Firefighters Ask Where Other Local Chiefs Are?

Firefighters from five departments in the area have asked why their chief's haven't spoke out about the way the Charleston Fire Department is being led. While other departments throughout the area have long regarded the city as antiquated few chief officers have spoken up.

One can understand the reluctance if deaths hadn't occured. However nine men, nine firefighters, died in a fire being critiqued as one of the worst managed fires in memory. Why wouldn't other leaders, concerned about the safety of their own personnel plus the community at large, speak out about issues of such great importance?

Comments

[Bruce E. Burding]

Political pawns rarely, if ever are willing to acknowledge or condemn fellow leaders. Most area Department Chiefs are looking at the picture that has been laid before us regarding the cascading problems from the past "way things worked" to the new technologies and response tatics to employ to todays fires. The only gain for the Area Chiefs would be recognition to be explored as to whether their department is better and in compliance. As for my opinion, for what it may be worth, All the Area Fire Departments are well behind the curve. The "politics" of selling the need to the citizens is hard due to lack of involvement from the FIRE DEPARTMENTS TO EDUCATE our citizens, politicians and OURSELVES (upper command structure). Most Command personnel have unfortunately forgotten where they came from and only look at the road ahead and the consequences of losing it all. I have been an advocate during my years at North Charleston to help impove the safety and well being of my fellow fire fighters as well as insuring the best benefits to our citizens that we protected. Those days are gone for me, but that department is heading in the same direction as the city. Training and personnel are the backbone to every operation in our line of work. It is not to be restricted to just those people in the stations!!! Area Chiefs have to wake-up and relize this or they too may find themselves attending a cerimony that I can not have.

[Jim]

After reading the NIOSH report, I am shocked. In the 21st century, a metro career department operated in this manner? I certainly don't want to come across as "holier than thou" but are the taxpayers of Charleston so stupid as to allow this type of leadership? Is the Fire Chief indicative of the City Managment? It seems he has established his own little kingdom (remember the Peter Principle?) and has sucessfully intimidated anyone who tries to change it.
Other Chief's speak out? Simple - not their job, not their place. Not only has this chief (no caps intended) cost 9 men their lives by his stupidity, he has cost (and will cost) the city 9 good employees, their training and equipment cost, plus 9 families of their loved ones, and who knows how much Charleston will have to pay in legal fees to defend his stupidity. I am surprised that the airport is not crowded with personal injury attorneys lining up to sue the living crap out of both the chief and the city.
Why do other Chief Officers not condemn this guy? 1) You lower yourself to his level (which appears to be difficult)
2) Never get into a pissing match with a skunk or mud wrestle a pig.

[solrebel]

Jim has hit the subject right on the nose. No matter how much any area chiefs say about the situation will change the fact that there in South Carolina, home rule is the law. Individual municipal governments have more power than the state in the way they conduct business. All of the screaming from outside is just background noise to these guys.

The power lies within the City of Charleston and an educated populace and should have begun before the SSS, not after. To trumpet Charleston's ISO Class 1 as a best practice, and repeatedly hold that up to the voters as validation of their system, then to say "we were woefully unprepared" doesn't come across as a valid argument. To many of the South Carolina chiefs who have been mumbling "foul" on their ISO Class 1 for years now, to have people say, hey, where are you now- well, they have been saying it for years and no one ever paid any attention to them. You think they're going to put their neck out there some more? So long as the chiefs are managing their own departments, their city managers are telling them to stay out of it if they want to keep their jobs- it's not their mess.

By even stating this, I'll probably raise the ire of a few people, but it
is one of the reasons you won't see my name on here. But if you want to know where everyone is, well, its a good start. We back you all, but we said our piece years ago and were told it was sour grapes. Now it doesn't look like we were as wrong as we thought we were.

We will continue to keep you all in our prayers and find other ways to help, but don't expect a parade of chiefs to come in and tell the City of Charleston how to run things; if they wouldn't listen to us before, we're not likely going to be listened to now.

[Lisa]

Jim,
I wouldn't call the taxpayers of Charleston "stupid".

I think the majority of us were fooled by the Class 1 ISO rating that has been bragged about for so long. We were lulled into thinking that this fire department was the "bes" everytime the chief spoke. As an outsider looking in,I think that there were a lot of members in the fire dept. that lacked proper training, but did not know they lacked proper training because of the way they were trained in the CFD! It's not the fault of the men, that fault lies with the command staff and training bubbas.

No, we aren't "stupid". I would say we were duped into believing that Charleston had it all!

There are alot of concerened citizens out here and have been from day one of this tragedy, but what can you do when only one (now former) member of City Council bothers to acknowledge emails and letter from concerned citizens?

It's a shame that the majority of the council members are too blind to see Riley for what he is. They did a good job of pulling the wool over the taxpayers eyes for a long time. Some former firemen and the union tried to tell them of the problems long ago, but what can you do when it falls on deaf ears? You hope the unthinkable never happens and time ran out on 6-18-07. And look what's happened now....the mayor and city council still stand behind this chief. Un-freaking-believable!!

[Jim]

Perhaps I was wrong to call the voters and taxpayers "stupid." Uninformed and non-caring are perhaps better terms. It proves my theroy - most Americans could give a damn less about their fire department right up until their house is on fire.
A question to the voters and taxpayers of Charleston: if your education system is being run by this same type of imbicilic management, and your children could not read or write, or failed the "SOL" or were judged not worthy of college admission, would you be concerned? DAMN RIGHT you would. You would be calling for public execution of the leadership.
Yet you accept a fire chief, whose lives you place in his hands on a 24/7/365 basis, who probably thought a TIC was an insect, and LDH a sexually transmitted disease?
This punk is not intelligent enought to be a fry cook at a jack in da box! In closing, if he were in the military, his casualty report would read, "SHOT IN THE BACK BY HIS OWN TROOPS!" Justifiable homicide! And to Robert, Deputy Chief, who would cancel his mutual aid? Same thought process that is currently in place!

[Matt Thomson]

SC Fire Chief,
What difference does it make which county a chief comes from?

[Pathces]

I wonder why our Chief would not speak out also. I now know, he does not know what he is talking about either. He is no better than RT. He used our department to run from his problems, instead he stepped in to alot larger pile of shit. So he has no room to speak out.

[ChiefMO]

Rusty Ranger (EX) - It's a shame he has to be coerced into leaving. I think he should be led away in handcuffs. Maybe when the prosecutors have the final draft from the feds, they'll have enough to move forward with a charge.

SC Fire Chief - I've asked my Chief why he hasn't said anything and he states that it's not time yet. Says that he, and others, are waiting on the reports to come out. I disagree with him. I understand that it's not my job or reputation on the line for coming out early, but it might be my A$$!
We have to respond with a department that is more dangerous than they were before the SSS. Atleast pre-SSS they were all on the same page, now they are divided from within. Many are on the right page but some of the leaders, not to mention the head leader, aren't on board.

Charleston Firefighters are great, but their leader is dangerous and worthless as a leader.