These comments are on Pabel Troche’s letter (December 2014) regarding the importance of formal education in the fire service. Troche’s comment regarding firefighters’ resistance to obtaining a degree is a valid point that we counter by posing the question, “Are you going to ride backward your entire career?” Certainly, the fire service needs personnel riding backward and doing the heavy lifting during emergency responses, but 30 years into a career, that is a tough way make a living. Our job descriptions for each rank have been modified to include the requirement of degrees for certain promotional opportunities.
The fire service is a business, and regardless of the individual department’s structure-municipal, special-purpose district, combination, or volunteer-it must be recognized as such. Even in the smallest of volunteer departments, finance and accounting are required, as are the need to prepare a budget, develop personnel policies, engage in labor management, oversee insurance issues, initiate some degree of strategic planning, and comply with federal and state rules and regulations. These duties are critical to the success of the organization.
Troche’s comment, “The person may not be better in one aspect of the job, but somewhere in the many things we do, that education will enhance the person’s ability and efficiency” is certainly valid. The police departments of the country have long recognized this aspect of career development. The fire service must do likewise.
Randall F. Parr
Chief
Tomball (TX) Fire Department
Museum houses apparatus used in 1948 fire
The cover of the August 1948 issue of Fire Engineering (on next page) depicts a large blaze at a feed storage building in Baltimore, Maryland. What caught our eye is that we have in our collection at least three of the pieces of apparatus shown in the cover’s foreground, among them the floodlight wagon and the water tower.
Alex Guerrieri
Assistant Curator
Fire Museum of Maryland
Lutherville, Maryland
Editor’s note: This fire occurred on July 8, 1948, during the early morning rush hour. The six-alarm fire involved and seriously damaged the six-story, brick-and-joist building that housed William G. Scarlett & Co., seed dealers. The cause of the fire was reported to be “probably” spontaneous ignition, according to a report in Fire Engineering. Two-hundred firefighters responded, and 40 pieces of equipment, including two fireboats, were used. The firefighters prevented the fire from extending to a nearby lumber yard and a freighter moored less than 60 feet from the burning building.
Nine firefighters were nearly trapped by an explosion that occurred four minutes after the firefighters’ arrival. In addition, three firefighters slid down hoselines to escape being trapped by advancing flames. One firefighter suffered lacerations.
Rekindle passion for the job
I am a firefighter with the Ashland (KY) Fire Department. One of our battalion chiefs is a second-generation firefighter with the city. He is also the father of a third-generation junior firefighter, who this Christmas was given a present signifying his acceptance to a local department’s Explorer program. The accompanying video (http://youtu.be/8M74GdchZbl) captures his passion and excitement for his future. This video serves as a great reminder to all “salty” firefighters who lost the excitement for the lifestyle they once chose. Luke Alley (the boy in the video) looks forward to his trip to the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis every year. He is planning to attend this year as a firefighter.
Samuel Horn
Firefighter
Ashland (KY) Fire Department
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