Little background: I recently became Training Lieutenant at a 50 member combination department (paid chief, everyone else volunteer). We have 4 levels of membership: Rookie, Support, Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2. These are department only levels, and are NOT based upon state certifications. In Colorado firefighters are not required to be state certified. Firefighter 1s can become SCBA certified for exterior operations only. Firefighter 2s are SCBA qualified for interior operations. It was decided last year that anyone who wishes to become a firefighter 2 must become state certified as a firefighter 1. Recently our fire training center got more strict in terms of following NFPA 1401. As a result all members participating in live fire exercises must show proficiency in firefighting skills (hose, ladders, ropes, etc. as outlined in 1401). We did grandfather 2 firefighter 2s who were currently department ranked as firefighter 2s, but those firefighter 1s who had been in the burn building previously are now excluded from interior firefighting. There has been some pushback from members who had previously gone into the burn building and the chief is not a proponent of anything NFPA has to say. As training officer I have the liability if something should go wrong during training (as lairdsville and others have shown us) and I am unwilling to budge on the issue. The Chief is concerned that as a volunteer organization expecting our members to go through the time to take the Firefighter 1 class is unreasonable. I feel it's unreasonable to send people who haven't proven the skills in a firefighter 1 class into a burning structure (either in training or on an actual incident). I've been asked to consider other options for getting members trained on the required skills without having to go through the whole academy. That may include having them complete the job performance requirements that are given as the test to the firefighter 1 academy or possibly other options. My concern is that unqualified members are going to memorize all the JPRs without the actual skills to complete the tasks on an actual incident. Are any other departments going through this? How do you qualify firefighters for interior operations?
Sorry about the length of this post, any input helps!
Sorry about the length of this post, any input helps!
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