Editor’s note: Division Chief David Farnum, along with Deputy Chief (ret.) Bryan Norris and Assistant Chief (ret.) Eddie Buchanan, will present “Is technology ruining our future fire department leaders” at the Technology Summit International on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. Learn more about the session and register today for TSI 2025.
By David Farnum, CFO
In a recent Substack article, writer and professor Brian Klass explores an idea that’s become a common focus of many parents and educators: how to ensure some level of learning and development amidst the pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI).
He offers this contrast: “This isn’t to say that AI is uniformly bad — it’s clearly not — but that we must not fall into the trap of mistaking the outputs of writing (which are increasingly substitutable through technology) from the value of the cognitive process of writing (which hones mental development and cannot be substituted by a machine).”
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This observation is a clear-eyed reminder of the tension between the benefits and challenges of technology generally, and the ways in which we are constantly recalibrating behavioral expectations around its use. While this might seem like an overly simplistic distillation of a society-wide challenge, its relevance to the fire service is inescapable.
The question that is most critical in the fire service is not how to integrate technology correctly or effectively — because we already are: SCBA development, integrated facepiece communications, QR-code-based vehicle check-offs, tablet-based incident reporting, current apparatus information (where and what are they doing) based on integrated automatic vehicle locator antennae that then informs CAD and real-time deployment change recommendations, tactical deployment of drones, strategic analysis of incident response data that informs both community risk reduction needs and a potential effect on resource deployment, and so on. This list is far from comprehensive but demonstrates that just as every hand or pocket carries a smartphone, the fire service has adopted and will continue to integrate technology into its daily operations, support functions and budget development processes.
How technology changes communication and connection
The critical question facing the fire service: How has technology affected fire service leadership and culture, specifically around communication, information exchange and (human) connection?
While the shift to digital communication (texting, email, messaging platforms) has introduced convenience in information exchange, users experience a more asynchronous, less dynamic style of interaction and send and receive messages without the real-time engagement of a true conversation. For example, this is how my shift communicates most often: Every morning, the chief who is managing staffing starts a text group with all nine of us working as well as my field technician. This is so that they can push out staffing “moves” without making dozens of phone calls; the battalion chiefs then use this same text string with the entire shift to coordinate their movements without losing city-wide coverage, or so much as breaking stride.
As a medium, it’s both efficient and effective. And while the text group often devolves into what appears to be a rolling conversation around recent vacations, personal stories, firehouse humor and general “lively” banter that flows throughout the day, the dialogue remains anchored to “call and response,” one-way communication, ungrounded in the experience or circumstance of each individual in the chat.
We’re all used to this now, with messages and emails flowing nearly constantly, and as such, it’s challenging to contextualize the level of importance of one message from the other. We don’t have the physical cues and clues that lead to greater understanding.
The illusion of connection in the digital age
Expanding this idea, a recent column in Forbes explains it this way: “The technology that’s connected us has made it too easy to avoid the discomfort of genuine connection …. We filter our flaws, script our replies, and polish our professional personas — all while dodging the discomfort of direct, human-to-human interaction.” In other words: Communication does not guarantee effectiveness; what matters in terms of effectiveness is the quality and intentionality of our interactions. With the ability to reach people instantly, careful and considerate communication remains a hallmark of effective leadership and decision-making because the fundamentals of connection and leadership remain the same: Real dialogue and meaningful engagement are the ultimate opportunities for understanding and progress. Leaders must be present, adaptable and responsive, using technology as a tool — not a substitute — for genuine human connection.
Recently I was sitting at the kitchen table in the firehouse where I work every third day. It was after dinner, the time during the shift when the officers and firefighters have the most time to themselves, saying goodnight to their kids, catching up on projects and outstanding reports. I looked up from writing an email response (on my phone) because the general chaos had wound down and the silence struck me as strange. Of the nearly half dozen members still nearby, every one of them was on their phone, several tethered to the wall by charging cables. This moment illustrates the changing landscape of connection in the fire service that happened slowly, then all at once — how we relate to each other while using technology and its constant pull.
Speaking specifically about social media, academic and researcher Nigel Bairstow says this: “Originally, social media was designed to allow people to stay connected with friends, share their experiences, and engage in discussions they cared about. However, recent changes result … in users being stripped gradually of their agency, turning these platforms into data-driven tools where algorithms decide what users see and when.”
Reaffirming the fundamentals of leadership communication
There is a needed constancy in the fire service, if for no other reason than the level of trust that the public places in us, best said through mission statements that all sound somewhat like: “We will respond quickly and operate effectively to address every emergency to which we respond, protecting life and property ….” There is implied tension amidst increasing societal expectations, and yet we cannot ignore that technology is changing faster and impacting us personally and professionally at a pace greater than ever before in human history.
It’s therefore important (if not critical) to reflect on what works. In the fire service, much of our communication is operational — radio traffic filled with quick back-and-forth confirmation of orders resulting in effective tactical coordination. But leadership in non-operational settings goes beyond efficiency; it requires understanding the preferred communication styles of team members and fostering genuine dialogue. That is where most of our work should continue to focus: using all the tools at hand to communicate information consistently, while ensuring that we maintain a human connection. Intentionality of communication and understanding messaging must become an over-riding part of the education and development that fire service leaders receive moving forward, providing leaders the ability to shift between leadership styles seamlessly.
As Kim Malone Scott writes in “Radical Candor: Be a Kick-ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity,” “A boss’s ability to achieve results had a lot more to do with listening and seeking to understand than it did with telling people what to do; more to do with debating than directing; more to do with pushing people to decide than with being the decider; more to do with persuading than with giving orders; more to do with learning than with knowing.” It’s this reframing of what a leader can do that increasingly determines effectiveness, and the use of technology is an inseparable part of that, and merits greater discussion and consideration.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Division Chief David Farnum has been a member of the Charlotte (N.C.) Fire Department since 2001 and a member of the fire service since 1997, when he began serving as a volunteer firefighter while attending college. Before being promoted to division chief in 2020, Chief Farnum served in both operations and staff assignments as a battalion chief, including more than two years as the chief of Planning and Research.
