Selection of Teachers in a Program for Volunteer Fire Department Training
Chief Cullinan, the author of this article, has done much to interest and develop volunteer firemen in standard methods. He initiated the plan to organize the Morris County Fire School Association, following the completion of the training program by the Vocational Division of the New Jersey Department of Public Instruction. The article should afford valuable suggestions to Fire Departments in developing this important type of instruction.
THE writer hails from a town of 16,000 population, 30 miles from New York City. The town has a department consisting of six Companies made up of eleven paid men (all drivers) a paid Chief and 220 volunteer officers and members, and eight pieces of modern apparatus.
I am a firm believer in organized training for firemen. As a volunteer Assistant Chief in 1922 I recognized the need for fire department training and enrolled in the Fire College of the Fire Department of the city of New York. Anyone who has had the privilege of attending this wonderful institution and who has devoted the effort necessary for successfully completing the course can recognize the value of organized training. The most valuable experiences in my whole career as a firemen are those which I acquired during my own training period in the New York Fire College.
Duties While Attending Fire College
In my office in the Fire Headquarters in Morristown I have hanging over my desk one of my most treasured possessions, my diploma from the New York Fire College signed by that grand old man of the New York Fire Department, John Kenton, former Chief. The signature written in a bold hand is characteristic of the courage and leadership of Chief Kenlon.
While attending this school I was assigned with Deputy Chief Henry B. Helm, Second Division, with quarters in Engine Co. No. 20—Lafayette Street near Spring Street, and was under Chief Helms supervision and responded to all night fires with the Chief and his driver. When the Chief was off duty, I responded with Engine 20. During my six weeks stay we had everything from a false alarm to a fourth alarm. During the daytime I was at the School of Instruction for probationary firemen and went through all the evolutions under the direction and supervision of Battalion Chief Thomas Larkin and also during the daytime attended Fire Officers classes in the Fire College under the direction and supervision of Deputy Chief Worth.
As a result of this course I realized the great importance of leadership and instruction of officers and men in the art of fire fighting. In order to accomplish the purposes in mind I gathered around me at regular intervals Assistant Chiefs and company officers for the purpose of instruction and development of cooperation and morale among the 220 volunteer members, divided into six Companies. The progress of this work developed rapidly, so that standard methods were placed in use and a very efficient volunteer organization resulted.
The entire membership, from the newly made fireman to the senior officers, forms as efficient and interested a group of paid and volunteer firemen as will be found anywhere in the country. The best of equipment, together with great care in the selection of members to officership of the type who are leaders as well as instructors, is given serious consideration. Altogether, since the plan was originated in 1922 to date, the results have fully justified the efforts put forth on this work.
Importance of Training for Volunteer Firemen
As Fire Department executives we must recognize the need for an adequate training program for the volunteer fireman. Training of firemen in the larger cities is usually well taken care of through the officers in the paid department. In the very large cities the training is carried out through fire schools.
The training of the volunteer fireman is usually a hit or miss affair. He learns many things by watching the older fireman work. In most instances he duplicates the errors of the older fireman, who in turn learned them from some one else.
The volunteer fireman in many instances must be more versatile than the fireman in the paid department who is usually assigned to specific duties. The volunteer fireman must be prepared not only to fight fires but to render a variety of services within the community.
Conditions in Morris County, N. J.
Morris County, in New Jersey, is partly rural and partly urban in character. Within the county we have a large State Institution for the care of the mentally sick, several industrial centers, and the estates of some of the wealthiest people in the New York area.
There are 45 departments within the county, 2,000 active volunteer firemen (approximately) and 82 pieces of modern apparatus in 56 fire houses.
The County Fire Marshal, my brother Fire Chiefs and myself some time ago recognized the need for a more adequately trained fire-fighting group. We recognized the danger and expense involved in a hit or miss training program for volunteer firemen to use our modern fire-fighting equipment. We recognized that we had in our departments men who had the necessary skill and knowledge which would be useful if these men had the ability to transmit their knowledge to others or to develop up to date procedures.
We had a preliminary meeting of all our Fire Chiefs in the county to determine how we could establish the necessary instructor training program. We recognized the difficulties that were likely to develop if all of the Fire Chiefs helped to steer the program.
The county was divided into five districts. All of the Chiefs from each district were brought together to appoint one member from each district to an Advisory Board.
Duties of the Advisory Board
The first duty of the Advisory Board was to select the persons to be trained as instructors. In making the selection the Advisory Board determined the following:
- Only firemen or Fire Department officers who were competent in Fire Department practices would be selected to be trained as teachers.
- No one would he permitted to enter the training group unless he was approved by the Chief of his own department.
- Fire Department politics should be avoided in the selection of the group.
- Any person trained as an instructor would be required to give his time and ability to further the training program to be carried out with all Fire Departments in the county.
Another duty of the Advisory Committee was to list out the subjects to be included in the general training program throughout the county. These included:
Locating of Fires in Buildings.
Overhauling at fires.
Salvage work.
Ventilation.
Fire Prevention.
Care of apparatus and equipment.
Team work and co-operation.
Approximately five men were selected for each of these subjects. The men selected were chosen because of their familiarity with their subject and partly by geographical location within the county. It is important that a man who is to teach ventilation to other firemen in the county will not be required to do extensive traveling from his home to the center in which he is to do his teaching.
There was at least one representative from each of the five districts for each subject to be taught. There were approximately 25 men selected to be trained as Fire Department Instructors.
The Advisory Board also made all of the preliminary arrangements for the place of meeting and other details of the training program.
Where the Training Program Was Carried Out
The training program was carried out in a fire house. There were two reasons for this. The firemen were more at home in a fire house and equipment was available for demonstrations of teaching procedures. The meetings were held one night a week, from 7:30 to 9:30.
Morristown was recognized as a logical center for the instructor training program and the writer first madeavailable the headquarters of a modern pumping Engine Company for the group meetings. Later the group was brought together in another fire house in Morristown where there was available a modern aerial truck and salvage company. On one occasion we held one meeting in the adjoining Fire Department in Morris Township, where a modern fire alarm system has been installed, the teletype system.
How the Program Was Carried Out
The training was under the auspices of the Vocational Division of the New Jersey Department of Public Instruction. The Vocational Division has for a number of years carried on instructor training programs in industry. They made application of these procedures used for training industrial supervisors to Fire Department Instructors.
The details of the training program are too extensive to be fully described in the limited time allotted for this paper. A full report containing the details of the Fire Department Instructor Training Program has been published in a report issued by the New Jersey Department of Public Instruction at Trenton, X. J.
Each instructor who completed the training program was issued a certificate which carries the seal of the state, the signature of the Assistant Commissioner of Education and the State Supervisor of Trade and Industrial Education. This was the first instance in which the State Department of Education had issued a certificate to firemen in New Jersey.
Results of fhe Training Program
The activities of the group trained as instructors did not close with the completion of the training program. They have organized themselves into a permanent group known as the Morris County Fire School Association.
They meet every other month to become better acquainted with the technical phases of fire-fighting. In some districts a training program has been already established for local firemen. We expect that early next fall all members who have been trained as instructors will be functioning throughout the county.
The entire training program was conducted by John A. McCarthy, State Supervisor of Trade and Industrial Education, Vocational Division of the New Jersey Department of Public Instruction.
(From a paper read before the annual convention of the Eastern Association of Fire Chiefs at Harrisburg, Pa.)
Michigan Firemen Hold Convention
The needs of small town Fire Departments were stressed at the annual convention of the Michigan State Fire Chiefs Association which held a three-day convention at Traverse City, August 7-9. Robert Lawhead of the Michigan Inspection Bureau explained that this bureau was attempting to arouse interest in fire-fighting in the smaller communities. Richard E. Vernor, Manager, Western Actuarial Bureau, spoke at the annual banquet.
Chief Hugo Delfs, Lansing, was elected President; Don Post, Ferndale, Vice-President; George Dansbury, Grosse Pointe Farms, Secretary; George Boughner, Grand Rapids, Treasurer. The next convention will be held in Owosso.
Charles Lane, former State Fire Marshal, was appointed head of a committee to work out details of regional schools.
