments every day on both sides:
1. The volunteers are not required to do it, then why are we?
2. The paid members are paid to know that stuff.
3. The volunteers now think they should get paid MORE for calls.
4. I allow volunteers to clear the scene as soon as possible so that they can go back to their regular employment and the paid members have to clean all the stuff.
5. Why does a volunteer hold an officers rank but not have to meet all the requirements of a paid firefighter?
You think you can see my position but not one person has had the answers to help calm the arguments. What I can tell you is that most all-combination departments I have interviewed have only a small handful (5-8) QUALIFIED DEDICATED volunteers and the rest left because of rules, regulations and requirements. It all comes down to accepting change and it just will not be tolerated by people who have done it one way for so long.
In short, the article is dead wrong and when we start making exceptions for one then more will be required to balance the sheet. Then we are back in the ice age of fighting fires through a window because we will get someone injured doing it the right way by going in the structure using our REQUIRED training. I would also like to comment on this training stuff. Never do I see much on EDUCATION but always the TRAINING part. Every firefighter likes to get out and play with fire extinguishers and cut up an old car with the Hurst Tool. We can train a monkey to do that, but does the monkey know why they are doing what they are doing? You say TRAINING TRAINING TRAINING and I say TRAINING and EDUCATION. Now show me how to get that into a volunteer program.
Anonymous Chief
First and foremost, I must applaud this chief for his response and letting me reprint it. While he may not agree with my article, I believe the chief and I are on the same page. The point of my Balancing Requirements article was not to give members a way out of proving competence, but providing a method of recognizing experience and thoughtfully meet the requirements of being a professional firefighter.
I purposely use the term “volunteer professional” as the name of my column because it encapsulates my view on volunteers and cuts through the paid versus volunteer debate.
The chief is absolutely correct when he says a combination department is the most difficult to manage, but if everyone is held to a professional standard it is fair for all involved. Any chief can tell you that you are not going to keep everyone happy. Therefore, I’ll settle for getting everyone upset equally. The challenge is in backing up the requirements and making sure that what is expected is needed rather than just because someone wants it.
As the chief points out, fire is the same in both a volunteer and paid community. With 73 percent of the United States covered by volunteer organizations, it is of the utmost importance to hold volunteers to a professional standard. A professional standard is one of core competence and the ability to complete the task safely.
The chief is also correct in that we need more education — but the best education is through experience. The point of my Balancing Requirements article was to respect what we learn through our experience rather than just the time we sit in seats.
I appreciate the chance to respond to the chief’s comments and explicate my position on being a volunteer professional. The next challenge is in making sure everyone is held to that professional standard. However, the problem is that it does hold the management responsible and put the liability on them. But while the chief quoted here may see this as a negative, he has shown by his response that he is doing the right thing and is aware of his responsibility. The challenge is that all fire department managers need to take responsibility for their department and become volunteer professionals.
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