Monday’s decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Ricci v. DeStafano (Docket No. 07-1428) does little to resolve long-standing questions about the proper place of race in public hiring and promotional processes. In siding with the appellant, the court has made the case that process (disparate treatment) outweighs results (disparate impact) in determining whether racial preferences have violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution of the United States.

Previous courts have ruled that results alone could could satisfy the “strong basis in evidence test” used to determine that a process was inherently biased and therefore flawed. Today’s decision swings the pendulum too far in the other direction by indicating that a sound process alone outweighs what many see as a flawed result.

It’s worth noting that the city of New Haven sought only to retest its candidates for promotion, not to deny promotions outright. Although the city had apparently gone to great lengths to ensure the fairness of its promotional exam, the written examination still produced an unexpected result.

That the result was unwelcome as well as unexpected should come as no surprise to anyone. Neither the white firefighters (and one Hispanic) whose promotions were put off by the decision to annul the test results nor the minority candidates who failed to score highly enough to warrant further consideration under the contested process won anything in today’s ruling. Whether the city will have to promote the highest scoring candidates remains undecided largely because the court failed to add anything substantive to the debate. Lower courts that now receive the case on remand will have to grope about for a remedy secure only in the knowledge that precedent is no guide.

If we had bothered to pay attention to history, we might have learned that process and results both matter. A fair process does not always produce results that everyone agrees are fair, especially when such results are projected against a backdrop of bias or neglect. Clearly, context matters (thank you Justice Ginsberg for noticing this in your minority opinion). Flawed results will only prove acceptable when people can all agree that the process was fair. This hardly seems likely in New Haven for the foreseeable future.

The people of New Haven and its firefighters have suffered through a long history of racial bias in hiring and promotion. If, as those supporting the court majority argue, transparency is required in public hiring and promotional processes, then why not adopt methods that favor diversity and ensure public service agencies reflect the communities they serve? By telling us only that the written exam’s results do not satisfy the “strong basis in evidence test,” the court has failed to provide any meaningful guidance as to what would justify an outcome as disparate as the one achieved in this case.

Respondents in this case did not argue that racial or ethnic diversity represents a “job-related business necessity” in a public work force consistent with the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Right Act. To many, such an argument would have been wrong on its face. Still others recognize that public employees do not serve themselves. Rather, they serve a public that longs for opportunities to see public employment as a means to build a better life for everyone in their community. Until employment practices achieve this end, no one can or should be satisfied with either the process or the results.

Ten years ago, I was asked to join the U.S. branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers, but I told then-president Bill Peterson that I didn’t feel qualified to join, as I’m not an engineer.

Peterson argued that I could still join because the organization isn’t for “fire engineers” as the term means in the United States; the term has a much broader definition overseas. In fact, the organization is open to anyone involved in the fire service.

“The organization basically means the “fire service” as we know it here in the U.S,” Bill Kehoe, the IFE’s current membership chairman, later told me. “Anybody with an interest in the fire service in the United States can join the IFE. We have people who are members of the U.S. branch of the IFE who are in every category from firefighter to city manager and everything in between.”

The IFE is based in Britain but serves as a global network for fire service personnel and industry professionals. After I was accepted as an associate member, I was given a world-view of the fire service with access to news, reports and networks of progressive-minded people.

Kehoe is passionate about the getting the U.S. fire service to learn how fire brigades and agencies in other countries work toward fire prevention and suppression and to see what challenges departments face around the world.

The IFE’s U.S. Branch applied for and was awarded a DHS Fire Prevention and Safety Grant in 2008 to organize Vision 20/20 a steering committee tasked with developing a comprehensive national strategic agenda for fire loss prevention. One of the Vision 20/20 subcommittees has created a short survey to determine where the U.S. fire service currently stands on issues of fire prevention and firefighter recruit training.

“We will analyze the data from the survey and we’ll use that information to begin developing a fire prevention, risk management, and fire loss reduction training program,” Kehoe said. “The one I’m specifically working on is to re-introduce fire prevention to the U.S. fire service and get them to adopt it versus the traditional ‘putting the wet stuff on the red stuff.’”

“If we can prevent the fire, we can save lives, firefighters wouldn’t get hurt and everybody wins,” he added.

The next meeting of the IFE U.S. Branch will be held in conjunction Fire-Rescue International next month in Dallas. The featured speaker will be Chris Gannon, a former British firefighter turned international fire consultant.

“I saw his photo and article last August in Fire Chief and thought that’s who we want to bring to the U.S. fire service,” Kehoe said. “Gannon will talk about how other departments around the world operate and it should be interesting.”

For more details about IFE or the meeting in Dallas, e-mail Kehoe.

In 1993, I went to Washington, D.C., to write an article about the General Services Administration’s KKK ambulance standard. The interview ended up being very stilted, and a friend later told me that ambulances were the stepchildren of the fire service.

Ambulances are emergency vehicles — and emergency vehicle technicians maintain and repair them — yet they don’t fall under NFPA vehicles standards. Now, after years of rumors and talk, the NFPA has begun the process to develop a standard for ambulances.

According to David Fischler, the chairman of the newly appointed ambulance committee, a surprisingly large number of applicants tried to join the ambulance committee. Twenty-three voting members were selected, representing nine different categories, including manufacturers, end users and consultants.

“We’re not starting from scratch,” Fischler said. “We’re using pre-existing documents, including NFPA 1901, the original KKK-1822 document, the Ambulance Manufacturers Division [of the of the National Truck Equipment Association] standards and other pertinent information.”

Fischler hopes a draft document will be available for public review within a year. Once the draft document is put out for comment, there is a 104-week cycle of revisions before the final standard is proposed. The new NFPA ambulance standard could be in effect as soon as 2013.

But will the ambulance standard evolve the way NFPA 1901 has? It’s important to keep ambulances to an affordable price, so minimum requirements could be a priority. Only two fire departments — one a metro department — are among the voting members. How will the fire departments’ view an ambulance standard?

According to one ambulance manufacturer, current prices of ambulances are in the $225,000–$275,000 range of. Remember when that was the top dollar for fire trucks?

But why create the standard now, after all this time? Is it to increase safety, standardize equipment or reduce liability? I think the increasing number of EMS accidents across the nation has something to do with the need for a standard, but so do the need for driver training and patient safety.

By Ben Brown

As the NFPA standards change and the need to prove technician qualification becomes more evident, it is increasingly important to back up your technicians with paperwork. But in discussions with other agencies and technicians, I have run across a few misconceptions.

One of the biggest is that you must be EVT-certified to work on fire apparatus. This is not the case, as the standard states only that you must be qualified to do the repairs that you are performing. The wording from the NFPA 1071 (2006 edition) is “by possession of a recognized certificate, professional standing, or skill, has acquired knowledge, training, and experience and has demonstrated the ability to deal with issues related to the subject matter.” This statement allows for obtained skills and experience that are usually gained on the job.

In the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a qualified brake technician is merely an individual who has serviced brakes for one year (supervised). These are 2 of the most applicable standards pertaining to technician qualification in fire department shops today. The obvious downfall to blindly accepting on the job experience, or even certification for that matter, is that you must first determine that the individual is performing the repairs correctly and safely.

You must also make sure that they are familiar with the manufacturer requirements for the particular item that they are repairing. Each manufacturer is a little different and what works for one may not work for the rest. The standard also allows for fire departments to send work out for repair but the liability is still on the fire department to prove that the technicians doing the repairs are qualified (even if they don’t work for you).

I suggest that departments start a training/qualification file on all of your techs. As one of my favorite instructors always says “CYA, cover your actions with paper”. This may simply be a written file that states where they performed these types of repairs in the past. It should also include any certifications that they hold and info from any classes that they have attended. It is important to keep track of all of this for future reference. It is equally important to note that a tech who has experience rebuilding engines may not be qualified to do a simple brake job or to tear into a pump. Not recognizing that fact can get you into a lot of trouble liability wise.

As the authority having jurisdiction, you will want to set a minimum standard of qualification for repairs. This starts with determining proficiency and assigning tasks based on that. This may seem like a long and tedious task but it can actually be quick and easy. You don’t have to start from scratch; NFPA standards 1911, 1071 and the FMCSR will help to get you well on your way. These standards do not outline who can perform each specific repair but they do outline some of the big stuff (UL, 3rd party, etc.) These are the 2 largest industry accepted standards and will be referenced if ever an issue is found (in court). The key is developing a standard that fits your needs.

I want end by saying that as far as certifications and certifying agencies go EVT is one of the easiest to deal with and they go out of their way to help get you registered for tests. I personally believe that certification is one of the easiest and fastest ways to prove proficiency in a given area. It is my belief that everybody should attain a level of EVT and ASE certification that corresponds to your job duties.

Ben Brown is a mechanic with the Lisle-Woodridge (Ill.) Fire Department.

I’d love to live on an island. And when I recently spoke to the Honolulu Fire Department about its varied rescue operations, it just reinforced what I already knew: Living and working on an island is just plain cool.

The island environment means each rescue is different. In fact, firefighters may retrieve victims using high-angle rescues in an urban area on one shift, and fly helicopters, jet-ski in high surf or repel into mountain canyons to find the lost during the next, said Chief Ken Silva.

The all-hazard department serves the entire island of Oahu, about 600 square miles. That includes responding to incidents in the Pacific Ocean or along the island’s 227 miles of shoreline. At the same time, the department served both urban and rural, mountainous areas that house a population of about 900,000. “Honolulu has several high rises in the urban core, including transit populations staying in hotels,” he said. “The island also has wildland areas and our summer months are exceptionally busy for us in battling fire in the wildland-urban interface.”

The department also responds to incidents on the island’s military bases. Silva said the department has mutual-aid agreements with the Federal Fire Department that protects military bases, such as the Pearl Harbor Naval Station, and works alongside the Hickam Air Force Base and state of Hawaii’s Air Rescue Fire departments. HFD’s two, five-person technical search-and-rescue teams also respond to any mountain, ocean or other rescues on the military bases since Federal Fire and ARF do not have a rescue companies.

As a result, the department’s 1,200 firefighters must be able to handle myriad types of fire calls and search-and-rescue operations, Silva said. They also must meet several qualifications that mainland firefighters may not. First, firefighters must be what Silva dubbed “excellent waterman.” He said that many of the department’s firefighters were born on Oahu or other Hawaiian islands, spending their youth surfing or kayaking, even SCUBA diving off the shores of Honolulu. Still, all firefighters must pass a swimming competency skill-set test and be trained on rescues in an ocean environment.

“Shoreline companies also are trained in watercraft operation,” Silva said.

Indeed, HFD firefighters must wear a lot of hats. That’s where training becomes essential, noted Bttn. Chief Jeff Farris, a 27-year fire service veteran and chief of special operations. Farris oversees the hazmat and fire-boat programs, as well as department’s aircraft section. He also plans training for the search-and-rescue squad, which includes high-angle rescues, working on the aircraft and the watercraft, SCUBA diving or using thermal imagers or the hydraulic extraction equipment.

Farris said firefighters also need basic firefighting training on apparatus and equipment. They also must be proficient in basic life support skills because a rescue squad has to package the patient, do initial triage and then bring the patient out to the ambulance, he said.

Training is especially important with special operation companies, including technical rescue. While Farris may advise HFD firefighters on how to attack an incident, he also spends time listening to his field personnel. In fact, he depends on his team’s local knowledge of the island to determine appropriate search-and-rescue strategies. Most firefighters are local, born and raised on the island. So it’s important to tap into that local knowledge, he said.

“Our firefighters are watermen, comfy on mountain trails and chiefs need to solicit their advice during training and at incidents,” Farris said.

I never thought much about large furniture stores with their overstocked shelves, overflowing bins and maze-like furniture displays. I didn’t, that is, until two years ago, when nine Charleston, S.C. firefighters died in such a store. Now every time I walk into a large store, I stop to figure out where the exits are located — I want to know how to get out.

Hundreds upon hundreds of firefighters have died needlessly over the years, but none more so than the Charleston Nine. Their deaths have brought about much-needed changes, highlighted by the report compiled by the Charleston Post-Incident Assessment and Review Team.

Charleston has worked hard to implement the more than 200 task-force recommendations. The city hired a new fire chief, Thomas Carr, late last year. This week, John Tippett joined the department as deputy chief of operations. He is the last commissioned officer to be brought onto the department.

“Many positive things in the works right now,” he said.

Among those positive things is increased staffing. The department’s current 29-member recruit class will allow for four-person staffing on every apparatus. With SAFER grant funds, another 12-member recruit class will graduate in October and will become battalion chief aides.

“The department is also close to getting the SOPs completed and has been working with surrounding departments to have a regional response SOP,” Tippett added. “The departments have readily supported it, too.”

Tippett told me that as part of the remembrance of the two-year anniversary of the tragedy, the fire department has asked the city’s building department to pull listings of all the properties that have a profile similar to the Sofa Super Store. Fire crews have been visiting these locations and updating or creating preplans. The firefighters are familiarizing themselves with the buildings and meeting with storeowners about fire safety.

In addition to the prevention efforts, Tippet said the city also will hold a memorial service at the site of the fire on June 18. The city purchased the land and plans to use it for a memorial and possibly a new fire department headquarters. A period of time has been set aside for the Charleston Fire Department members to come and pay their respects. The site then will be open for the public to pay their respects.

“It’s a vacant lot now, but there is a small memorial with a post and American flag where the bodies were located,” Tippett said.

The fire service vowed to never forget the Charleston Nine: Capt. Michael Benke, Capt. Billy Hutchinson, Capt. Louis Mulkey, Engineer Brad Baity, Engineer Mark Kelsey, Asst. Engineer Michael French, Firefighter Melvin Champaign, Firefighter Earl Drayton and Firefighter Brandon Thompson.

Charleston’s progress shows they haven’t forgotten either.

In the nearly 10 years that since we launched Station Style, I’ve learned a few things about architects. I believe that architects and apparatus manufacturers have a lot in common. Both like challenging and unique projects. Both can wow you with designs they are fiercely proud of. And both need to be reminded of budgets.

I could come up with a much longer list, especially because fire stations and fire apparatus are big, long-term investments for a department.

Fire station design and construction has gained prominence in those years because of several significant trends in the emergency services profession as a whole. Exhaust removal systems and fitness rooms become standard in new fire stations, as have male and female toilet and shower facilities. Training options are being designed in to stations, as are separate areas for decon and laundry facilities. The next 10 years will see the incorporation of safe zones and micro-bacterial fabrics to restrict the spread infectious diseases.

During the call for presentations for the 2009 Station Style Conference, many architects responded with an array of topics involving the basics of designing a fire station. While basic, key programs are important, I always look for unique, useful programs and suggestions from previous attendees.

This year, we wanted a program on material selection for walls, floors, doors and the like. Candice Wong, AIA, LEED AP, RRM Design Group, really wanted to give a presentation that would tap her creativity and expertise, but agreed to take on the material selection program. She tapped Jim McClure, the San Jose Fire Department’s facilities captain, to help with her presentation.

Guess who got top marks for their educational presentation at the 2009 Station Style Conference. Wong’s handout was deemed “best of show.” E-mail Wong for a copy of the handout.

Don Mobley was one of the featured speakers at last week’s Illinois Fire Service Home Day. A former chief in Illinois, Mobley now is the Region 5 fire program specialist for the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mobley spoke to congressional staffers, manufacturers and fire-service personnel about the Assistance to Firefighters Grants and newly created Fire Station Construction Grant Program, which is part of the 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate will administer the program in coordination with the U.S. Fire Administration.

According to Mobley, $210 million is available for the one-time FSC grant offering. The application period is open now through July 10. As with all agency grants, FEMA offers a Guidance and Application Kit. FEMA anticipates between 5,000 and 10,000 grant applications for approximately 100 awards. There also will be a maximum of $5 million per project and no more than $15 million to one community.

The competitive FSC grant program will provide financial assistance to build new or modify existing fire stations to improve response capabilities. Priority will be given to replacement of unsafe or uninhabitable buildings, and applicants may be required to provide documentation regarding the nature of the health or safety deficiencies.

Priority also will be given to projects that expand fire-protection coverage in compliance with NFPA 1710 or 1720 or those that modify or expand existing structures to provide sleeping quarters for full-time occupancy.

Additional consideration will be given to projects designed and built to meet current ICC codes and NFPA standards, which include sprinklers, exhaust extraction and detection systems. The lowest priority will be for projects to replace or expand habitable structures that are cramped or configured inefficiently.

The FSC grants don’t require a cost-share, and preference will be given to projects that can be started almost immediately. Such projects will have land and utilities already available and have approved zoning and — to the maximum extent — green initiatives.

Details and an applicant tutorial can be found at firegrantsupport.com

While we’re on the subject of federal grant dollars, the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee approved a draft 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill that would fund the 2010 FIRE and SAFER grant programs and the USFA.

The subcommittee reduced FIRE Grants by $380 million (33%) from the FY 2009 level of $565 million. SAFER Grants, however, were doubled from $210 million to $420 million for FY 2010. This is a reversal from the past eight years, where FIRE Grants were more heavily funded than SAFER grants. But as the fire service continues faces layoffs and station closures, perhaps supporting SAFER is the brotherly thing to do.

I’ve always cautioned that relying on federal dollars to fund fire departments is dangerous, and that couldn’t be truer than it is right now. The application requests have always far exceeded the dollars available. The funds could flow in a different direction or stop all together in another fiscal year.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how FDNY Chief Salvatore Cassano’s life has changed since the establishment of a state-of-the-art fire department operations center in its headquarters in Brooklyn. The new center means Cassano no longer goes to an incident. Instead, he leads his teams remotely using a cadre of wireless technology to support his decision-making.

Some readers said the chief now sits in “an ivory tower” while firefighters hit the ground running. First of all, the chief is a 40-year veteran of the department. He’s been on the job fighting fires — and putting his life on the line — long before the security of modern technologies, including two-way radio and communications systems.

In fact, firefighters didn’t always have access to such technologies. Old-school techniques were used instead. It reminds me of stories told to me by my father, a retired Chicago Fire Department lieutenant, about the communication systems he used when he was first on the job.

“We just yelled out to each other,” he told me. “It was a very reliable system.”

FDNY’s move to have its chief run incidents remotely isn’t about hierarchy. It is about using technology to fill in operational gaps. The whole point of the FDOC is to increase the amount of voice and data communications throughout the fire department. It acts as the communications nerve center that lets the FDNY monitor operations at its 198 engine and 143 ladder companies. Cassano said it is used for both day-to-day and command-and-control operations for large-scale emergency incidents. Data transmitted over secure phone lines and computers are viewed on a wall-mounted, curved-screen panel where commanders review video and other data. Such data helps them make high-level decisions that keep citizens and firefighters safe, he said.

In addition, the FDNY recently armed its fleet of vehicles with an automatic vehicle location system. Cassano said the system tracks every apparatus. Moreover, the department now has the ability — through an agreement with the New York Police Department — to place fire officers aboard police helicopters so an aerial command view is available.

Cassano stands by the system and his new role. He said all of the aforementioned upgrades at the FDOC were crucial in handling the US Airways flight 1549 crash in the Hudson River in January. When the plane crashed, Washington officials called New York command and control to determine whether the wreck was terrorist-related. Officers on the city’s Joint Terrorism Task Force dispelled the notion. The chief was working out of the FCOC that day and had a visual of the plane floating on the river from the media, as well as a helicopter view. He also was in contact with the FAA and area hospitals. At the same time, he communicated all data via radio to his operations chief 10 miles away.

“I had a handle on what was going on much sooner, much more accurately, than anyone on the scene,” he said. “It was the vast amount of information received and managed at the center that helped me and my team seamlessly manage the incident.”

So it’s essential that fire chiefs tap into technology — and yes, this has changed the nature of their jobs. But to say for ego sake that a chief is better suited to be on the ground rather than armed with all the appropriate information is silly. To lead, a chief must have reliable information. And a leader must protect his people. Armed with technology and information, that’s exactly what the chief is doing.

Neil Narine stood outside the burn building, peeled off his fire helmet and face mask, and wiped the sweat from his face. A staff assistant to Illinois Rep. Judy Biggert, Narine was one of 10 congressional staffers to participate in the Fourth Annual Illinois Fire Service Home Day today.

“It was a great experience knowing how the fire department actually works and being in the burn building. I just don’t know how they do it,” Narine said as he pulled off his gloves.

This year’s Illinois Fire Service Home Day gave congressional staffers a chance to use turnout gear, breathing apparatus and thermal imagers; find their way through different levels of a burn structure; and experience a flashover. Not only was the exercise designed to let staffers see the apparatus and equipment purchased through FIRE Grants, but to better understand the changing role of the fire service.

“The thermal-imaging cameras were incredible. We did it without the cameras and then with the thermal imagers,” Narine said. “I don’t know how the firefighters could be in there without the cameras.”

The program also included a demonstration of automobile extrication and a side-by-side live-burn demonstration in rooms with residential sprinklers and without sprinklers.

The Carol Stream (Ill.) Fire Department and Chief Mike Kanzia organized and hosted the event. Guest speakers included Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) President Jay Reardon and FEMA Region 5 Acting Director Don Mobley. The event was a joint effort sponsored by the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association of Illinois, the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association, and the Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association.

In addition to the Congressional staffers, almost 100 fire chiefs, officers and firefighters attended the event, as did Illinois members of FAMA and FEMSA.

“The turnout was absolutely incredible and I think the firefighter experience was really important and added a lot to the event,” said Paul Darley, president of W.S. Darley and co-chair of the event.

Another congressional staffer who suited up was Dan Shrigley, scheduler/staff assistant for Rep. Melissa Bean.

“It’s surreal, that room of smoke,” he said. “I knew that I wouldn’t see, but you really get to appreciate what people do in those situations. The cameras are amazing. I didn’t know the thermal imagers could also take the temperatures of a room.”

Several FEMSA members also suited up to participate in the live-fire exercise including Pete Sremac of C.E. Niehoff, Teri Haidl of Eagle Engraving and Jhan Dolphin of RealWheels. As Dolphin came out of the burn building he commented, “It’s unbelievable. I don’t know how these guys years ago could do this job without this equipment. Everyone warns you about the dangers of smoke in a fire and having smoke alarms. Anyone who ever does this realizes it and the reality is that you can’t be found in a smoky building. It’s amazing.”

FIRE CHIEF Associate Publisher Greg Toritto also geared up and ate some smoke. “It was a lot of fun, very interesting,” Toritto said. “You couldn’t do it without the thermal imager. It felt weird the first few minutes. If they wanted to play a trick on you and leave the room, you’d freak out,” said Toritto.

Each staffer that came out of that smoking building this morning, views the fire service a little different now and that’s a step in the right direction to educate our Congressional leaders about America’s firefighters. What are you doing to educate your congressional leaders?