Who Is Next? Will Other Command Staff Follow Chief's Lead?

Firefighters are wondering who the next person to retire from the city fire department will be. After the announcement by the Fire Chief today, speculation turned to the interim chief and who will leave next.

A number of command officers had close ties with the Fire Chief. His presence shielded them from public scrutiny but after the release of todays Phase II report, will the spotlight come down on other fireground commanders since the Fire Chief is now out of the loop? No longer able to blame the chief for training will the spotlight turn to others who were responsible?

Others are worried about "lame duck" appointments. Will there be promotions and transfers in the last 40+ days by the outgoing chief. Will a new chief have to tackle reversing those decisions?

A number of firefighters are asking if the decision to promote new battalion chiefs should be put off to allow the new chief to administer a testing and evaluation process. No firm answers are at hand as the situation is very fluid.

What is certain is movement forward.

Comments

[uk-fb-buff]

Jay;

1st. With Rusty' leaving, the door is open for the rest of his "Rangers" to stay or leave.

2nd. The release of the "Phase II Report" will bring all of the Command Staff who were on scene at the SSS fire under intense scrutiny.

It's up to them to defend their decisions.

3rd. Promotions. "Provisional", with the understanding that the new Chief may make changes or administer further testing requirements based on the Bonafide Occupational Qualifications (BFOQ's) for the positions.

[firedog]

why does it take 90 to 120 days to hire a new fire chief? when it takes 6 or a year to find a new police chief for the city ? thats just shows that the police dept is better then the fire dept in little JOES eyes.