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Do Families of Firefighters Make Better Firefighters?
So I have been thinking about something...
Is it better TO BE related to other firefighters on your department (or neighboring mutual-aid departments) or is it better TO NOT BE related to others on your department?
Is there a transfer of human capital knowledge that is passed down through families of firefighters which makes you more valuable in the fire service?
- if you grow up in a fire fighter family do you have more working knowledge of the fire service?
- are they more skilled and attentive at trainings, since they grew up in the fire service culture?
- do they have better critical thinking skills?
- do you have more working knowledge of your specific fire department and workings of your district?
- is there a higher level of trust within the fire service if so & so's sister is joining the department - and so & so already trusts the sister - does trust transfer? (if you trust them, I trust them?)
- is there a higher level of relational cloaking / protection amongst those that are related to each other? is that good or bad? is their primal integration - (since John is an well-respected firefighter, then his son, John Jr. becomes more quickly a respected firefighter, compared to other rookies?)
- are you an greater asset, such as being better at political workings?
- are you more likely to stay in the fire service longer and manage stress better if you have family members in the fire service?
- does the employee satisfaction go up?
- are those with family members in the fire service more resilient emotionally?
or does it make you a liability?
- does it bring a whole new batch of complications for discipline, leadership, promotion, and accountability?
- do related fire fighters get lazy because they feel that they have a family pass?
- is there boundary stretching that messes with the harmony of the department?
- is nepotism a huge problem? do they get treated better?
- is it better to have everyone in the department on the same playing field - not related to each other - everyone works their way individually up through the ranks alone?
- do families bring their personal drama to the department?
- if one fire fighter is in trouble, do all the family members on the department get into it?
- are their problems with family members being senior officers to their underling family members?
etc.
etc.
I would be interested to hear thoughts and reasons pro / con or good / bad on this matter.
btw - statistically more doctors have children who become doctors; more lawyers have children who become lawyers; more fisherman have children who become fisherman; etc. etc. etc. This career development happens in other industries too.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Todd Lord on
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My dad is the chief of the department and me and my brother are members and so is my brothers gf I dont think its hard for us to be on the same department. With the trust thing I trust my bro more than anyone on the department hes one of the few people i would feel comfortable making entry with. Since i was raised around the fire service i did have a fair advantage over other newer guys
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Permalink Reply by Scott Burnette on
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Heather, my two sons have followed me into the volunteer fire service after years of hanging around the firehouse with me as children. My take on it is they were way ahead of the curve in their early training (FF1) etc as they had been exposed to all the basics at an early age. Both have grown up in the fire service in their own way, one going off to college and volunteering there and the other staying local and raising a family. To close I feel the family infulence is a great asset if the elder does things the right way and also lets the youngers find there own way and make their own mistakes. Lord knows I did and still do.
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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on
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Thanks for your input.
Can you give me some examples of what types of things gave you a fair advantage over the other newer guys?
And the trust thing, do you think it is easier for you because you already had a strong base of trust with at least a few people (family members) coming into your department, as compared to a total stranger rookie who comes to join a department?
And do you think it is easier for the other seasoned members to trust you because they trust your dad?
And what about direction / discipline, is your Chief harder or softer on you because he is your dad?
Do you notice that other members on the department have issues because you are related to the Chief?
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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The way I've seen it was the firefighter themselves makes the determination if they will be good or not, family has nothing to do with it.
I've seen both where you had family members who came up expecting to ride the coattails, only to find out the hard way, it was their reputation that was looked at. I've also seen other family members come in looking to make their own course from the get go.
Me personally, I am the first in the family to go this route, I made my own way and related outside job experiences to this job. I learned much as starting out as an explorer, and moving into the military. After getting out of the service I worked a few jobs and found I could relate some aspect of those jobs to the fire service, from tow truck operator to dishwasher. In the end, family really doesn't matter in the job, it is up to the individual.
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Permalink Reply by Gregory Borg on
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I do not think it is an advantage or disadvantage. it depends on the individual. We have guys that are sons or cousins, etc. Some are great some are crap. One of our star young guys had a dad on the job and an uncle. We had a FF fired for drug use this FF was a fourth generation on our job. It just depends.
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Permalink Reply by kara-lee allen on
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i agree. there are advantages and disadvantages... i think growing up around firefighters would give someone the ground work before they actually got started. we have some groups of families in our hall. basically the rule is we do not allow partnering with families (or couples) . in an emergency firefighter down situation we feel that a dad or brother or husband would risk a lot more without thinking, putting them in extreme danger. it has been working well at our hall. though i have witnessed at other halls family disputes spilling over into the hall which is never good.... but if everyone can be professional i dont see the harm. fire stuff stays at the hall, family stuff stay at home....
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Like i already knew of lot of the tricls to the trade just from my talks with dad. He taught me alot so i would be prepared for the day when i could join the department.
It was easier for the trust with the family members but for everyone else i had to earn the trust it they didnt automatically just trust me.
Dad is harder on me and my brother than he is everyone else because he wants us to excel in the fire service.
And yes at first there were a couple members that had issues with dad bein the chief and me and my brother ob the department.
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So since your dad is harder on you and your brother, do you think that helped the other members of the department to drop their issues with the Chief's sons being brought into their group?
Also, I am wondering, did the relationship with your dad change when he became your Chief? Are there things that are better or worse?
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So it became the family business it seems for your family and you influenced their career choices, by your leadership.
Did you notice that there was a positive attitude towards your sons as sons of a firefighter, did they tell people that when they sought their firefighting positions? Do you think this gave them a better chance at getting on their departments?
Give me some examples of the basics that you think your sons had when they came into the fire service?
One thing I have noticed is that the rest of the family tends to be more supportive if there is already a fire fighter or two in the family, since the rest of the family is use to constantly absent fire fighter family members and the endless pagers and the constant messy gear laying around the house - to name a few issues.
What types of mistakes did you notice the younger generation making that you felt they should have learned or handled differently?
I would love to hear some of the things that you feel the elder needs to do right in order to lead the younger generation?
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So if the firefighters make their own way, is it equal in the hiring, promotion, and dismissing process? Can it be more complicated when there are other family members on the hiring department or dismissing (or disciplining) department?
Riding coattails - do you have examples? What types of things did they expect?
If a family member gets out of line, and talking to them directly does not work - do you go talk to their family members? or do you talk to their superiors? and what if the superiors are also their family members? Do you have to change your approach?
Or is it a problem to talk to a youngerling family member due to concern that they will go tell their superior family member - such as if their father is Chief, do you spend more time holding your opinion to yourself?
Since you came into the fire service as the first in your family, what or who inspired you to join the fire department?
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Well with your first question it kinda did but also qll of our members have at least one famil member on the fire dept. we are a very small dept withj only 24 members.
Secondly no my relationship didnt change with my dad. Sometimes it can be good havin my dad as a chief like when he tekks me i did a great job but i feel like its kinda hard him bein my chief because he tends to watch over me more thab he does others but i know thats just a father taking care of his son
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Permalink Reply by Rod Irvine on
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My Granddad my dad, my uncle and my other uncle have 25 years service or more each , my cousin and i are both paid staff in the same department him with 20 years service and me 14 years , my little brother and sister both served for a short period with the station that my dad is the chief of , so yeah i do think that firemen and women tend to have kids that want to do the same
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