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Guest Column

Clearwater fire department steps up training, oversight

By Chief Jamie Geer
Published August 14, 2006

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tensions in the Clearwater fire department have been well-documented in news reports over the last several years as the city grappled with fallout from the fatal Dolphin Cove fire, union contract disputes, the departure of one chief and the arrival of another. Today we invite fire Chief Jamie Geer and fire union president John Lee to comment on the successes and challenges of the past two years.

In September I will complete two years as Clearwater's fire chief. My commitment from the start has been to build Clearwater Fire & Rescue into a national model for professional operations. The changes we've made and some of the tough decisions along the way have been a direct result of this commitment.

While recent stories about labor and management issues may lead to questions about the direction of the organization, I can assure you that we continue to make positive progress toward our goal. This includes bringing these issues to conclusion so we can move forward in our efforts to better protect and serve the people of Clearwater.

Most are familiar with the fire at Dolphin Cove and the subsequent study conducted by consultant MGT America. The study revealed a department that lacked the requisite training, organization and command structure to deal effectively with these types of emergencies in a city experiencing unprecedented change.

When I arrived, I made it clear that the safety of our residents and our firefighters was my foremost concern and, along with resolving union contract negotiations, would be my highest priority.

We outlined five standards that would guide our decisionmaking along the way: professional competency, accountability, safety, training and fiscal responsibility. In each area, we've made strides that Clearwater residents can be proud of.

Over the last two years, the City Council has invested more than $400,000 in training alone for our fire service personnel. This training has focused on leadership and officer development, high-rise firefighting strategies, updated elevator strategies and placement of apparatus at a fire scene. These were issues raised by investigations after Dolphin Cove.

We've also trained all fire service personnel in hazardous materials operations and have sent firefighters to specialized training at the National Fire Academy.

To enhance the fitness and safety of our personnel, we created a Health and Safety Bureau, assigned certified safety officers to major incidents and implemented new on-scene safety procedures. We've also secured grants to add new fitness equipment to all stations and certified 10 firefighters as personal trainers. These moves are focused on ensuring the well being of each of our firefighters.

Reaching our goal also required a fundamental restructuring of our command. This included developing a management presence on every shift by assigning new assistant chiefs to the stations. We also brought in some of the best and brightest in the fire service from around the nation. These are leaders with extensive, accomplished resumes, many from major metropolitan departments.

We've aggressively pursued additional grant funding for new initiatives and made much-needed changes to our personnel system to efficiently manage costs. The results have helped us to accelerate our efforts to provide firefighters with the absolute best training, vehicles and equipment for the job.

The changes we've made have exposed some weaknesses in the way we have operated in the past.

These prior approaches limited our ability to train and manage our personnel effectively, and often left us with most of our new people at our busiest stations and our most experienced people at our slower stations.

We've made moves to maintain an effective mix of personnel at each station in order to more evenly distribute wisdom and to keep everyone's skills sharp.

In any organization, when you implement fundamental change and significantly raise the standard, you can expect some level of resistance.

The standard we have established is to be honest, responsive and responsible in the protection of lives and property, and most of the department embraces this. It is these firefighters, committed to creating a new history for Clearwater Fire & Rescue, who truly deserve the credit for the progress we've made thus far.

These first two years have been the most challenging and the most rewarding of my career, and the best is yet to come for Clearwater Fire & Rescue.

[Last modified August 14, 2006, 05:37:49]