OAK RIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT TRAINING

OAK RIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT TRAINING

BY : TOM HILL

When I was hired by Fire Chief Jack Lee, there were three Deputy Chiefs: Ralph McMahan, Ed Dail, and Lynn Brock. There was four stations: Station 5 on Jefferson Avenue, Station 2 at Jackson Square, Station 3 on Illinois Avenue, and Station 4 on Anna Road. Deputy Chief McMahan was promoted from Captain to lead the new shift when we went from two to three shifts. In 1968 Chief Jack Lee began introducing modern hydraulic and scientific principles to the Oak Ridge Fire Fighters. This was a very difficult task since many of the fire fighters had not completed high school. They were strong men with a desire to protect the citizens from fire. Officers were promoted from the ranks for their leadership ability and reliability.

In 1968 the department went from two to three 24 hour shifts. This influx of personnel gave Chief Lee the opportunity to raise the education level of the Department. He personally interviewed each candidate for the job with an eye toward how he believed the candidate would fit into what he saw as the new direction of the Oak Ridge Fire Department. By 1972, not only did the one third of the department that had been employed to fill the third shift, but the other two thirds of the fire department had a basic understanding of hydraulic theory.

Chief Lee began steadily exposing his officers to modern management skills. This was a very slow process. The officers, including Chief officers, were given very little room for experimentation, nor did many want to be able to use their judgment in solving problems. Chief Lee gradually began pushing officers to look for ways to improve their response to the most common emergencies faced by the Department. There was constant resistance from the older officers, who still were unhappy about Chief Lee being brought from St. Petersburg to Oak Ridge as chief. He was still seen as an outsider by many who thought the chief should have been promoted from within the department. I suspect Chief Lee was brought to Oak Ridge to bring the Oak Ridge Fire Department into the 20th century, something that none of the officers in Oak Ridge would have been able to do.

In 1974 Chief Lee had resigned, and Deputy Chief Ed Dail was promoted Chief of the Department. He remained Fire Chief for one year, and little progress was made in that time. We had a series of disastrous fires from 1969 to 1974: Pine Valley Shopping Center, The Cold Storage Plant on Coal Yard Rd. and Jefferson Shopping Center. All the good intentions couldn't erase the fact of the many fires were out of our control on arrival. Something was lacking?

In 1975 Ralph McMahan was promoted Chief of the Department. Chief McMahan wanted to continue modernizing the department and to improve the skill level of all the companies. For the first six months after being promoted, Chief McMahan arranged to have Roane State Community College teach fire related courses in the Oak Ridge Fire Department. The first few courses were English, Math, and Blue Print reading. The courses were paid for by the City and the classes were held while on duty. The resistance was very strong by many personnel in the department. Some even gave the mandatory participation in these classes as the reasons for leaving the department. In late 1975 I was promoted to Training Officer of the Department. Deputy Chief Lynn Brock had the responsibility of Operations Officer and Training Officer. Chief Brock continued as Chief of Operations until his retirement. My rank was Captain in charge of Training.

Due to vocal resistance to mandatory participation in the college courses offered by Roane State Community College the in-station and daytime classes were discontinued. Voluntary participation was still encouraged even though the classes were now held at night in other locations.

Chief McMahan encouraged me to find ways to increase the skill level of the department. I began conducting classes using the IFSTA (Red Books), and using procedures described in the Red Books as the shift drills. Very gradually, I began introducing fire fighting task with a time limit for satisfactory performance. Perhaps the greatest break with tradition was requiring Officers to participate in class work and company drills. There was great resistance to this, but Chief McMahan stood firm, and after a time, continuous study and skills practice came accepted.

By 1978 the number of vehicle extrications was alarming and there was an obvious lack of preparation to adequately handle the job. I was using a Ford van as my Department vehicle. Having seen the training film on vehicle extrication which featured the Hurst "Jaws of Life", Chief McMahan was able to get the City Council to view the film, and then to purchase our first Hurst set, which was placed on Engine 3. It was my intention to have it eventually put on a special vehicle with other rescue equipment. The squad vehicle was popular at this time, and was one direction of thought, but not the one we finally settled on.

By 1978 department personnel were participating in drills and classroom work on as scheduled routine. The skill level of the Oak Ridge Fire Department was noticeably improved. We had several success stories. The fire fighters were a tight knit unit. They were equal in ability to any department in the state. Duplex apartment units referred to as TDUs that were fully involved in one end were extinguished and the other end was reoccupied. This had not been accomplished before. Oak Ridge firefighters were good at their work. They knew it and their reputation was growing all over the state.

By this time new fire fighters were using the on-the-job training method used even to the present day in 1997. It was based on the concept used by the U.S. Air Force of breaking skills down into blocks of study and skills practice. At the end of each block the fire fighter demonstrated the skill mastered by practical demonstration of the skill and a written exam. At the end of the first year a comprehensive exam was administered to the fire fighter and he had to demonstrate that he could operate a pumper at various types of operations such as master stream use, multiple hand line and drafting operations. On the written and practical exam a 70% proficiency was required We were then and are now training our first year fire fighter to a higher level of proficiency than anyone in the state. Our problem in 1978 was that as soon as the fire fighter had completed his first year he was offered employment at one of the local industrial departments. We had a 23% turnover in 1978 primarily due to the difference in pay. This pay disparity between the plants and O.R. City was beginning to take a toll on the morale of the department.

After Chief Brock's retirement, Chief McMahan requested applications for Assistant Chief. He intended to have three Assistant Chiefs - Chief of Operations, Chief of Prevention, and Chief of Training. Richard Mynatt (Training), James Howard (Prevention), and Tom Hill (Operations) were promoted. Beginning with Chief Lee, the Department has made steady, but gradual improvement in training, and skill level of the department. It was the desire of Chief Lee to produce officers and firefighters that understood how things worked and could think on their feet, not just to follow procedures.

The Department's training program runs year round. A Training Committee comprised of an equal number of officers and firefighters assist with the planning and testing necessary to meet the State Commission on Fire Fighter Training requirements for state salary supplement. The Department training program consists of two drill sessions each month. The program is designed to keep the fire fighters skill levels high in the following areas: fire fighting, hazardous material response, emergency medical response, high angle and confined space rescue. The drill is divided between class room and field work.

In addition to the department drills, each company officer provides special needs training for his company and the Prevention Officer also arranges needed training in fire prevention and public education.

Tom Hill
Assistant Chief of Operations

Footnote: Chief Hill did not make mention of his annual spring ironman timed drills. I have seen small mules balk and lay down when required to drag less weight than the oversized railroad crosstie that was drug over the concrete driveway around the central fire house by each member of the department. There was no discrimination practiced because age, race, sex, color or creed made no difference. The distance from ground level to the pent house of the training tower became longer every year as I carried that truckload of hose from the engine to the wild blue yonder. It was oft repeated at these sessions that these men surely must be qualified for heaven because they had spent their time in hell at the drill tower.

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