Why the Madison Fire Department Needs Company Officers
- Submitted by: bjordan
- Views: 903
- Category: Other
- Date Submitted: 03/10/2011 02:31 PM
- Pages: 9
- Report this Essay
Bruce Jordan
James Angle
Company Officer
December 7, 2006
Why The Madison Fire Department Needs A Company Officer
There are many reasons why fire departments need company officers. This paper will discuss several ways a fire department would benefit from having a company officer. There is the need for a captains position, how having this position would benefit the fire chief, how it would benefit the firefighters, and how it would benefit the department. We will also discuss reasons why a fire department would not have a company officer.
The need of a captains position in the Madison Fire Department. Before we can discuss why this department needs a captain position, we need to know how the department is currently structured. The Madison Fire Department is a combination department with eight full-time positions, which includes the chief, one inspector that work eight to five Monday thru Friday and six firefighters that work twelve hour shifts on a rotating basis. There are also approximately twenty volunteer firefighters in this department and they have their own rank structure. The fire chief has not appointed anyone else in the department to be his second in command and the inspector position is not considered to be an officers position. “Company officers are first line supervisors responsible for the performance and safety of assigned personnel in an emergency service.”(Smoke 4) The Madison Fire Department currently does not have a captain position, because of this the chief is having to handle all admistrative and operational duties In the past when this department had captain company level operations ran much more efficiently. An example would be that some of the administrative duties were taken care of by the captain. Also the captain was able to take care of minor problems that really did not require the chief to handle them. Where as currently those same duties are now being delegated to a few of the...
James Angle
Company Officer
December 7, 2006
Why The Madison Fire Department Needs A Company Officer
There are many reasons why fire departments need company officers. This paper will discuss several ways a fire department would benefit from having a company officer. There is the need for a captains position, how having this position would benefit the fire chief, how it would benefit the firefighters, and how it would benefit the department. We will also discuss reasons why a fire department would not have a company officer.
The need of a captains position in the Madison Fire Department. Before we can discuss why this department needs a captain position, we need to know how the department is currently structured. The Madison Fire Department is a combination department with eight full-time positions, which includes the chief, one inspector that work eight to five Monday thru Friday and six firefighters that work twelve hour shifts on a rotating basis. There are also approximately twenty volunteer firefighters in this department and they have their own rank structure. The fire chief has not appointed anyone else in the department to be his second in command and the inspector position is not considered to be an officers position. “Company officers are first line supervisors responsible for the performance and safety of assigned personnel in an emergency service.”(Smoke 4) The Madison Fire Department currently does not have a captain position, because of this the chief is having to handle all admistrative and operational duties In the past when this department had captain company level operations ran much more efficiently. An example would be that some of the administrative duties were taken care of by the captain. Also the captain was able to take care of minor problems that really did not require the chief to handle them. Where as currently those same duties are now being delegated to a few of the...