The number of fires is down. This is a double-edged sword: With the reduction in fires comes a decrease in experience for young firefighters.
Training fires in natural gas-fueled burn buildings allow firefighters to “practice” pulling and stretching hose, but little else. Nothing can replace the learning that takes place at a real fire when working with officers and senior crew members who have the ability to teach before, during, and after the fire. Another concern is an officer’s ability to lead and manage his crew in today’s fire department environment.
Fifty-five percent of the respondents stated that leadership/management training should be the focus. To be sure, most of the respondents alluded to the fact that both strategy/tactics and leadership/management training are important to the development of good officers. But, if forced to choose only one pair of skills, more than half selected leadership/management as the key elements.
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