Bruce Martin

Generations in the Firehouse

Part I: Values: Mission, Family, Job

I’m a suppression battalion chief. Day in and day out, I am confronted with issues, some emergencies, and more issues. Because of my role in the organization, most of my issues involve the internal side. You want to see the external, talk to the fire chief and fire marshal, it’s a world you wouldn’t believe (some other time). My issues revolve around doing our job, co-existing with each other, and proper service to the public. I’ve also been running a fire technology program at a community college and get the chance to see new firefighter candidates every semester. This started me thinking, writing and talking about the generations in the fire service. I have spoken before hundreds of firefighters, captains, chiefs, police managers, communications managers, city staffs, military chiefs, and had discussions with many of them.

Lately, it seems, the “co-existing with each other” category of issues has been the busiest. When I started 20 some years ago, it was because a bunch of firefighters were retiring — they all hit the magic age and got a new retirement system at roughly the same time. Well, here we go again, a massive influx of new recruits, experience flooding out the door; and I am supposed to be the grown-up. These new folks seem a little different, like they just don’t get it. Guess what — they ARE different. In the next article I’ll talk more specifically about how (Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and what’s next). Then, I’ll probably write and offer my department’s Fire Department Etiquette orientation for new firefighters — a primer for surviving and excelling in the fire service.

So the new folks are different, but so am I. I, like you, have a little more experience, a little (!) more maturity, and, most of all, the responsibility of dealing with it by virtue of being an officer — it’s my job. I like to simplify things, to give the people I work with a model that they can ponder and use for their success. I also think it will bear fruit in teaching the new folks what the fire service is all about. You still want to believe that they think the same as you and I, but they don’t. We don’t think the same as our predecessors. That’s not bad, it just IS. So I humbly offer these observations.

While there are as many examples of “issues” as there are firefighters, the root of many of these issues is a conflict of values among the participants. Sometimes, our brothers and sisters are relentlessly consistent in their view of the world. Other times, they are relentlessly inconsistent. This phenomenon started me thinking about our values. We join this service with some pretty idealistic views of our profession. At some point in our career, we have a day or days that remind us — it IS a job. And at some other point we have an episode where people stand up for us, or with us (or against us), as firmly as any brother or sister that we may have had. These events get mixed up in our minds, and when we want to defend a proposition, or illuminate an issue, we often pull out one, when we should have recognized the other.

Mission

The mission of the fire service, no matter what your department’s version is, has essentially remained the same through United States fire service history: “protect lives and property” or “help people.” Many firefighters, though, look at their written mission statement as a joke, or as a tool of management. Often these statements are the culmination of a creative writing effort that makes sure to include all the current staff members and their families. Just as often, they are merely words on the back of a business card, or on a fancy poster downtown. The truth is, though, that firefighters are mission-driven, that we do respond to that nobler effort of serving the common good, of helping people whom we don’t know and will probably never see again, and even of making the ultimate sacrifice because of the ideals and idealism we serve. In my firehouse history, we don’t talk about this a lot, unless there is a horrific event; and then we try to learn and pay tribute to those who gave their all. We don’t usually come to work and think: “Today’s the day I might not go home.” A recent professional climate survey in my city, however, showed that despite other labor and management issues, the firefighters were clearly driven by their mission, and then by their relationship with their co-workers.

Family

Man, are we a family! We see cheering, coaching, and shoulders to lean on. We see work parties, painting parties, moving parties. We have seen sibling rivalry, out and out jealousy, pride in our brothers and sisters, great communication, crappy communication, co-dependency and questionable parentage. The part of the family we want, I think, (and that we must push) is the positive side. We need to support, to praise, to listen, to question RESPECTFULLY, and to thank. Next time, try asking “Why did you do it that way?” instead of “Hey dumb$%^&*, why the hell did you do that?” See what you get. It will probably be an opportunity to teach or share a fire nugget, instead of being on the receiving end of a sullen look, finger or wrench to the head. We have a way of relating to each other based on the military and trades influence of our candidate pool from 20, 30, 40 years ago. Check out your new recruits, and see how many are from the trades or military. There are some legitimate and valuable things in our relationship style, but some people may not be expecting the “in your face approach,” or teasing that we dish out.

Job

Finally, the job. This is the part of the day when you must wear a fire department T-shirt instead of a Primo Beer (Baby Boomer) or No Fear (Gen X) T-shirt. Why? Because the rules say so. It’s where you have to fill out forms properly, do stuff on time, and know things without being told every day. It’s a JOB. You take money from the citizens, and in return you do the JOB. The problem area here is that when we are confronted with a job issue, we want to make it a mission issue. “Chief, I don’t need to fill out this time card, I save lives.” Goes over great at the day-room table, but goes nowhere with the BC, chief, finance director, city manager, auditor, grand jury, and the citizens whom we serve (mission) when they want to see reasonable and efficient use of their hard-earned tax dollars.

Citizens are a fickle bunch. They want trained and equipped firefighters, and plenty of them, when they call 911; but they also want low taxes. They want you to have the best equipment to help them, but they want efficient fiscal policy (which means low bid and social causes) attached to the purchasing process. They want rapid service but don’t want the fire station built next door.

These citizen desires translate over time into rules and regulations. Originally designed to control bureaucrats from stealing the treasury, they often seem to be a roadblock to any kind of good work you want to do. The trick here is to recognize the system, learn to use it and use it well. It is possible to do so; it just means an investment of your time and energy. Realize that the other players in your government are mostly trying to do their job right, so help them help you.

Final Thoughts

These values cross all generations. A lot of stuff does. The thing to use to your advantage is that pretty much all of us signed on with that idealistic mission at the top of our minds. Having trouble with the job part and a fireifghter? Okay. Work on it; relate it to the mission; but understand that if someone has a different value than you, it’s your responsibility to recognize that and coach, counsel or demand proper performance. Knowing that all the faces and brains around the dinner table came in with more or less the same ideals goes a long way to getting the players into the same plays. It won’t be perfect, but it’s your fire department; the citizens want our best; and we want to be there for each other when it counts.

<•••SIGN OUT

RETURN TO CURRENT ISSUE INDEX