A recent social media post caught my attention. It related the experience of a firefighter who had responded to a fire in an apartment building. The fire was apparently confined to one unit, but the firefighters had to check the adjacent apartments for potential spread. When they knocked on the next door apartment, the woman inside refused to open the door. She was afraid it was an ICE raid. Despite the firefighters’ effort to identify themselves, she refused to allow them entry. The post said the firefighters eventually had to break into the apartment, further terrifying the occupant.
Laredo incident prompts statement
We are living in dangerous times. Elected officials are being murdered in their homes. Firefighters are ambushed on routine responses. The importance of cultivating trust within the community could never be more important than it is right now.
Firefighters can only function at 100% where trust exists. This trust is built not only by your own actions but also by the history of actions taken by other firefighters before you. When this trust exists, firefighters can walk into nearly any incident and have the cooperation of the majority of those present.
That being said, this trust is vulnerable if people believe that firefighters are taking sides or acting as the agents of other entities. This vulnerability was demonstrated last month when a Laredo (Texas) fire truck was at the scene of a large ICE raid. The city and the fire department felt it was important to clarify the role the department had played in the incident, leading to this statement:
“We understand that images circulating online may have created confusion or concern, particularly regarding our association with immigration enforcement activities. We want to be clear: The Laredo Fire Department is not involved in deportation efforts or any immigration enforcement operations. Our mission is and always will be to serve and protect the health and safety of all residents of Laredo, regardless of immigration status. We are committed to maintaining the trust of our community and continue to work with our public safety partners to ensure the well-being of every person in our city.”
Proactive trust-building
In addition to making such statements, which are often reactionary, what can fire departments do to proactively enhance their positive image within the community? Several things come to mind:
- Promote your mission: In general, be more public and transparent about who firefighters are and what their essential mission is. This can be done through leaders’ appearances in public forums, such as city council meetings, through interviews with local media, or written statements, such as the one made by the Laredo Fire Department.
- Welcome the community: Make your fire stations welcoming places for community members. Host open houses, informal tours and public education events. Keep your bay doors open on nice weekend days and welcome passers-by.
- Extend outreach: Ramp up programs that involve the community, especially with children. Actively engage with school programs. Consider initiating Explorer posts or other programs that involve ongoing relationships. Offer public classes on fire safety or first aid.
- Connect with area agencies: Network with other fire departments regionally or nationally to learn of innovative ideas and programs for community involvement.
- Focus on education: Educate all fire department members on the importance of the trust relationship within the community and how it can be damaged either intentionally or accidentally. Support conversations where members can share incidents when that inherent trust made the difference in being able to best do their jobs.
Lessons learned from past incidents
Firefighters are entitled to their personal opinions about immigration or border security or anything else, but those opinions don’t matter when they are on duty. You are there to serve everyone equally. If community members have the perception that firefighters are taking sides, the essential trust necessary for doing the job can be severely damaged.
Fire departments have learned this lesson the hard way. In 1963, firefighters in Birmingham, Alabama, were ordered by the public safety commissioner to turn their hoses on peaceful protestors, including children. The fire department initially complied with this order but later refused to continue — but the damage was done. Even decades later, firefighters in that city and elsewhere had to deal with the effect of those actions. What can be destroyed in a moment can take years to rebuild.
Furthermore, I remember an incident in the 1990s when serious campus unrest in one city led to numerous small arson fires and other acts of vandalism. At the peak of the crisis, the sheriff ordered the fire department be on standby to control protesters with fire hoses if needed. The fire chief flatly refused and ordered their firefighters to refuse any such orders given by anyone. It was all about maintaining community trust. That’s leadership.
