Officer candidates participate in firefighting training aboard Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.)
By Dale Eriksen
It was a cold winter morning when the tones dropped at 2:30 a.m. I was 14 years old, a junior member in my local department. I came from a firefighting family, but there was no one there to drag me out of bed. My father heard the tones go off, along with me getting out of bed; he did the same shortly after. “Report of a structure fire” were the words that echoed through my head and the house. As we started down the stairs, I remember my father saying to me to make sure I had warm clothes on. He drove me to the firehouse, leaving me with the words, “listen to what they say.” My father, who once was an officer in the same department, knew the situation I was getting into, but I was only able to imagine what I was about to experience.
Everyone in the fire service remembers their first working structure fire. It could be from when you were a junior member in a volunteer department to your time as a probationary member, and even with having a few years on the job. The sounds, the sights, the smells—they stick with you for most of your life not only because of the inherent rush but the lessons that were learned during that event. Seven years later, at the age of 21, I was chosen to fulfill the position of lieutenant within the same department. This is my story of the challenges faced with being a young officer and how young officers should work to avoid leaving a negative impact on those who come after us.
I didn’t take the lieutenant position because I wanted the license plate to put on the front of my vehicles. I did not do it for the red helmet that came with the position. I did it because I care about my community, my department, and the people around me. I was a senior in college who could have easily sat back and enjoyed the rest of my college life, but I chose not to. Unfortunately, for many young members of the fire service, the job is all about the guts, the glory, and trying to be the “saltiest” person around. That is the exact mentality that a young officer must remember to leave at the door when he takes the position because he must be ready for an uphill battle.
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This article isn’t being written to act as if I am perfect and I know exactly what I am talking about. That is far from the case, and my only hopes are to have the ability to reach the young members of the fire service to help them develop their leadership styles along with preparing them for the journey they are starting. Once you take that front seat, it is no longer about playing with the siren and air horn; you become responsible for every person in that rig with you. One class instructor that I had left a long-lasting impact on my life with these few words: “The reason why I am an instructor is because I owe it to every other person who has instructed me to give back in the same way they did to me.”
Every new officer, whether old or young, has to be able to prove themselves to their crews. There is no way around it because there is a respect factor that you must establish, not because of the initials in the front of your name but because there is a goal to achieve that everyone has to be on the same page to do. You may be able to establish this factor overnight, but for others it may never end. As a 21-year-old, I set the bar high for myself because I had a lot more to prove. The position is not that of a dictator but of one who is standing beside his crew as the job is getting done.
In that position, you may have to oversee members who are older and more experienced. I have made my share of mistakes, one of which I was told by an instructor, “I was young like you once. You need to realize that you don’t know everything and, sometimes, need to keep your ears open and your mouth shut.” Never forget that you are young, and sometimes, as a young person, the instinct is to immediately act, and that no matter what is done there is no consequence to what you do.
Welcome to the fire service! It’s time to develop the ability to take a step back from your young instincts and use the wealth of knowledge at your disposal. You may not realize that the knowledge of the individuals that are sitting in the back of your rig may be even better than having the internet at your disposal, and it may be time to ask for help. Leave your ego at the door and work as a team that you agreed to lead, and this may include asking for help.
Being the person who rides the front seat comes with a huge responsibility. Every person who rides the rig has been given the training to be able to run into a burning building, cut a car at a motor vehicle accident, deal with the hazardous material spilling from a tanker truck, and whatever else he may have specialized training in. However, the one thing that you must realize is that the officer sitting in the front seat now understands that he is now responsible for everyone under the roof of that rig. Sitting in the front seat is knowing that you are taking into your hands the responsibility of making sure your crew gets the job done along with making sure that they go home that night to their families. This isn’t something that you have to work on; this is something you have to understand immediately as soon as you take the role or the seat.
At every incident you work, assignments are given that are expected to be done, but the overall mission doesn’t change: everyone goes home. Always consider this to be your number-one goal. The choices you make now aren’t those that put yourself in danger, but your entire crew in danger. My crew members’ safety takes priority over my well-being no matter the incident, and nothing is asked of them that I would not do myself.
A common strategy is given when responding to incidents—the “never-ending size-up.” You start the size-up from the initial tone, and it continues to every update that comes over the radio until the time you put the rig back into service. It is now your role to now step up your game and actually apply it. A higher officer may have signed on to respond to the scene, but the one time you take that for granted, you show up first, and it is now your scene. Just like it is YOUR crew, it is YOUR scene. Therefore, you must take ownership of it.
A theme that many younger members have been partaking in is what a friend of mine calls the “selfie hero.” The selfie hero sits on the rig with his gear on, takes a picture of himself with the fire engine emoji, and possibly even taking a video of him responding on his phone. This should not be an acceptable habit to get into, and in no way does it belong in the front seat of that rig.
Don’t let what others in our generation do: Define the standards to which you hold yourself. Start your size-up AS you’re responding, and always be ready to go to work. Set the standard for your crew with all of your gear donned correctly, grab the tool, and don’t fall into the habit of trying to look like the saltiest person, because someone may be on scene with a camera to catch you.
Dale Eriksen is a nine-year fire service veteran, beginning his career as a junior member at the Bethlehem (CT) Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD). In 2012, he joined the BVFD as an interior firefighter, completing his Firefighter I and Firefighter II certifications. In 2016, he was elected to the position of lieutenant. Also in 2016, Eriksen graduated University of New Haven with a bachelor’s of science degree in fire science.
