Career Links Vol 3 No 4 February 2004

A Choice to Serve--A Career as a Firefighter:

fireman_bill.jpg (134 KB) Bill Benjamin

An Interview with Bill Benjamin,
Career Program Facilitator,
Fire Services Administration

Interviewed by Kit Gorrell Frankenfield Employment Systems Technician, Career Services Center

Bill Benjamin is a full-time professor in the Fire Services Administration program at JCCC. The goal of the fire science program is to provide comprehensive education and training, specifically designed to promote the academic and professional development of fire service company-level officers and prepare those seeking employment with fire service agencies of Johnson County. The program serves to provide higher academic education, technical training and lifelong learning for members of Johnson County fire-related organizations and those seeking employment in those organizations.

The fire science program at JCCC, in close cooperation with the Johnson County Fire Chiefs Association and the University of Kansas fire service training program, has developed a degree for advancement in the fire service and for further study toward the baccalaureate degree at a four-year institution, should students elect to pursue their education goals beyond the associate’s level.

The program emphasizes general education in addition to technical education and is built around a core of fire science courses carefully selected by the members of the Fire Science Advisory Committee to prepare for career growth. Technical electives may be pursued through courses available under a continuing cooperative agreement between area fire science programs or through other degree-granting institutions that are accredited by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress.

JCCC also offers course work that will prepare students to take the Fire Fighter I and II certification examinations offered by the University of Kansas Fire Service Training program. This course work includes FIRE 175, Essentials of Fire Fighting; EMS 130; HPER 240, Lifetime Fitness I; or equivalent. HPER 240, Lifetime Fitness I, is the prerequisite/co-requisite for FIRE 175, Essentials of Fire Fighting.

For more information on this program, contact Bill through email at bbenjami@jccc.edu or by telephone at (913) 469-8500 Ext. 3360. For information regarding job outlooks for Fire Science Administration, go to jccc.net/careers/outlook/firescience.htm.

Career Services Center: What do you do at JCCC?

Bill Benjamin: My official title is Career Program Facilitator. I teach the Fire Science classes and do all the administrative work relative to the Fire Science program.

CSC: How did you become interested in firefighting?

BB: My dad was a volunteer firefighter and got me interested in fire service. I started going to fires when I was about three or four years old. My dad took me with him, and I would sit out in the car [and watch]. When I was about ten years old, I went to a firefighter conference with my dad. They had father-son drills and somewhere in my parents’ photo archives is a picture of my father and me and I was squirting water.

Officially, I started out as volunteer junior firefighter in a fire department. Then, when I was 19, I went to work full-time. While I was working, I got my Bachelor’s degree in Fire Science and a Master’s degree in Industrial Safety from Central Missouri State University. In 1979, I went from the paid fire department to working for JCCC. I’ve been a volunteer firefighter ever since and currently serve with the Overland Park Fire Department.

CSC: As a young person, were you ever afraid of fire, or did you ever think you might die doing this?

BB: No, I’ve never thought that. Rationally I know it, but I don’t think that when I’m doing my job. I’ve been in the hospital ten times from injuries and most of those happened many, many years ago. The fire service has changed drastically during my career. I always tell people what I consider my official date, 1968, which was when I started as a Junior Firefighter. Now, nearly 36 years later, the fire service has changed drastically: the protective clothing, what we know, and how we react to fires has changed a great deal. I had most of my injuries the first ten years of my career. Today it’s just bumps and bruises.

CSC: What programs are offered at JCCC in Fire Services?

BB: Actually we have two programs at JCCC. First, we provide the training and education for people wanting to make a career of the fire service. Those are people who take the Essentials of Firefighting class, which enables them to take the Kansas Firefighter I & II certification test. Then they take the EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) class. In order to be hired in Johnson County, Kansas, most fire departments require that the applicants be State certified as a firefighter and as an EMT. Second, we offer a two-year Associate of Arts degree in Fire Services Administration, typically for somebody who wants to advance to supervisory or management positions in the fire service.

CSC: How many students are allowed at a time in the program?

BB: 24 are allowed in the firefighter class per semester and approximately 50 are enrolled in the Fire Services Administration degree program. JCCC no longer allows open enrollment for the Essentials of Fire Fighting class (the fire fighter certification class). Students must go through a selection process to be admitted into the class. The Fire Services Administration degree does not use a selection process, however they must meet the prerequisite, which is they must be certified or experienced fire fighters.

CSC: How often are new students admitted?

BB: Twice a year--spring and fall semesters for the Essentials of Fire Fighting class. Students are admitted any time into the Fire Services Administration degree program.

CSC: What are some of the requirements for admission into the Essentials of Fire Fighting class?

BB: First, students have to pass a written test as part of the application process. Second, they must participate in a personal interview. We are interested if they are afraid of heights or claustrophobic, why they want to be a firefighter, etc. prior to admitting them into the class.

CSC: And they may not know that they cannot be claustrophobic nor have a fear of heights until they get into the program?

BB: In most cases, if somebody is claustrophobic, they know it. In the past, we have had some students freak out when we placed them in a smoke-filled environment. Some students are aware of their fear of heights and some are not. Typically, they have found out when they are about halfway up the 110-foot aerial ladder. They quickly realize that this is not what they want to do. We haven’t had to go up and rescue anyone off of a ladder recently, but years ago we had to do that—go up and take a person off the ladder!

CSC: When you’re interviewing students for the Essentials of Fire Fighting class, what do you look for in a candidate?

BB: We want to know how serious someone is about becoming a firefighter. It’s a lot of time and effort to put into something, especially if you’re unsure about it, and we have a limited number of seats. When there is a huge demand for it, it’s an inappropriate way to determine if this is what you want to do or not. The firefighter class is one of the most popular classes at the college. When we had the open enrollment system, it was the first class that filled every semester. It would fill up in less than two minutes; most of the counselors would say in a matter of seconds.

CSC: What tips do you have for students who are entering this field?

BB: Talk to firefighters to get an idea of what it is to be a career firefighter. Sometimes people don’t have a good understanding of that. One of the first questions we ask during our interview is, “How did you decide to do this?” Some of them have no idea what they’re getting into.

CSC: What are they getting into?

BB: Firefighters live a third of their lives at the fire station. Most people work 40 hours per week, which is 25% of their lives. However, the difference is that for a firefighter, that third of their lives is spent in 24-hour periods at work. They eat, sleep and live with their co-workers for 24 hours! They get a day off, and come back and do it again, [for another 24-hour period of time]. In five days, they will spend three days eating and sleeping with the people they are working with, and only two with their families.

CSC: So do the firefighters become very close?

BB: Yes. They become a family away from family. When you’re there, you live at the fire station.

CSC: What do you do when you’re at the fire station waiting for a call?

BB: Firefighters perform routine maintenance on the apparatus to ensure that it is ready for a response, train, conduct fire prevention activities and in the evening when there is down time, they can watch television, read or work out in the gym facilities. They do a variety of things.

CSC: What is a typical shift or day like for a firefighter?

BB: There are typically two types of shifts used by fire departments in the Kansas City area: one type involves on day on and one day off for five days and then they get four days off. Essentially the firefighter works three 24-hour days out of every nine. The other type of shift, which is used more in Missouri, is a 24/48—they work one 24-hour day, and then have 48-hours (2 days) off, but both types work exactly the same number of days out of every nine. Both types average 54 – 56 hours per week. In the Kansas City area, most shifts begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 8:00 a.m. the next day. There are some that start at 6:00 a.m. and others that start at 7:00 a.m.

In a typical day, we deal a lot with the public, in many cases, during the worst time of their lives. Also, we spend a lot of time doing education and prevention. You might go to the fire station, go out and train, educate the public, and depending on the fire department you work for and the station you’re assigned to, there are times when you aren’t doing anything.

CSC: So when firefighters come to work, they stay at the station. They don’t run errands?

BB: Different departments have different policies. Overland Park Fire Department will allow them to go to the grocery store. One person stays in the fire truck and the others go inside. (It’s always exciting when they get a call while they’re in the grocery store, because they shove their grocery cart to the side and leave. Most of them shop at the same grocery store every day, so they are all familiar with them and it’s not that unusual an event for that to happen.)

CSC: They cook for themselves?

BB: Yes. Sometimes they cook together, sometimes not.

CSC: Depending on where you live in the city, you may be busy a lot or not, right?

BB: That’s correct. For example, in Overland Park, some stations might have 10 to 20 calls in a 24-hour period, while others might have one or two calls.

CSC: What other emergencies are firefighters called for besides house fires?

BB: The majority of calls are EMS (Emergency Medical Services). In many departments, 60 to 80 percent of the calls we receive are medical calls. About 30 percent are fire-related and approximately 10 percent are other types of calls, such as hazardous materials and technical rescues. When on duty, firefighters are assigned to either the fire truck or ambulance in each station. Not all the fire stations have ambulances.

CSC: What about educational programs for schools?

BB: Most of Johnson County’s departments have very active fire prevention and public fire education programs. So they do everything from “Adopt a School,” where a station and a shift will adopt one of the elementary schools in the area. The firefighters go out and have lunch with the kids and do educational programs, or they will have strong efforts to contact all the schools and arrange visits by the fire department if they don’t have an Adopt a School program.

CSC: Besides fire departments, where else can firefighters find jobs?

BB: Private companies may have fire departments or personnel assigned to fight fires, for example, Chevron, Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant, General Motors and KCPL. Most of the ones that have actual fire departments are in “heavy” industry, such as the petroleum industry. Depending upon the employer, sometimes they have regular employees, and part of their job is to fight fires. KCPL’s firefighters work in the safety area, and fight fires when they occur. They typically aren’t certified firefighters. Chevron, on the other hand, hires people specifically as firefighters.

CSC: So students who complete our program will usually go to work for a fire department?

BB: They will all going into public fire protection, not industry. Industries are not out looking for our students. If someone was interested in working for private industry, they would benefit more going to a college for a degree in Industrial Safety or Safety, because that’s what industries would be looking for.

CSC: In public service fire fighting, what are the different levels of employment?

BB: The college does two things--we train people to become firefighters (which is not a degree at Johnson County) and then to advance in the field (with the degree in Fire Services Administration). The competition for jobs mandates additional education. In a lot of cases my students are in the Fire Administration program before they are hired, but they’re going to need that degree when they are hired. After they’re hired, they have to have the degree to be promoted. Generally a two-year associate’s degree will get them in the first-level management position. Then they need a bachelor’s degree to move up to mid-level management, and most of the fire chiefs have at least a bachelor’s and most a master’s degree. Within the fire service, there are areas of specialty, like fire fighter training, fire prevention, fire inspection, fire investigation, and operations (or response). There is typically an administrative branch which keeps the fire department running. It’s not uncommon for the fire department to be one of the top ten largest businesses in a city, given the size of the budget and number of employees.

CSC: What are the dangers involved in this profession? What can go wrong?

BB: Firefighters can fall through the floor, fall through a roof, a building can fall down on top of them, or get lost [in a smoke-filled area] from being separated from their crew. Other dangers are being trapped, falling, stress and overexertion, being burned and even vehicle collisions. It can be dangerous. There were 111 firefighter fatalities in 2003 in the United States, and some 100,000 injuries. When you look at the fact that there are just over a million firefighters, there’s about a one in ten chance of being injured annually. Per thousand employees, it’s one of the most dangerous jobs, although it has gotten better. Firefighters will expend maximum risk to save lives--crawl through burning buildings because they know there are people inside.

CSC: Do you think firefighting is an exciting profession?

BB: I think the majority of firefighters will tell you they like fighting fires. But most of those would tell you they prefer not to have to fight fires. We like to fight fires when they occur, but as a firefighter, when you are doing your job, things are not good for the citizen. For us to have a fire to fight, someone’s got to have their house burning. We all like to do it, and we want to be there when it happens, but no firefighter would wish it on anybody. Most of us enjoy what we are doing. It isn’t just a job to most firefighters. It’s not just going to work, crunching numbers all day and going home at 5:00. They go to work and honestly enjoy it. It’s not a job; it’s more of a way of life—they like what they do. They wake up and look forward to going to work. Most firefighters truly care about people and providing the service for the public.

CSC: What personal and professional characteristics are needed to be a good firefighter?

BB: You need to care about people. Also, physical strength and being in shape are important. Writing skills are important because firefighters can spend a fair amount of time writing, especially as they move up in the organization. The company officer fills out all the reports and the chiefs have to create documents also. You also have to be a team player. This is not a job for someone who wants to be a loner. You’re not going to be alone—ever. Every fire department operates in companies or teams. Operating by yourself is called free-lancing and it’s an unacceptable behavior [in fire departments] today. You have to like working with people.

CSC: Does it take courage to be a firefighter?

BB: The majority of firefighters don’t look upon themselves as heroes, yet a lot of people use that term to describe firefighters. We just do what we are trained to do. I don’t think we think of it as being courageous--going inside burning buildings. The public thinks we are courageous. I have friends who are police officers who say they would never enter a burning building. On the other hand, I don’t want to go around having people shooting at me. I don’t want to have to wear a bullet-proof vest and a gun.

CSC: So is it because you have been trained to not be afraid of that situation? And so with your training and experience that removes the fear?

BB: I think you need to respect fires. They will kill you. You have to trust the fire department system and that everything that’s out there, working together, is going to work and it shouldn’t be exceptionally dangerous to you. The fact is, things occasionally go wrong. The educational and managerial parts of the fire service try to reduce the danger. I don’t think it’s courageous. It’s just our job—go put the fire out. We just do the job—whether it be responding to car wrecks, a heart attack, someone’s fallen down and broken their finger, or a building’s been hit by a jet plane. It’s just what we do, and we do the whole gamut. I don’t view responding to a fire any differently than responding to Grandma’s because she’s having a heart attack. That’s what we get paid to do.

CSC: Most of us don’t have the threat of death when we go to work. I don’t think that by doing my job I could lose my life.

BB: We don’t think of that either. I haven’t in nearly 36 years of firefighting. I don’t think that I might possibly die at the next fire I go to. I was at a fire two nights ago. That thought never entered my mind—it didn’t enter going there and it didn’t enter afterwards. I don’t think about it; however, I do keep a running tally and I know how many firefighters die every day. It’s not that I’m not aware of it, but it’s not in my thoughts. I’ve been in a few places and wondered, “Is this a good place to be?” but I don’t know any of us that think that until that situation presents itself.

CSC: Is staying in good physical shape pretty important for a firefighter?

BB: Yes. Roughly, of the 100 firefighters who die annually, 50 percent of the deaths are due to heart attacks. The studies today indicate that some are not in shape, but the majority occurs just because of the nature of the job.

CSC: How have [the tragedies of] September 11 affected firefighting as a profession?

BB: Obviously it has impacted the fire service. When you’re on duty, you live with people and they’re your family. And even when you’re a volunteer firefighter, there’s a connection to the other volunteers. The fact is that you trust your life [to your fellow firefighters] and they trust their lives to you, and that creates a pretty significant bond. All firefighters are connected. I can walk into any fire station in the United States, if not in the world, tell them I’m a firefighter, and there’s a connection. You’re immediately accepted as one of them, regardless if you’re paid or volunteer. So when a firefighter dies, even though we have never heard of the person, possibly even never of heard of the department, there is still a connection because we are firefighters. So there’s just an unusual connection. The fire service was traumatized by the loss of 343 firefighters on September 11, 2001--probably differently than anyone else. I can remember sitting and watching it on television that morning. Because it was live when the first tower went down, my first thoughts were, “The tower’s full of firefighters. There are hundreds of firefighters going up, climbing up the stairs, to fight the fire.” It wasn’t full of people to me; it was full of firefighters. So there’s just a weird, odd connection that firefighters have.

CSC: Did this event bring firefighters closer?

BB: No, I don’t think it has. We’ve always been close. When a single firefighter dies, firefighters from thirty or forty states will show up at the funeral to show their respect. And in New York they lost entire crews from stations that day. All of one whole group or “family” of firefighters lost their lives. That’s like having a car wreck with the mother, father and all the kids in the car.

CSC: What do you like about what you do?

BB: I believe that education is the only way to advance the fire service, and part of the reason that I am involved in education is that I would like to see fewer deaths and injuries as a result of fire. That’s a very broad statement, because that not only includes firefighter deaths and injuries, but civilian deaths and injuries. The best way to save an infant from fire is to not have a fire in the first place. We try to educate the fire service and make it better so they can keep people from having fires; and in the event that they do have fires, try to reduce what has occurred. Johnson County Community College’s Fire Science program has probably the largest impact on the population of Johnson County of any other program offered, probably even all the other programs combined. Mathematically, if you were to look at the number of calls that Johnson County fire departments respond to each year and the number of graduates that work for those departments, they encounter every single person in this county once every three to four years—either due to fire, EMS or fire prevention. I don’t think there’s another program that can claim that. We have a significant impact on the people of Johnson County.