Fire Chief Selection Committee

Final Report

Executive Summary

This report is offered as the culmination of the efforts of the Fire Chief Selection Committee authorized by the Walker Fire Protection Association in 2009. It represents the efforts of fire service members, business leaders, and lay community members. Certain assumptions had to be made in order to construct a framework to evaluate a paid versus volunteer fire chief. Those assumptions were held as constants wherever possible to produce a balanced assessment of the findings.

This report does not include any information about previous or pending fire chief candidates other than to gain an appreciation of the available work force and reasonable salary ranges. Information concerning consultation services is a broad approximations gathered from existing fire service consultation entities. It is acknowledged that these fees would range greatly depending on the scope of work.

Several calls to the community were offered at board meetings, however the membership of the committee remained fairly consistent. With this in mind, the board should review and make comments about and recommendations to this report before offering it for community review. The community should be solicited for comment, however the content of this report and the subsequent decisions are the sole responsibility of the board of directors, therefore the public comment timeframe should not be extensive. The vacancy of the fire chief’s position causes uncertainty and provides for an untoward climate among the community and fire fighters.

While this report contains data, the interpretation and conclusions are the culmination of abilities of the committee. Board members are encouraged to ask for clarification where necessary.

Purpose

The purpose of this document and the fire chief selection committee was to create a job description, minimum job requirements and pertinent data relative to the selection of a fire chief for the Walker Fire Department. The contents include an evaluation of a paid and volunteer position, as well as the use of consultants. These contents are also followed by a conclusion, which will serve as the committee’s recommendation to the board.

Findings:

The findings of this committee since its inception include a job description, and minimum qualifications for the position of fire chief. The findings also represent various opportunities and challenges related to a paid full time chief, a volunteer chief, and a volunteer chief augmented with paid consultants as well as a cost/benefit analysis. Each area is described in this section.

To make a decision about how to secure leadership for the fire department, a job description or scope of work was developed. The input for this job description came from previous Walker fire chiefs, Walker firefighters, and an outside fire service leader. It must be understood that the description below is general in nature and certain items will require more and less attention at different stages in the fire department’s evolution. The job description is as follows:

Job Description –

1. Provide for initial and on-going training at a minimum of two sessions per month
2. Support community relations
3. Demonstrate strong leadership qualities
4. Provide fire prevention strategies and public education
5. Conduct incident command

i. All extended calls require the Chief’s or appropriate designee’s presence a minimum of 80% of the time, and the Chief’s presence a minimum of 60% of the time.

6. Develop and maintain a scope of work document
7. Define and enforce a list of minimum qualifications for the position of firefighter
8. Manage suppression and EMS operational concerns
9. Manage fleet and facilities
10. Support interagency relations
11. Attend regularly scheduled board meetings
12. Ensure adherence by all members to SOPs
13. Support and attend fundraisers
14. Prepare required reports and data

Notes on Fire Chief Job Description:

1. The fire chief should not be responsible for conducting all training; however he or she should ensure that there are sufficient qualified instructors assigned to deliver course materials. The fire chief should monitor the majority of fire department training or delegate that oversight and maintain a qualitative and quantitative report on all training opportunities.

2. The fire chief is responsible for conducting operations and contact with the public in a manner to instill confidence in the entire department’s capabilities as well as their impartiality as public safety providers.

3. While strong leadership is desirable in any organization, it is essential to fire department operations where the lives and safety of both residents and firefighters is directly impacted by a chief’s ability to lead effectively. Given recent incidents, the leadership void in the Walker Fire Department is of significant concern.

4. Professional fire service leaders recognize that prevention and public education are as essential as response assets.

5. This portion is self-explanatory. The fire chief should have a plan for implementing the National Incident Management System which is utilized by a vast majority of wildland and urban interface firefighting entities.

6. The fire chief should update this job description periodically to afford the board an improved understanding of the demands placed on the fire chief.

7. The same intent holds for firefighters as it does for the fire chief. Minimum qualifications and departmental expectations of firefighters should be well defined to reduce misunderstandings between volunteer firefighters, the fire chief, and the board.

8. The fire chief is responsible for taking the necessary step to ensure that the mission of the fire department, through the strategic plan, is executed efficiently and safely.

9. Although the fire chief may delegate the tactical portion of fleet and facility maintenance, he or she is directly responsible for the operational readiness of all fire department assets.

10. The Walker Fire Department does not have sufficient resources to adequately address all of the threats faced by the community. Strong relationships with surrounding agencies are essential in securing assistance in time of need. The fire chief is directly responsible for these relationships.

11. This is self-explanatory.

12. Discipline and adherence to accepted operating guidelines, are the cornerstones to safe fire service operations. While enforcing observance of guidelines in a volunteer organization can be challenging, the fire chief must be charged with gaining compliance from every member.

13. Donations and fundraising are the financial life blood of this organization. It is important for the fire chief to be present at as many of these functions as is practicable in order to maintain a line of communication with the members of the community.

14. Recordkeeping and report preparation are the tools with which a fire chief is able to objectively report on the effectiveness on his or her department. This information is also vital in obtaining grant funding.

The framework for evaluating fire chief candidates needs to be structured on a minimum qualifications standard. The committee researched common fire chief qualifications and retained or modified applicable requirements for inclusion in the list below:

Minimum Requirements –

Volunteer

1. Certified EMT (costs paid by the department – within one year of appointment)

2. Five years of experience

3. US citizen

4. No criminal background (specifically felony)

5. Current Red Card (Forest Service)

6. Basic Administrative / Computer skills

7. Employment background / references

8. Applicable NIMS classes (within one year of appointment)

9. Instructional methodology training

10. 215 class (within 6 months of appointment)

11. Working knowledge of ISO criteria

12. Time commitment as needed to accomplish job description objectives

Paid

1. Items 1 through 10 from volunteer

2. 40 hours per week minimum

3. Related college degree

4. Reside in Walker or within a reasonable response radius

Preferred

1. Engine boss

2. Certified Paramedic

3. Local resident

Disqualifiers / Cause for Immediate Termination

• Material falsification of application information
• Conduct unbecoming to include:
• Any criminal activity
• Fighting
• Sexual behavior on-duty
• Any activity that would substantially harm the reputation and public trust of the fire department.

The next section deals with an evaluation of the opportunities and challenges related to a paid full time fire chief, a volunteer fire chief, and a volunteer fire chief augmented with consultants.

Paid Fire Chief

Opportunities Non-biased leadership  Responsible for a strategic plan Greater accountability               Direct service severity, paramedic,             training Benefits of established professional relationships

Challenges Unknown organizational fit Sustainability financial and strategic Cost

Volunteer Fire Chief

Opportunities Known quantity                                    No fiscal impact                        Familiarity with area                              Familiar with department operations Responsible for strategic plan

Challenges Identified with a particular group in the community Reduced professional credentials Ability to commit necessary time (sustainability) Decrease direct service

Both Categories

Familiar with community members

Reputation (work ethic / job knowledge)

Leadership trust issues

Volunteer Fire Chief with consultants

All of the items listed in the volunteer fire chief plus:

Opportunities Address issues on a priority basis

Challenges Decreased coordination of strategic plan due to compartmentalization of consultants’ scope. Increased effort to screen and monitor consultants

The final part of the findings section is the cost/benefit analysis. This analysis assumes costs and savings based on service levels already accepted to be minimum expectations from the community to include emergency medical services, fire severity patrols, wildland and urban interface firefighting, and professional training.

Paid Fire Chief

Maximum $50,000 annual cost (excluding grant incentive)

Benefit	Value	Description
Paramedic	$41,600	40hr @$20 hr for 52 weeks
Severity	$  1,700	8hr @ $12.50 for 17 weeks
Training	$     300	EVOC / EDAVE
	$    750	CPR
	$    100	Chain saw refresher
	$ 2,250	Wildfire Academy
Engine Boss contract	???	$75/ hr for 14 hr days max 14 days
Grants	???
Total value	$46,550

Benefit	Value	Description
EMT	$26,600	40hr @$12.50 hr for 52 weeks
Severity	$  1,700	8hr @ $12.50 for 17 weeks
Training	$     300	EVOC / EDAVE
	$    750	CPR
	$    100	Chain saw refresher
	$ 2,250	Wildfire Academy
Engine Boss contract	???	$75/ hr for 14 hr days max 14 days
Grants	???
Total value	$31,550

Volunteer Fire Chief  (no compensation with the exception of required training hours)

Benefit	Value
Paramedic training	$ 22,500	$7500 tuition
		$15,000 - paid $12.5 for 1200 hours
EMT (paramedic prerequisite)	$ 3,520	$520 tuition
		$3000 paid time $12.5 for 240 hrs
Paid Paramedic	$83,200	40hr @$20 hr for 104 weeks -  time for volunteer chief to obtain EMT and then paramedic
Total cost	$109,220	Minimum 2 year completion

Volunteer Fire Chief with Consultants

$109,000 plus $100-500 per hour based on topic.

Conclusions:

The committee recommends that the board pass a resolution to adopt both the job description and minimum requirements for fire chief.

Based on the opportunities and challenges, along with the current state of morale and participation and the value assessment, the committee concludes the hiring of a paid professional fire chief for the period of one year would be the best value given the parameters of service defined in this report.

The lack of a fire chief with professional qualifications poses significant risk to the community and the WFPA. Regardless of the conclusions rendered here, the board of directors must take action to secure a fire chief with the appropriate skills, knowledge and abilities to lead the fire department.