Silly Season at the K.B.F.P.D.

Much like NASCAR, it's that time of year when crew members jump ship and change teams. NASCAR calls it silly season, as do I. Drivers change teams in NASCAR, drivers change stations at the K.B.F.P.D. Crew chiefs change teams in NASCAR, captains change stations at the K.B.F.P.D. Like any process, it is not a simple one.

The K.B.F.P.D. has a bid policy for people to bid where they want to work. The bid process is an annual, multi-step procedure that starts in November and winds up when the transfers take place in the first few weeks in January.

There are a multitude of rules, only a few of which I will cover here:
1. It is a seniority based system.
2. No bumping. A senior member can't bump a less senior member out of a spot.
3. You can't bid into a specialty station such as HAZ-MAT, USAR etc. unless you have the certifications needed for that spot.
4. The district may refuse to honor a bid or move people who do not have a bid in for the "good of the district".
5. You may bid to another shift, or another station. Not both.

The first step of the process is for members of all ranks who want to change shifts. The requests open in early November and last for a few weeks. The appropriate paperwork is sent in, then the district commanders meet and determine which of these will be honored. Not too many people want to change shifts, especially in the engineer and captain ranks. Once these are approved, they are set aside for the meeting later on in the process.

Next, the captains bid. Captain's bids open the last week in November and are open for a few weeks. These bids are not approved and do not take place until the end of the process, but it gives the engineers and firefighters an idea where the various captains might be working for the next year. This information may or may not influence where they might bid. BTW,  Schmoe ain't bidding anywhere next year. I am happy where I am at. They don't call it the "Healing Place" for nothing. I need all of the healing that I can get!

Finally, everyone else bids. They open these the second week in December and again, they are open for a few weeks.

The process is completed on each shift by a captain's meeting which usually occurs the last few weeks in December. The meeting is called the "Winter Draft" and can be quite interesting. It has also been known to be potentially contentious.

All of the captains on a particular shift will meet, determine where the open spots will be, review the bids, and place the bidders in the open spots. Sometimes the meeting will take only 30 minutes or so, be low key and little movement will take place. Other times, it will be a long, drawn-out affair with many phone calls and much discussion. Occasionally, the district commanders will have to step in and settle an issue.

It is imperative that each captain attends the meeting or send an advocate to represent their interests and those of their crew. Even though I am usually on vacation during the winter draft, I still usually attend. I am not willing to leave may fate and that of my crew to others. My crew is relying on me to make sure their bid is considered and honored if possible.

Sometimes, a members bid may not be available, but another spot my arise. I make sure I know what is acceptable to my crew members before I leave for the meeting and I also advise them to keep their phones on and next to their ear during the winter draft. I may need to call and present different options.

Issues arise when personnel or personality issues arise and a move needs to be made "for the good of the district". These issues are compounded by the personalities of the captains, who often are somewhat strong willed and occasionally have sef-serving motives for their actions.

I once attended a winter draft meeting where I was in a verbal dispute with someone I really cared about. The dispute was over a problem child employee who wanted out of his assignment at a smaller station and wanted to return to a district HQ station where everyone wanted to kill him. We had alredy played that game, the results were disastrous. Even the nicest guy in the station had stood toe to toe with this individual. I held my ground, I would not let him return and disrupt my station. His captain wanted him out, stating "everyone here wants to kill him". That was a faulty argument as far as I was concerned my reply was would you rather have three guys who want to kill him or ten?

Most of the captains in our district saw it my way, but the other captin would not concede. Things got to the point where reolution was not going to be possible in that environment, so we called in the district commander, who was in an adjoining room. He was reluctant to make the call but we insisted, as that is what he makes the big DC bucks for. The DC made the call, the problem child stayed where he was.

Fortunately, recent draft meetings have been much less intense and have actually been pleasant. This year, two of my crew members are going to bid out. Both are younger. One is just off of probation and wants to go to a busier house to gain experience. The other wants to get promoted and is seeking more exposure.

As much as I hate to lose either, I will do my best to help them get what they want. It may not be possible, we will know at the end of next month.

I definitely will be at the draft, I don't want to end up at the "Big House of Pain" for the "good of the district".

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe

Vintage Schmotographs

I was going through some old files the other day and came accross some pictures. These are shots that I took when I was new to the fire service, back in 1980.

This is the very first fire engine that I ever rode on. It was a '78 or '79 Howe built on a Grumman chassis. It had a 8V92 T engine and went like a bat out of hell. I showed up one Tuesday evening, signed a form and received a helmet, and a surplus canvas turnout coat. The following few days were spent procuring a pair of wild-land boots, a pair of welding gloves, some military surplus goggles, a uniform and a scanner. Four days later, I was a volunteer firefighter, riding on this bad-ass beauty.

The shed behind the squad was our station, the carport our apparatus floor. The two guys in the picture were senior members and were often in charge of the unit. The dark haired guy squeezing the chamois was on the unit when it experienced a burn-over that killed a civilian and injured some firefighters on another engine.

We had some motivated, sharp kids in this company. One is a school district administrator, one is an RN, one was a med student, several went into law enforcement and several others went to work for the Very Big City Fire Dept. This company produced several members of the Kinda Big Fire Protection District, including myself.

By far the most fun I have ever had in my career. I learned so much about so many things.

I don't remember when, I don't remember where. That is my engine in the picture and the image was taken by me. I am guessing the summer or fall of 1981. The two firefighters with the pale yellow gear on were volunteers. We volunteers were issued those pale cotton jumpsuits for wild-land fires. We hated them. They never fit right, always tore out in the crotch and just plain sucked. We usually tried find a way to scam the USFS or the CDF out of nomex brush gear or bought our own.

This image was taken in 1984. It shows a crew from a neighboring fire district going defensive on a camper shell factory. The fire started in an outbuilding and spread to several other buildings. Note the lack of SCBA. Today, I think most of us would get in trouble for not having them on, even in defensive mode. I was driving by and stopped to take pictures. Some habits are hard to break.

All of the above pictures were taken with a Pentax K1000 manual SLR 35 mm camera and a cheap JC Penney lens. I stopped taking pictures because of the cost of developing the photos. Even getting proof sheets and then picking which images to get printed was getting out of hand.  Ya gotta love digital photography.

Thanks for suffering through my nostalgic episode,

Schmoe

Overtime Whore

I had a conversation with a medic the other day while working an overtime shift. He mentioned that he was going to earn about fifteen grand less this year than he did last. I was surprised, as this guy is an OT whore. He will work any day any place any time.

This isn't Sal, an individual I posted about HERE, but a guy who lives in an older smaller house, one whose wife stays home and raises their two kids. Honestly, I don't know what he does with his money; although it really isn't any of my business.

I asked him if he was cutting back on the amount of OT that he worked. He told me yes, but not by choice. With that response, I initially figured that he had burned someone and that the word had gotten out, causing people not to call him when they needed a day off.

After further discussion, it became apparent that there were several factors for his not working as much.

First it was a slow fire season. Although there a few large fires, there were less of them. We sent fewer units out of district, meaning less back fill.

Probably the biggest factor was that more people are working overtime this year. There are several reasons for this. One is that many of our spouses have lost their jobs, have taken cuts in pay or are being furloughed, causing some of our folks to work more to make up the difference.

Others are working more overtime because they want to pay off bills before they are forced to take a wage cut or staffing cuts eliminate further overtime. Some just want to build up cash reserves because they do not know what the future holds. In short they are being proactive.

We, like others, are nervous and don't really believe the recession will be over until more jobs can be created. Typically, our industry lags behind the economy. We start to feel the recession later than the general public and we start to feel the recovery later as well.

I don't think that this medics reduction in OT will be disastrous for him, I don't think he lives on the financial edge. It does kind of illustrate the change in the economy that we are all seeing. 

Regardless, we still have it a lot better than many and for that I am thankful.

Thanks for reading,
Schmoe