Unit 7 Writing Assignment

This applied research project will examine fire chief succession planning for Quilcene fire Rescue and how it can be accomplished. Applied

Over the past couple of years, our small city of Granbury has seen a drastic spike in population. This recent growth has not only caused an unemployment crisis, but it also has influenced a greater risk of devastating fires for both homes and businesses. However, if the city of Granbury were to adopt full time fire departments, all citizens and businesses would benefit in numerous aspects. By adopting these full time departments, it is clear that our cities proficiency, productivity, and safety will increase greatly. There is a little over 400 volunteer firefighters at seven departments spread across Granbury. This not only means that these hard working heros do not receive a paycheck for their excruciating efforts, but it also reveals that these 400 firefighters are not stationed at their departments which indicates they must travel to the station to be able to then respond to a call causing a slow response time; opposed to career departments that always have their stations manned which is proven to generate a quicker response time. Not only do these full time departments ensure proper response times to emergencies, but they will also correspond with companies insurance codes which allow their franchises to be opened in cities only with these career departments. Many companies such as Target, Academy, Olive Garden, Main Event, etc… all require professional fire departments for their stores to be built in that city. Also, the lack of recreational opportunities prevent social

The Whistler Township Volunteer Fire Department is finding itself with an increasing amount of tasks to do, but fewer people to accomplish those tasks. Nolen Fenwick has been charged with the task of recruiting new volunteer firefighters by setting up a new marketing plan.

Today, firefighter safety is a focal point and hot topic of discussion throughout the fire service. With new research and data pointing to alarming cancer rates among men and women on the job, more efforts need to be done to protect our heroes. The 16 Initiatives platform is built and maintained to accomplishing just that. As a collection point for data, research and informational publications and guidelines for success. The National Fallen Firefighter Foundations is facilitating tools for success in firefighter safety; it’s up to the nation's departments to take advantage of this information and implement the necessary changes.

While paid departments have members on duty twenty four hours a day seven days a week, there are many downfalls to this. One of the major downfalls is the cost to man the station, or if it is a larger department many stations. This can cost residents thousands of dollars every year. Another major downfall is that members are often not required to live in the city of the department. While volunteer departments generally require their members to live within city limits, enabling them to respond to calls more quickly, paid departments often do not which can be a problem when there are large fires or calls that require many people, beyond those on duty, to respond. While paid fire departments may also have their perks such as uniformed staffing, volunteer departments generally work better

Since the early 1800’s the Federal government has been involved with assisting local disasters by supplying financial assistance to those communities that had been destroyed by fire. A fire rippled through a New Hampshire town in 1803, and that was the first instance of Federal government assistance after a local disaster. Throughout the years, legislation has continued to provide funding to areas that have been devastated by fire.

Eight different fire departments were called including the one I work for. Some departments were assigned to evacuate people out of the cities and move them into shelters until the fire could be controlled. Others were sent to take out the fire. Since I was still a rookie I had to make the decision between getting people away from the disaster or taking down the thing that was chasing innocent people.

The world around us is constantly changing, and so is the fire service. The fire service is built off of tradition, but sometimes new traditions need to be made. Over the past thirty years the fire service has adopted new techniques and training to improve the outcome and safety of calls. The fire service has seen changes in their personal protective equipment, safety and performance advances of the apparatus and changes of residential fire dynamics.

In the fire service, we often preach the importance of being pro-active. The pro-active engine company, ladder company or a pro-active approach to training and education. On the larger scale, fire service organizations are often more reactive than proactive i.e. something isn’t changed until someone gets hurt… We all know the dangers of being reactive and hopefully you and your crew take steps to maintain a proactive environment in the firehouse and on the fireground. With emphasis placed on being proactive in the manner in which we carry out our jobs, we need to have the same mentality with respect to our careers.

Facing the Future written by (Knight, 2013) highlights that due to the effectiveness of prevention activities, firefighters are responding to 40% less incidents than a decade ago. Notwithstanding, this decrease in calls has not been met with a decrease in firefighting services and expenditure.

Volunteerism is dropping for emergency responders, and it is affecting how emergency services can be provided to local communities. Looking for reasons why volunteerism is dropping and what options are available for these volunteer companies and communities in order for them to effectively continue protecting the people and property within their communities is very important to me. If local fire companies no longer exist, how are people in the community going to be protected? In addition to fire suppression, firefighters are called on to assist with numerous other situations including auto accidents, downed wires, flooding, emergency medical service, hazmat incidents, and various rescue operations. There is simply not enough money to fund career fire departments for every community. Even in the

Fire fighting is one of the most essential duties for civilians safety. Without them Wildfires would burn out of control, no one would be around to save burning buildings, and bomb threats would be and even bigger concern with no one to defuse them. After knowing this it is essential that we hire the best qualified candidates for the job. After looking at multiple studies the conclusion had been made that the men candidates would be best for the firefighters positions.

Throughout history men and women have devoted their lives to serving their community in the fire service. Innovation in technology and ideology has shaped today’s fire service. From St. Florian and Ancient Rome to The Knights of St. John and the Crusaders; from the ashes of The Great Fire of London to King Saint Louis of France and the guet bourgeois; from the colonial Bucket Brigades to Benjamin Franklin and his Union Fire Company; From the inferno of the Great Chicago Fire to those lost in the attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11th, 2001; the fire service continues to evolve to meet the needs of society and answer the calls of those in need. Although many changes have occurred throughout it’s evolution- courage, honor and duty connects the past to the present day firefighter.

Have you ever thought about the extremely harsh conditions that the firefighters from today experience. And the fact that every time they suit up they know that they are about to risk their lives for someone else. Well for my career I know that I want to do this for someone else.

     In the past, most people thought firefighters had a pretty easy career. Much of the time they were off work or just laying back waiting for