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Does Your F.D. Appoint Officers or Make Them Test For the Position?
Back in the day, my F.D. used to appoint officers to their positions. About 10 years ago, we switched to a testing program. Now those members wishing to go to the next rank must meet the requirements (certifications and length of service) and also take a test. We then establish an eligability list of those that passed and then promote off of that list. This only applies to Lt's & Capt's. Chief Officers are appointed by the Fire Chief from the existing officer ranks. I realize that big city F.D's have been doing this, but what about the smaller F.D's out there?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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All of our officer positions are elected positions, however there are training and experience requirements for each rank. Captains and Lieutenants must have FF1 or a combination of other courses, plus proficiency with all FD equipment. Chiefs have to have Intro to Fire Officer, Arson awareness, Haz-mat and other goodies. Fire police and ambulance officers are appointed by the Chief.
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Permalink Reply by ROUNDMAN on
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In our department all officers take a written test and then do a assesment centers.
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Permalink Reply by Jeanine on
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In my department, since it is volunteer, the fire chief appoints the officers. He usually appoints the "seinor" responders due to experiance and training.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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Sorry Joe, I forgot about elected positions.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Eades on
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Our officers have traditionally been appointed, which as you can imagine, can result in varying amounts of favoritism depending on who's making the selection; along with inconsistencies in performance. We instituted an application process last year for the first time, along with oral board interviews for all candidates. For some of our folks it was the first time they had to face an oral board; and though intimidating, the response was very positive department-wide. This year, we handed out performance appraisals for the first time; again, with mostly positive feedback. We will be phasing in a written exam, and some form of technical assessment as time goes by.
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That's OK. I forgot to mention that the Fire Chief is also an elected (by the membership) position here.
Not to hijack the discussion, but possibly to clarify it: For volunteer departments whose chief appoints the other officers - how does the chief get his/her position? For how long? Is appointment and/or testing better than the election process in terms of the favoritism question?
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Permalink Reply by Chuck Wright on
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in our department the chief appoints the officers then they decide to take it or not
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Permalink Reply by Ashleigh on
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I live in a rather small township area and am a firefighter at a strictly volunteer station. All of our officers, including chief get voted in by the members on our department. As far as certification or length of service requirements go, we don't have any. I suspect this is because our dept. consists of about 12 guys and myself so any help is greatly appreciated. And we vote once a year.
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Permalink Reply by firechief911 on
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our dept vol city dept. chief is appointed by mayor city council approved . asst chief is appointed by chief city council approved capt appointed by chief and asst chief that makes officers or board we then appointed training officer and safty officer all officers then make up the officers commity . we then later appointed a chaplin the commity as a whole make all decisions in disaplenary action and department needs as a whole. chief is the chair of the officers commity. any time an officers slot opens we go by the seniority if the one up wants the possion its his if he dont we go to the next in line .with the exception of the chaplin and the training officer
it has worked well for us
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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This is one of the FFN moments for me... I assumed that everyone had to take all the classes, compete against their peers and test for the positions that they were trying to achieve. Not to be naive here but having someone "appoint" the position sounds like someone who is not qualified to do the position might get the job instead of someone more qualified. Having one person make that decision is an awful lot of power for one person to possess. I liked the odds of promoting based on the effort that I made, not a political appointment or a bro deal. Working for a local, county, state or federal department ensures you that the testing process is fair and monitored, and is supposed to take away any bias or hidden agendas. Even so, I have to admit that after all the testing, score keeping and posturing, the decision for promotion is ultimately up to the fire chief. None of us are really that different...
When I was working my way up the ranks, I remember as many of you do as well, the older guys who had been around and had earned the respect of the other firefighters, myself included. That was then and this is now. My above personal comments reflect the fact that in order to promote in my department, you have to take a lot of classes as well as show department involvement, unique projects that further the mission of the department, etc. I'm not sure if other departments refer themselves as an All Risk Department but mine does. This means that you have to be proficient in structure and wildland firefighting, hazmat, ems, technical rope rescue, extrication, fire prevention and on and on. The testing process reflects this and the testing process isn't a cake walk. Standardized written testing, in box exercises, written exercises, tactical oral boards for a structure, wildland and hazmat incident, department oral board, and finally the chief's oral board. Lot's of hoop jumping... The process takes years or at least it used to. Now, the norm is for the new guys that were hired just a few years back, taking tests and kicking butt. All of the latest hires for my department have a minimum of a bachelors degree and most have prior experience as seasonal firefighters or paramedics but they bring something to the table that makes it pretty difficult to compete against these guys. The good news here is that the Fire Chief makes the final decision and takes into consideration who's been around longer and has the whiskers needed to promote and work as a competent company officer. Again, none of us are really that different at all.
My best, Mike from Santa Barbara
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