Is It Time to Require Volunteer Chiefs to Pass a Test?
First, let me say I hope to provoke thoughtful discussion among our community on this issue of how to elect our volunteer chiefs into office. In the majority of volunteer departments, it unfortunately is still a popularity contest. Other departments require some sort of length of service time with so many required courses to be eligible to run. Still others hire a paid chief—usually hired by the town, city, or district—to run a volunteer membership. Chiefs may be selected using a testing method. The criteria might also be college degrees and verifiable experience.
Most of us know departments that elect chiefs and then we scratch our heads and say, “Really?” It may be well-known that the elected individual does not have a clue whether it’s a flashover or a backdraft. Some departments elect chiefs who cannot operate a pump or ladder. Then we have the good one we all like, so we put him in even though we know he is clueless. This, unfortunately, is the reality in some of our volunteer agencies in this country.
I recently spoke to a friend who is on the job and also a volunteer. He was telling me how two of the chiefs in his volunteer company are really great guys but never have been inside on a working fire. He also said that when he suggests strategy or tactics, there are comments being made about him being the paid know-it-all.
I have mentioned to a few people in my department that maybe we should look into a fair, knowledge-based testing process so all of our candidates can meet a true measured standard. If we follow civil service testing as a blueprint/guideline, then everyone who passes can be eligible to run for a spot.
I would also recommend the candidate be qualified as a chauffeur on all pieces as well as have interior clearance. Testing a seasoned member on tactics, building construction, how fire travels/spreads in different types of structures, disciplinary issues, budgeting, mentoring, coaching skills, an in-depth ability to reason and use judgment, and the ability to be able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions seems reasonable. After all, usually in most departments, the volunteer chief is not simply an administrative job like a lot of larger paid departments. We encounter a lot of the same issues but not on the grand scale. We tend to have hands on all facets of operations. Is this not a smarter way to select and ensure a qualified chief?
It would be a comfort to know the chief is in the street and understands all the variables and issues that crop up in an operation to keep us ahead of the situation as well as knows when to get us out of it. The chief needs to be able to know when it’s time to pull the young aggressive officer out, for example, and go defensive.
When we allow the member who is truly not ready to hold the highest of ranks, we have launched a snowball down the mountain. Sooner or later, it turns into an avalanche. No good comes from an avalanche, and it’s beyond anyone’s control at that point. We have a duty to ensure we have the best leading us. Let’s not even throw that snowball. It may hurt feelings or an ego; however, this is not the local social club leader. This is life or death.
This can be a very controversial topic. I feel strongly, however, that the volunteer fire service should demand more from our chiefs. It has always left me bewildered as to how we have no true way to gauge the knowledge of our leaders. I get that we all have had chiefs who are well respected because of how they have trained, researched, reached out to learn from others, and put acquired knowledge into practice on the fireground. But honestly, if we elect folks we know are truly unqualified to be chief, we are doing a huge disservice to the community and ourselves.
I may not have the answer. If this gets us all talking, then one of you reading this may have the right idea. It’s all about being better as a volunteer service/community and ensuring we demand the best people to lead us. Fire chiefs are the coaches of the team. We cannot have a strong team if we do not have capable leaders. If anything, I hope this gets us as a community to reevaluate the way we elect volunteer chiefs. If we fail to do better with electing chiefs, at least in my state of New York, then the writing is on the wall. The state will set the mandate to hold the office and, instead of leading the change, it will be force-fed to us. That is usually not a popular way to do business in the fire service.
Ed Dolan
Assistant Chief
Catskill (NY) Fire Department
