Fiscal Bind, Mobility Among Topics Discussed at Metro Chiefs Meeting
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Fiscal restraint, the escalating cost of fire apparatus, arson, mask safety and a report on the United States Fire Administration were among the many topics covered by the Metropolitan Committee of the International Association of Fire Chiefs at its annual meeting which was held in Memphis, May 5-7.
The chiefs on this committee represent those cities serving a population of 200,000 or more, or having a department with at least 400 members. They were particularly concerned with the fiscal restraints that seemed to have been sparked by Proposition 13, but by the meeting’s end they had decided that it was just another problem that had to be faced and solved.
USFA regional offices
The U. S. Fire Administration will influence the course of the fire service as it has never been influenced before, according to Gordon Vickery, the agency administrator. Vickery felt that in the past the administration has been “nickeled and dimed” to a nonproductive level, but stated that this would change with the new budget.
Vickery’s plans (he was acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in May) call for an office of FEMA in the 10 federal regions, each of which will be headed by a FEMA director. However, he explained, in this regional office there will be one fire service person who will be a representative for the USFA, one of the four units that constitute FEMA.
“They are a good, young, enthusiastic, dedicated group,” Vickery said in describing the staff he had taken over, “but with some deadwood.” He was dissatisfied with the research at the administration, noting that some $20 million had been spent in this area with very little accomplished for the fire service. Vickery expressed a deep interest in data collection and hoped that when a significant amount of data had been collected, the administration would come up with some logical data use.
Survey on lateral mobility
In reporting on a survey that he had made on lateral mobility in the fire service, Chief Alan Brunacini, Phoenix, stated that most fire departments can have civilian staff specialists but after that, the mobility drops off sharply. Lateral mobility, he explained, is the process by which a fire department can hire persons from outside the department’s ranks.
Of the 92 departments surveyed by Brunacini, 40 percent did not permit lateral mobility at all, 42 percent could only use it for the chief of department position. From there the use dropped off to 12 percent for assistant chiefs, 4 percent for all chief officer ranks and only 2 percent for all ranks.
Brunacini stated that 15 of the departments surveyed had civil service regulations that militated against mobility. And that union contracts and pension laws provided two additional factors that worked against its acceptance.
In his own department, Brunacini told the group, hiring civilians has become a regular practice with a nurse, public education officer, an architect and a fire protection engineer already on the payroll. The last named has some authority on the foreground in the area of building safety.
Respiratory protection
“There will be no significant technical improvements in the forseeable future,” according to Pat McLaughlan, NASA Johnson Space Center, who discussed the current technology of fire fighters’ respiratory protection, “So don’t delay any purchases,” he added, “in the hope that something new or startling (in self-contained breathing apparatus) will turn up tomorrow.”
Lack of training was probably the greatest problem in the use of SCBA, McLaughlan stressed. And he called for repetitive hands-on-training in simulated situations. Lack of maintenance probably ranked next, he said, citing a fire department’s need for verification of no inward leakage (mask, regulator, diaphragms, etc.). Other needs included verification of regulator flow performance and of overall integrity. Lack of routine sampling of compressed air purity, he said, rounded out the greatest of SCBA problems for fire fighters.
McLaughlan called for fire departments to have 5000 psi compressor/ purification/storage vessels available. And to emphasize purification system performance in procurement and maintenance. He laid particular stress on the fact that the relatively new fiber-wound cylinders should not be submerged in water while charging.
McLauglan urged all fire departments to budget to upgrade to the best available SCBA systems, but he added that any SCBA success “is dependent on mandatory use at fires, maintenance and training.”
Effects of fiscal restraint
How to react to fiscal restraints drew the most interest at this spring conference! It was covered by a panel chaired by Jack Gerard, chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Gerard reported that the Los Angeles budget was cut 10 ½ percent, a reduction based on an interpretation of Proposition 13. The effect on his department was the loss of 300 persons from the payroll. Of particular significance in this city was a $7.5 million increase in fire losses, which Gerard claimed was due to a reduction in the fire fighting forces. Purchases delayed by the budget cuts, he added, would provide no real savings. They would eventually have to be made at inflated prices that would negate any savings made by the cuts.
Chief Herman Brice, City of Miami, and a member of this panel, said that his department was not hit as hard as others by the budget cuts. Preplanning the department’s budget in advance of anticipated cuts, he explained, resulted in a 3 percent cut, compared to one of 10 percent that had been anticipated. This success, Brice felt, was due in a good part to the good rapport the fire officials had with the city officials, and to the efforts of department officials in educating the city fathers in the department needs.
Brice also said that Miami was a full service city, with some departments having overlapping assignments. Long-range planning, he added, calls for the building department to be placed in the fire department.
Chief Vince Clet of San Jose, Calif., also directly affected by Proposition 13, urged that public opinion be cultivated to cut enough fat out of city budgets so that fire and police will not be touched. He noted that while other San Jose departments were harder hit than his, there were still no raises for fire fighters to combat escalating inflation. As a consequence, he added, morale in the ranks was low and more fighters had left the job in the past 16 months than in the previous five years. Also contributing to poor morale was a reduction in staff positions—assistant chief to district.
For long-range relief, Clet looked to a fire demand fee based on fire flow and mandatory sprinklers, also based on this flow.
Still another panelist, Chief Ed Kirkham of the Austin, Texas, Fire Department, made the point that “a fire department exists to save life and property—not money,” and that city fathers must be made aware of this fact. Kirkham conceded, however, that the fire service is in a “leveling-off period in which expenses will have to be limited.”
In a comment from the floor, Chief John L. Swindle, Birmingham, Ala., recalled that in the 1975 recession his department went through a period of personnel attrition—no replacements. During this period, the fire loss, death rate from fire and injuries to firemen escalated. When he acquainted the mayor with these figures and pointed out that the mayor would have to share the responsibilities with the fire chief, things changed. Attrition at that time had created 55 vacancies in Swindle’s department. In short order, these vacancies were filled and 30 new positions created.
Arson awareness
“Burn An Arsonist for Cold Cash” was the theme of an arson awareness campaign conducted by the Dallas Fire Department, according to Chief Dodd Miller who described the campaign.
“We believed the key to the arson problem was a community awareness campaign,” Miller said, “which would encourage citizen participation, along with efforts by the insurance and enforcement agencies, in order to significantly reduce the spiraling cost of arson in Dallas.”
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Key to the campaign, Miller explained, were press kits distributed to the public that described the various aspects of the arson problem (28 percent of all structural fires) and the establishment of a 24-hour hotline that provided citizens with an opportunity to give tips or details leading to the apprehension of arsonists. Tied in with this program was a $5000 award fund as an incentive for citizen participation. Miller went into much more detail on the arson awareness program than this space permits recording, but he concluded with the statement that “all the hard work paid off.” As of March 31, 1979, he reported there has been a 26 percent decrease in the number of arson fires in Dallas compared with the same eight-month period in the previous year.
Cost of apparatus
Eliminate frills on apparatus and give serious thought to rebuilding was the message given by Chief William Foley of Chicago who also stated that chrome and diamond plate had no place in a tight economy. Foley told how his department had instituted a service life extension program for apparatus that was extremely cost effective. The program so far has seen eight 1968 pumpers, which had cost $32,000 new, completely rebuilt and overhauled to original or better specifications at a cost of $37,500.
Foley pointed out that his department would have paid $70,000 today for the same apparatus which with double-digit inflation will probably cost $140,000 10 years from now—the life expectancy of the rebuilt rigs.
Del Bilyeu, Grumman Emergency Products, on this panel with Foley, stated that there were only about 3500 pieces of major apparatus manufactured each year and that 30 percent of the cost of each apparatus was the labor cost.
One way to reduce the cost of apparatus, Bilyeu advised, was to stick to a standard body and compartments when writing specifications.
Hazardous materials
“Fire fighters are killed or injured sometimes at hazardous material emergencies because they were operating as they were programmed to perform.”
This was the statement by Ludwig Benner of the National Transportation Safety Board who stated that fire fighters have not had sufficient training or experience to cope with hazardous material incidents, particularly those involving transportation.
When an incident occurs, Benner felt that a fire chief needs help from whomever and wherever he can get it. Probably the most significant safety step a chief can take at such incidents is to pull out. “CHEMTREC is well intentioned,” he believes, “but card reading does not solve problems and further,” he added, “placards do not always provide reliable information.”
Benner called for the chiefs to train their men (in hazardous material incidents) or a centralized group be trained and on call for a particular area. He also called for the establishment of assistance centers which would contain a cataloged library of information on hazardous materials.
Where are we going?
In addressing the future role of the Metro Chiefs, Chief Frank Cruthers of New York City, felt that “the future would be programmed by circumstances and that necessity will just have to be the mother of invention.” Cruthers recalled that in his department the money flow went on and on and then came to a screeching stop when the budget crunch hit New York. But he added that fire departments even with limited resources will still have to provide the same services.
In the future chiefs must be more persuasive in the preparation of their budgets, Cruthers said, and advised that they study the budgets of other city agencies to acquire an overall view of the entire city budget—just in case the fire department is getting shortchanged.
Process of change
“Tradition is on its way out,” according to Chief George Paul, Boston, “and the Metro Chiefs must be leaders in the changes that are coming.”
Paul said that there has been a ripple effect caused by Proposition 13 that quickly reached Massachusetts where tax caps have been placed on budgets. Because of manning problems, Paul suggested a shift of personnel during peak hours and in high fire areas. He called for more productivity by fire fighters, noting that a reduction in injuries constitutes a part of this productivity. His mandatory mask use in Boston lowered fire-induced injuries considerably, but this was accomplished only after an educational campaign was instituted to reduce the fire lighter’s macho self-image.
Other speakers on the program included host chief, Director Robert Walker, Memphis, whose subject was “How to React to a Strike,” Phineas Anderson, USFA, who gave an update on research and development in the administration, and Assistant Chief Carl Holmes, Oklahoma City, who discussed the management of a fire chief’s time.
