Editor’s note: Chief Adam K. Thiel knows full well that firefighting and marathon running require much different physical abilities, yet, he warns us to expect the public to hold firefighters to a higher level of scrutiny.
While I’m certainly not qualified to comment on the legal aspects of this case, the story raises some other issues to consider.
I know from experience that making disability retirement decisions can be extremely difficult and is far from an exact science. One thing is for sure: most people have a very limited understanding of the physical demands created by interior structural firefighting and its associated activities.
Training and competing in a highly controlled, highly structured athletic environment is not even close to what firefighters face in the uncontrolled, unstructured and chaotic environments in which we are called to operate on any given day at any given time.
Again without commenting on the specifics of this case, it certainly seems possible that one could have a debilitating upper-body injury and still compete in endurance events.
I’ve run several marathons alongside people with a wide range of physical challenges. This may or may not mean they would be qualified to become firefighters, which requires a very different combination of aerobic capacity, muscular strength and flexibility.
Hopefully we all recognize that, as public servants (career and/or volunteer) and especially as firefighters, we are subject to a higher level of scrutiny than a typical person. We’ve seen this time and again through the many stories on FireRescue1 that wouldn’t otherwise make headlines if not for the involvement of a firefighter.
It may not seem fair, but it comes with the territory and is important to keep in mind when choosing off-duty — and apparently even retirement — activities.
Stay safe!
