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New Threats Loom – Who Has Command?

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New Threats Loom
Who Has Command?

My granddaughter recently asked me if I was a hero. I contemplated her question for a moment and was reminded of a response from a World War II veteran who when asked the same question responded by saying, "No Sweetie, but I have had the privilege and honor of serving alongside many heroes." By heroes I don't mean the fella' who is known to say on occasion "Chief, wet me down, I'm going back in." I am talking about the men and women who are the very few who stand where the greatest numbers of their peers step aside. I am talking about those in our profession who rise to the pinnacle of our profession. The position is simply known as Chief. When you meet a person with the title Fire Chief there is no question what position the person before you holds. We know the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the community's citizens and all personnel in the department rests solely on the shoulders of the person in front of you.

I have often wondered how those who have chosen to lead, the very few who are willing to place themselves in positions of great responsibility succeeded. The reality is, even the most magnificent minds in history, at some point had no idea why or how they ultimately ascended to this position of ultimate challenge.

All they do realize is they possess the love and passion for what they believed in and that of their chosen profession. The secret to their success is an extraordinary appetite for curiosity and willingness to adapt. They follow their passion taking pathways toward accomplishment. These very few are quite willing to put themselves out there. They are huge risk takers and smile in the face of insurmountable barriers and criticism.

So how did it all begin? Well we know the most successful in our profession began as firefighters with a commitment to a life time of learning. Why do they continue to learn when they have spent their entire early life learning?  They fully realize the environment around them is changing every day, every hour. Many of these changes put our lives, our families and our organizations at risk.

So if we are to contribute, if we are to lead, we must continue to be seekers of information and to motivate others to join us. If we are to innovate and motivate creativity in our organizations we must see the future. It is up to us analyze and evaluate potential opportunities and seek out dangers that do not exist today but will most assuredly surface in the future. Once these new opportunities and dangers are discovered, again, it is up to us to adapt and create new trategies and ideas to meet them.

Oliver Wendell Holmes is quoted as saying: "One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

So what is ahead for us? How do we plan for what we as a profession are about to experience?

I researched some of our greatest futurist and landed on Yogi Berra’s website. Yogi offers this guidance about planning: "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.""

What we do know is if we are to lead and do not have a vision, a plan, we are destined to fail.  In the early stages of our lives, we are looking for some semblance of direction, some guidance, a road map.

The most successful of all people are those who found something they loved to do, and produced enough value that someone is willing to pay them for it. They see not only what is available to them now, but also what possibilities for personal and professional growth lay ahead.  I know in my case it came from within not something that was forced upon me and not based on a vision of grandeur, self-promotion or financial success.

In fact, a mentor of mine said to me just after I announced that I had been successful in passing the exam for firefighter in Fairfax County, VA Fire Department,  "Glenn, man, with your self-motivation you should get into the private sector. You're never going to get rich or live comfortably working for government."  I responded by saying something like, "Well that may be true, but this is something special and I like it."  Turns out he was both right and wrong at the same time. I am rich in ways only those who dare to stand in the blue line appreciate.

I believe one of the best descriptions of our role as leaders is captured in the following quote by Carroll Bryant, Author: "Some people make things happen. Some watch things happen. While others wonder what has happened."  We also have to pay attention. Today we refer to paying attention as environmental scanning.

There are no guarantees in life we are told. Well, I will give you one. As fire and EMS professionals, we all face big trouble in our lives. We face unimaginable horror, sorrows and challenges.  Some of us will confront them with fear; some with passive refrain and allow their peers to meet the challenge, some will run. Those outliers who rise to the very pinnacle of our profession confront these terrifying events with daring and a calm organized resolve. They are quite adapt at instantaneously assessing the situation presented, assessing the current risk and how it might change given a variety of conditions, then acting in a positive, measured and well-conceived manner to meet the challenge.

So what drives this response? How could these very few outliers act while others choose to run or defer to someone else?

They have learned that the very sweetness in life is knowing they contributed to saving a life or reducing human suffering in a way few others could conceive or are unwilling to consider. We also know they went to extraordinary lengths to prepare themselves for the moment. These outliers realize that big opportunities exist where big problems live.  The challenges and risks may be substantial, but the potential rewards are unlimited.

Professor Ruth Wertheimer at Trinity College (Better known as Doctor Ruth) is quoted as saying, "My favorite animal is the turtle. The reason is in order for the turtle to move, it has to stick its neck out."

Doctor Ruth

If we had the opportunity to ask those who graduated from both the academic and hard knock universities like Jonas Sulk, Mohamed Ali, Dr. Martin Luther King or Senator John Glen they would whisper to each of you "If you do not want to, then don't. If you are afraid, you must."

So what are the conditions facing us and the opportunities for the future and what must we do to prepare for them?

This is what we know today:

  • Recovery of the economy will be slow (3 to 5 years)
  • New fuels will continue to make their way into the market and create new challenges for our profession.
  • Communication and educational mediums will provide us with new opportunities to reach out to a wider audience, if we leverage them in a way that is appealing to our constituents.
  • The population we serve will continue to increase, age and diversify.
  • Threats to our country, its people and our personnel will change and continue to challenge the way we train, prepare and protect them.
  • Technologies designed to improve our efficiency, effectiveness and ability to fulfill our mission will continue to surface.
  • Manual firefighting is not a growth industry. Accordingly, we must continue to broaden our portfolio of services.
  • And if we are to succeed we must be willing to work really hard.

At the peak of his career Mohammed Ali had a great line when he was asked, "How many sit-ups do you do when you work out?" He said, "I don't count all my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that's when I start counting, because that's when it really counts."

If we want to succeed, if we want to be successful in leading our organizations into the future, we know what we must do. The profession depends on us, they have no one else. We cannot afford to fail in these uniquely challenging times.  Those who follow us will be the beneficiary of our successes or the victims of our failures.

May God bless each of you.

May God bless firefighters and emergency personnel on duty today across our great country and keep them safe.

May God bless and protect Americans in outposts around the world keeping us safe from those who want to do us harm.

And may God bless America. Thank you,

Glenn A. Gaines
Deputy U. S. Fire Administrator

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Posted by on January 21, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Chief's Point of View • Tagged:

Big Box Store Fires & Other Stories

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Big Box Store Fires and Other Stories 

I have been looking over major big box store fires and how management of these stores tend to locate highly combustible materials such as class A plastics, pool chemicals and other home cleaning materials along with motor oil near oxidizers etc., in a high piled configuration. This creates fire loading that can and has in the past overwhelmed sprinkler systems. One fire in the late 90s caused $9 million in fire losses.

This is where savvy fire marshals actually support businesses in maintaining their profit making capabilities through partnerships in seeing that their facilities are maintained in a condition that will sustain the threat of fire or other incidents.

Mostly, we see fire inspectors vilified by business leaders as obstructionists by not allowing them to “run their business”. No, it is just the opposite. They are there to provide counsel in how to ensure your business is resilient. I will agree that there are some zealots in the prevention field who are over judicious, inflexible and no friend of business. They are in the minority, however, and ultimately earn their way out of this function of the fire department organization if senior leadership is on point.

We must understand that fire marshals have the duty to enforce the codes adopted by their political leadership. They no other option other than to do just that.

One quick story I read recently about a fire marshal that inspected a large wood pulp facility out in a rural area. The fire marshal found numerous violations. Upon completing his inspection he met with management who went ballistic. After several minutes of discussion, the fire marshal agreed to require the owner/manager to correct the violations in two phases. The first phase would focus on the most hazardous violations, the second on what the fire marshal viewed as of lesser risk could wait until the most hazardous violations were corrected.

One of the violations the fire marshal agreed to delay compliance was to replace a spark arrestor on the stack of an incinerator used to dispose of unusable pulp product. Two days after the initial inspection, sparks from the incinerator set fire to grass, brush and trees, spreading to a lumber yard next door causing a huge loss.

The owner of the lumber yard hired an investigator who retrieved the inspection report which clearly indicated the fire marshal was aware of the violation yet, left the site, doing nothing about it. The city was sued, by the lumber yard owner, accusing the fire marshal of gross negligence. The city later settled for $1.2 million.

The moral of this story is working with management is fine, however, allowing causative violations to exist with no documented action to correct them is a no/no. Causative violations are those that will contribute directly to ignition of a fire.

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Posted by on September 24, 2012 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View, commentary, Fire Prevention & Education, Fire Rescue Topics, inspections • Tagged:

What Are Your Own Expectations?

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What Are Your Expectations?

I served as fire chief of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Fire and Rescue Department from August 1991 to January 1999. I recently spent a few moments going through a few old articles and directives I drafted during my tenure. This article was published in our department newsletter and I believe it has value as much today as it did in August 1992.

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Every successful manager ensures that the people who are a part of the organization are aware of what is expected of them. Each employee must understand their specific role and responsibilities in their position in the organism.

I believe that firefighters through the chain of command to the chief of our department must possess the desire and drive to do their absolute best to serve our citizens. Ours is an honorable profession. There is no greater privilege than to have the opportunity to have a positive effect in another person's life when they are in personal peril. Senior officers, who are visible to both the public and our political leaders, are expected to be ethical, moral and possess both leadership and extraordinary communication skills. However, to the customers we serve, the company officer or E.M.T. who answers a call for assistance in their personal time of need they are the fire and rescue department, not the chief or a member of senior staff.

I do not know the Postmaster General. To me the post office is the man who delivers mail to my home and occasionally stops to talk to me or a member of my family. This just a small example of how all of us play an important role in our organization.

I think the most appropriate place to begin my list of expectations for the members of or department is to begin with my own position as chief. The following is a list of expectations that I have developed for the position of chief of our department:

  • Maintain and improve the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the position of chief.
  • Be approachable and available to members of the organization, the citizens we serve and to others outside the organization.
  • Ensure that the members of the organization are provided with safe, healthy, and efficient facilities and equipment.
  • Ensure that members are treated in a fair and equitable manner and provided a non-hostile work environment.
  • Set a good example for others to follow.
  • Be a good citizen.
  • Represent the organization in a professional manner to the governing body.
  • Ensure that the governing body is cognizant of the needs and value of the services we provide.
  • Plan and prepare the organization for the future.
  • Ensure that our citizens are receiving appropriate, cost effective services.
  • Provide decisive, timely, sound and well formulated decisions and direction.
  • Allow others in the organization to reach their potential through delegation, equal opportunity and trust in them.
  • Recognize that every member in the organization is important and the role they play is vital to the over all success of the department.

These expectations were separate from my job description, although some may be found there. Included in these expectations are core values that I believe are required to ensure that we have a viable, responsive, and proactive department of which we can all be proud.

Glenn A. Gaines
Deputy U. S. Fire Administrator

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Posted by on January 3, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Chief's Point of View, commentary • Tagged:

Where We Stand, What We Stand For

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The American Fire Service
Where We Stand – What We Stand For

The Fire Service has always been looked upon as the pinnacle of service to society. In this country it began when Ben Franklin set the fire service in motion after a huge fire in Philadelphia in 1736, Ben created a fire brigade called The Union Fire Company with 30 volunteers.

Some famous Americans who served as volunteer firefighters were: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Benedict Arnold, James Buchanan, Millard Fillmore and yes, Doctor Kirby Kiefer. Accordingly, the fire service has been and continues to be held in very high regard by our citizens.

Firefighter Ben Franklin

However, in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001 and in the recent economic downturn, the fire service faces pressures that could not have been imagined in years past.  "Well the fire chief said he needs it, so we better provide it for him," just doesn’t work today.  In today’s environment, what we do, what we are comfortable doing, and everything we say we need, is questioned by political leaders, budget staff and the citizens we serve.

But we have great leverage. Our business address is located in our customers’ neighborhood. No other public service enjoys such a unique opportunity to become a part of the fabric of the community.  No other public sector service has a better opportunity to garner citizen support than the local fire station.

Local fire and EMS personnel are always among the first to respond to events and the last to leave. Occasionally they are asked to perform during a period when they and their families are also victims of the disasters. We consider it a failure if we arrive 6 minutes after we receive the call for help. No other government service offers this unique line of business and high performance standard.  We are, in fact, critical infrastructure and the tip of the spear for homeland security.

The Fire Service is, and will continue to be, on the front line and depended upon every day by our citizens. We are depended upon when citizen’s lives or their personal property are in peril from fire, accidents, life threatening health conditions or major disasters. Firefighters must perform at maximum efficiency at these critical times. We know they cannot afford to fail. Honestly, citizens have no one else to turn to in these circumstances.  "Please hurry my house is on fire," is a call that no other agency -local, state or Federal – can answer; not in the way we do.

I am reminded of the grandfather providing some sound advice to his granddaughter. It goes something like this: "Listen honey, if you are ever lost or need help in a strange place, go to a firehouse, the firefighters well help you."  We cannot allow that respect, that confidence, that trust to erode. It is our responsibility to protect our good standing. We do indeed stand on the shoulders of the giants of our profession. If nothing else we owe it to them to continue to insist on high professional, ethical and moral standards. And maintain zero tolerance for those who violate these values.

Youngest Witnesses

But under these economic times, the Fire Service will be asked to operate with reduced resources while maintaining the same high level of service. A daunting undertaking.  We should not, however, believe that citizens will expect less from us because we have less to protect them. It is up to us, as a profession, to find ways to ensure our safety and the safety of our citizens now and into the future.

There is an old axiom that seems to be especially appropriate for today’s business and public service leaders. "Ask for what you need, but do the best with what you have."  I would add that we must identify, quantify, justify and communicate the true impact of reductions in financial, human and material resources on our communities so that our political leaders can make informed decisions based on sound, rational facts.  It is also incumbent upon the American fire service to enhance our efforts as advocates for life, health, fire prevention and mitigation with public outreach and code enforcement every day.

It is right to be out front in selling the value of preventing tragedies that may befall families. It is the purest demonstration that we care for our citizens as a profession and we have simple solutions to ensure their health and safety. It is in fact good business to demonstrate a proactive approach to fire and life safety.  We must think more critically, work more efficiently and demonstrate that we are indeed partners in seeking opportunities to reduce the cost of public sector services, while maintaining a high degree of care and service.

So I encourage you to continue your desire to:

· Learn something you do not know;
· Seek out big problems, for that is where big opportunities live;
· Do something good that has never been done before; and
· Do something good successfully no one else has been successful in doing.

May God bless the American Firefighters and keep you safe. And May God bless the United States of America.

Glenn A. Gaines
Deputy U. S. Fire Administrator

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Posted by on December 27, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Chief's Point of View, commentary

About Educators and Instructors

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The following is an edited version of a speech that I presented before the Fire Service Higher Education Conference attendees at the National Fire Academy this Saturday:

About Educators and Instructors

Educators are leaders, visionaries and motivators. As educators you strive to take students to a different place. Educators inspire them to accomplish what they have not yet dreamed they may accomplish. But it is hard. We have a great challenge before us. Many students and potential students are contemplating the uncertain future of the American fire and EMS services. They witness their chief officers vilified before city council and in the press. The next generations of leaders see unprecedented political pressure to retain current levels of service while reducing revenue streams. These conditions exist at a time when structural fires are burning hotter and fire growth patterns are occurring unprecedented speeds. We are experiencing flashover in residential structures in 31/2 minutes. The older adult population who is most at risk due to this condition is growing in numbers.

New alternative fuels used in vehicles and structures are emerging. These fuels include biodiesel, hydrogen, ethanol, all electric vehicles and photovoltaic, solar farms and power plants. We are seeing infectious diseases spreading across continents at break neck speed. The recent out break of E coli now affecting over 1,800 people in Germany has reached now the U. S.

We know that training, information, developing and honing new skill sets are the answer. These challenges face us at a time when training dollar investment is at an all time low. So our students, the future leaders of the American fire and EMS services see what is ahead of them. They ponder how they might motivate people in this current environment. They see friends losing their jobs, losing their homes and losing ground against inflation due to pay freezes. They begin to rethink their desire to climb the corporate chain into chief executive officer status.

Man, I am not a cynic but it sure sounds like it. What we can assume is that those who are stepping forward today are the true leaders of tomorrow. They do not have a personal agenda. They truly are inspired to lead. We cannot afford to fail them.

We know the difficult decisions and choices they must make are founded on sound reasoning and based on reliable data, and only after careful analysis of their impact, there cost and there benefit. These difficult decisions and choices demand inclusion of all impacted parties and have direct relationship to organizational values. They must know that critical thinking must include consideration of the political landscape. It is going to take a special brand of courage to undertake this unique challenge.

Not all their decisions will be embraced or popular; however, they must be made regardless.

There is a story about a grandfather, grandson and their mule. As the trio proceeded on a long journey, they were continually stopped by observers. The grandfather was scolded that he should let the boy ride on the mule, not walk, because the boy is young and appeared tired. A little farther on the journey, the boy was scolded and told the grandfather should ride because the grandfather is old. Eventually, they were told that they should both ride. Then they were told that they should carry the mule, because the mule has always worked so hard for them. Each time, they obliged the requests, but as they tried to carry the mule, they became over burdened, as they crossed a bridge, slipped and dropped the mule over a side rail and the mule drowned. "The moral of this story is: When you try to please everybody, you're going to lose your ass".

There is no magic pill, no simple solution for these complicated and far reaching challenges. In America we love simplicity. Our approach in many cases has been to apply a simple solution to a complicated problem.

There is a long list; a long list of failures I might add:

· A national problem with alcohol consumption? – Prohibition.

· A national crime problem? Three strikes you are out.

· Dependence on foreign oil? Add 10% ethanol to our gasoline.

· New Orleans sinking? Build levees and install huge pumps to keep the water levels down.

We know that problem solving begins with sound strategic planning and demands skills that take advantage of among other things:

· GIS

· Smart development

· Contemporary prevention, and mitigation technologies and programs

· A good dose of political and community involvement

All have their place in our classrooms today.

We want our future leaders to see beyond how things are. Seek solutions through innovation, partnerships and solutions that are realized vicariously through others including the private sector. We cannot continue to conduct ourselves as we have in the past and continue to exist as a profession. Not in the new normal. Normal is new each day. Our future leaders have to know that failed attempts at creating solutions must be set aside or retooled and new approaches found. They have to bounce back.

We do not have a choice in this matter. We cannot afford to fail. It is the people in this room and those like us that must show the next generation of fire and EMS leadership they way through this challenging time.

Mohammed Ali had a great line at the peak of his career when he was asked, "How many sit-ups do you do?" He said, "I don't count all my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that's when I start counting, because that's when it really counts."

It will not be easy. It will be hard. There will be some pain, however we are counting on the next generation of fire and EMS leaders to carry on the great tradition of service to our country and our citizens.

(Chief Gaines is currently the acting U. S. Fire Administrator.)

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Posted by on June 6, 2011 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View, education

Fire Departments Are Famous For Their Many Traditions

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Gossip and Small Talk

There is an old axiom that goes something like:  people who talk about others to you, will talk about you to others. At a time where fire department operations are under close scrutiny, this is not a time when we should engage in personal attacks on one another. Fire departments are famous for their many traditions. Grapevines, social media, informal communications links, and back room talk are one of those “traditions” which should have died an expeditious death decades ago.

Many point to this “tradition” in humor. They trivialize the cruelty of these personal attacks as “small talk”. But these are dangerous and dark paths we take. I am reminded of the following warning when I hear members of a fire department engage in this unsavory “tradition”.

The title: Gossip

Remember me?
My name is gossip. I have no respect for justice.
I maim without killing. I break hearts and ruin lives.
I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age.
The more I am quoted, the more I am believed.
I flourish at every level of society.

My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face. To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become.
I am nobody’s friend.
Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same.
I topple governments and wreck marriages.
I make innocent people cry on their pillows.

My name is gossip.

Author – anonymous

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Posted by on March 28, 2011 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View • Tagged:

Losing Ground

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 Do We Get It?  Most of Us Do.

For the last three years local, state, and now the Federal government and private local, regional, national and international private corporations and businesses have been losing financial ground.  OK, so do we get it?  Most of us do.  Most folks don’t have the cash, savings, real estate, material resources they did five years ago.  Many folks don’t have the house they did five years ago.

The bottom line here is we as government organizations have to take a very hard look at the vulnerabilities our communities currently face, accurately forecast how these and other vulnerabilities might grow or emerge.  Once these vulnerabilities have been identified then an open and honest discussion must occur with community leaders, political leadership, the business community and employees who do not reside in your community.  The subject?  The subjects should focus on the low frequency risk this community faces (examples may include: hazardous materials incidents, high angle, below grade and marine rescues etc.).  The subject may be the six minute response time to 90 percent of the population issue. The next subject?   The next subject is the cost of reducing or eliminating these vulnerabilities.

Are the citizens and political leadership willing to accept 6 minute response time to 70, 60, 50 percent of the community?  Scalable identified savings should accompany these options (a 70% of the community six minute response time will save you $400,000, a 60% community six minute response time will save you $750,000).  The associated impact of these decisions including the potential for fires burning longer, hotter and spreading farther, along with lower citizen save rates (especially to trauma patients).

My mother used to say to me when I would request some outlandish toy, new bike etc, “Glenn, look.  Let’s just lower our expectations a little and you will not be disappointed so often”.  We are reaching the point where we should lower our expectations a bit.  Now I am not talking about lowering standards.  I am saying maybe we eliminate a service and defer to a regional or state team.  Or maybe we privatize hazardous materials entry and train to only hazardous material operations level.  Whatever service we decide to provide we must ensure that our personnel are trained continually, provided proper protective equipment and are provided state of the art equipment necessary to meet the vulnerability the community has decided to prevent or mitigate.

I do not like this.  In fact I didn’t like writing this article, however it is time.  It is time for us to give up on fringe services and focus on core services that protect our citizens to the most probable risk they are most likely to face.

It is just what I have been thinking.

Posted by on March 3, 2011 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View, commentary

Fires Are Up … Fires Are Down

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What We Are Learning

It is time.  It is time for the American fire service to begin shifting our efforts to a broader business portfolio.  True or false, many of our constituents and political leaders see the fire service as a profession that waits for something bad to happen (which rarely does), only to arrive too late to save the people they are sworn to serve.  I am not sure I agree with that perception, but if the perception is there, then we need to do something about it.  If there is any measure of truth to this perception then this is a red flag issue.

It is apparent to most informed fire service leaders in this country and internationally, that mechanical firefighting is not a growth industry.  Simply, fires are down in number.  They are down at the rate of about seven percent a year for the last five years.  Since 1981, unwanted fires are down more than 53% in this country.  The interesting fact is the severity of fires (especially structure fires) is on the increase.  So we may be headed toward an environment of low frequency, high risk incidents.  So what is the answer?  One of the possible answers is for the fire service to consider diversifying their portfolios in an effort to increase their value and support from their community and community leaders.

What We Can Learn From the Scots

Our brothers and sisters across the Atlantic are experiencing remarkable success in reducing the impact of fire, while at the same time taking an all-hazards approach to risk faced by their citizens.  In England, Norway, Scotland and Sweden the fire service has embraced pre-incident public assistance.  These countries first identified the most at-risk populations by making use of a private for-profit marketing analysis corporation.  They identified high at-risk populations by tracking the spending habits of the most at-risk populations, then using geographic mapping, illustrated the most at-risk census tracks.

Local fire service personnel are assigned to focus on these at-risk census tracks exclusively.  By focusing efforts I mean relentless persistence and personal interaction.  Firefighters work in concert with citizen groups and referrals from social services.  Fire firefighters engage high at-risk citizens through scheduled home visits designed as a check up on them to ensure they are safe from fire.  They also ensure the general welfare of the citizen is addressed by checking the home for general health and other risks, such trip hazards (a number one cause of injures to seniors).  They make sure the resident is aware of other local, state and federal government services.  An example of measured success occurred in Scotland where Scottish firefighters have produced a 41% drop in fire deaths since 1997.

There are several published reports that clearly describe the specifics of this program and the results of the good work being done in Great Britain, Norway and Sweden. Check them out.

Here is one of the URLs:

http://www.sysplan.com/documents/tridata/international/global_concepts_1.2.pdf

This approach may be just the approach we need to take when everybody else in government service is shrinking services using lack of money as an excuse. It may be something we may can learn from.  It is just what I have been thinking.

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Posted by on January 31, 2011 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View

Shear Efforts

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Steel Plastic

Last week I accompanied my wife to Costco. This one of those things a man does that has been married successfully to the same woman for 47 years. I had no intentions of traveling to Costco to purchase an item I had needed for some time. Linda (my wife and AKA the General) had convinced me that the item (flashlight) is best acquired at Costco, since she had noticed them and “they were exactly what I needed” and sold at a reduced price. I said something like,  ”Look, I just need a flashlight for the car, and I am not in the least bit interested in doing a one mile walk around a big box store this afternoon since I did a 3 mile run this morning”. I received one of the looks.

Thirty minutes later I was about a ¼-mile into my one mile walk in the local Costco, when we came upon one of those 1/8-mile long isles. I noticed an eight-foot high stack of huge boxes with maybe ten individual containers of flashlights placed out front and to the bottom of the high piled stock arrangement.  OBTW firefighters hate high piled stock fires. Sprinklers do not put them out. They control them. This condition produces large volumes of what is termed “cool smoke”.  Cool smoke travels directly to floor level and is impossible to see through or to operate in, unless you have a thermal imager.  Bellying down doesn’t help.  Anyhow, I wanted one flashlight.  One of the ten commandments Costco corporate leadership abides by is, “Thou shall not sell one of any piece of merchandise to our customers.”  So I ended up with three flashlights wrapped up in this (what appeared to be) ¼-inch thick clear material.

When we arrived home, I decided to stay out in the garage and open up my purchase.  I discovered my prized purchase was encased in what appeared to be a rather tame version of man’s best commodity friend, plastic.  So being a man, I assumed that my peer demographic (another man) knowing our interest in retrieving our purchase with the least amount of angst, would provide a simple, expedient and uncomplicated manner to access the purchase.  What I found was there is no simple, expedient and uncomplicated manner to remove these plastic coverings.  In fact it is hermetically sealed by someone hell-bent on ensuring the frustration of anyone tasked with purchasing an item covered with this stuff and is raised to DEFCOM 4. If any of you reading this article is anxious to open a container using this material, do not follow the approach I took in this instance.

OK, so once discovering that no simple, expedient and uncomplicated method of opening this package was provided, my approach was to look for an object that had sharp edges coupled with carving capability.  Ah – Ha I found it.  My wife had left a pair of her prized cloth cutting scissors on my workbench. How fortunate (or as I found out unfortunate for me).  So I went about the process of cutting and carving my way into the material to acquire the (one flashlight) I really needed, when to my surprise my wife’s prized material cutting scissors were not up to the task.  In fact they essentially disintegrated into three pieces. They should use this stuff to protect the shuttle upon entry.  So being a man, and former firefighter, I immediately formulated a plan ‘B’.  First, retain all three pieces of the scissors.  Second, make use of a more appropriate tool to extricate my flashlight, a box opener.  The box opener worked perfectly (except for the fact that in my exuberance, I sliced a big scratch in one of the three flashlight handles).  By the way, one of the many important lessons I learned in Boy Scouts was, “Son, always cut away from your body when using a sharp object.”  As it turns out I did not take advantage of that important lesson in this case and sliced a three inch gap in my Levi Jeans.

Now For the Scissors Issue. I took the three pieces of scissors and placed them in a strategically concealed location in my car.  The next day I went to the store where my wife makes all her sewing purchases, matched up the remains of her scissors with an exact replica and purchased a new pair of scissors.  I knew where this store was located because I had been there on several occasions, and it is one of things you do when you are married to the same woman for 47 years.  Of course the new pair of scissors were encased with “steel plastic.”   I went to my workbench, whipped out my box cutter, carefully slashed the steel plastic in motion away from my Levis and easily opened the package and placed the scissors back where I had previously found them.  Anyone need a flashlight?  I have two I don’t need.

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Posted by on January 24, 2011 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View, commentary

Ready For More Credentialing?

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Credential Us?

The Federal government is about to step up the credentialing process once again.  If you recall, several fire service personnel were players in the last credentialing effort and completed the fire service piece of the initiative  in 2005.  Currently Federal agencies are racing forward to credential their employees and will soon focus on first responders.  We as a profession and all of our associated special operations leaders must stay tuned and ensure we are fully engaged in the process to solidify our rightful place in prevention, preparedness, response and recovery operations involving natural and manmade disasters.

As time passes, credentialing may be required to be eligible for Federal reimbursement for operations prior to, during and after a federally declared disaster.  Other implications include certification to become a recognized asset in federal and state databases when request for assets are made from federal or state EOCs.  Fire and EMS services have the potential and means to make a huge difference in national and regional emergencies when the first waves of fire and EMS departments and communities are overwhelmed.

Let’s be honest.  When a fire chief or EMS incident commander has run out of local and regional human or material resources, they will most like to see their own kind rolling into the staging area.  These are people who know the vernacular, are trained and skilled in the equipment needed and understand command and control operations.  Firefighters are also nimble and able to adapt to changing conditions and required tasks.

What is our responsibility?  Our responsibility is to figure out a process where local public firefighters and EMS personnel can be organized, trained, credentialed and deployed to these major disasters in support of their comrades.  The US Fire Administration is working to ensure this opportunity for the American fire service is given its best chance for success. 

Just my thinking.

Posted by on January 17, 2011 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View, commentary

How Do You Handle UFO’s?

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Coping With UFOs

I live and work in the Greater Washington D. C., Metropolitan area.  We are the center of the universe for acronyms (DHS, DEA, DOD, HSPD).  Oh My God.  We couple this condition with the social network acronyms and you have a new language.  So it is not a shocker that yet another acronym has surfaced here.  UFO (legacy acronym) is now short for unforeseen occurrences.  Online dictionaries refer to terms such as atypical, extraordinary, incomparable, matchless etc., to describe “unforeseen occurrences”.

So what’s my point?  As chief executive officers of emergency response organizations, we can assume that shocking unforeseen occurrences will happen under our watch.  What are we talking about here?  Let me give you an example.  While serving as fire chief, I was enjoying a fairly productive day in my office.  I happen to notice in my peripheral vision, a firefighter standing at the door.  The firefighter has tears streaming down her face and closes the door.  She walks over to my desk, leans over and admits that she has just lied to our internal affairs officer during a taped interview regarding her drug use while on duty.  So here I am, by myself, in a closed door discussion, in which a subordinate member has just admitted to a violation of our regulations and a potential felony.

On another occasion I was in command of a working fire in a general goods store that was an old frame, one story building, about 75 feet by 80 feet. We had plenty of water, personnel, apparatus and equipment.  We deployed two 1-¾ inch and one 2-½ inch hose lines to the interior.  Two aerial companies were deployed to ventilate the roof.  I have established command on the A side of the building.  A little more than five minutes into the incident, I see that the fire is actually increasing in severity.  I pull the Operations Branch manager back to command and do a quick walk around.  I see cracks in and around cinder blocks, heavy grayish/black smoke pushing out of the eves of the structure.  There is no way this condition should be occurring.  Eight hundred gallons per minute into this structure with two ladder companies venting is a knock out, slam dunk win for the firefighters.

Two very diverse, but for certain, UFOs.  Managers, officers, fire chiefs, EMS command officers routinely face occurrences similar to those we just discussed.  So how do we prepare for “UFOs”?  Experience and learning from your experiences serves as great preparation.  Here are some other suggestions in preparing for UFOs:

  • Reading and learning from how other leaders have responded to similar occurrences
  • Staying current with good corporate management
  • Exercising delegation of authority and responsibility and good organizational structure
  • Promoting only high performers and good citizens into positions of responsibility
  • Know the law and staying current with court decisions
  • Insisting on high standards of skills, knowledge and education in you staff
  • Supporting and funding training at all levels of the organization
  • Knowing your community and it’s associated risks
  • Knowing local political leaders and agency heads with power
  • Keeping and eye on the future
  • Maintaining a current disaster plan
  • Understanding legacy, contemporary building construction and associated codes
  • Knowing fire and chemical release behavior

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High performing leaders and organizations concentrate on the strategic view while at the same time focusing on the details.  Corporate management is complicated and demands that we possess ability to respond to unforeseen occurrences with measured responses that are well conceived and based on sound judgement.

That is what I have been thinking.   Just my view.

Linda (the wife) and I wish you a happy, healthy, safe and successful 2011.

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Posted by on January 3, 2011 • Filed under: Chief's Point of View, Command & Leadership, commentary