Front Seat: Getting promoted to captain

As your department members get older, it is inevitable that the ranks change and eventually you see someone promoted into a new captain role. I love watching new captains work and seeing their style in the station, at training courses and on the fire ground. I would pay good money to be able to see how I looked when I first started acting as a captain about eight years ago.

Watching a new captain work reignites my passion for the fire service, mainly because we were all there at one point or another and had our own way of working through the new process. Learning the new role and maintaining your leadership responsibilities all while keeping your composure is certainly a challenge to accomplish, but it is doable.

There is a lot of interest in my station of crew members looking for the opportunity to start acting or even take over a vacancy, and it is refreshing to know that the department has a solid number of great candidates for when a posting becomes available. I often get asked what an applicant should do and what should they focus on in their path to become a leader. It’s a tough question to answer because I have only been a captain for eight years and can really only speak to my own experience. But, there is some advice that I like to share with my newly promoted fire officers or those who are aspiring the become one.

Firstly, don’t pretend to know it all. This one they teach in great lengths in the fire instructor courses. It really doesn’t pay to try the ‘fake it until you make it’ approach.  Not only is this extremely dangerous (i.e. live fire or other hazardous training), your crew and other members of the department will see right through you. Own up to it if you get into a situation where you don’t know the answer and find the answer with your crew. Use your standard operating guidelines as a starting point to reference information.

Communication is a two-way street and so important in the fire service. We are constantly battling radio issues, excessive noise, and word jargon in the fire service. A new team leader or captain will have to find a way to be clear and concise in various different situations in order to get their objective accomplished with their team. The first few minutes of any scene always seems to be where things can be in that ‘make or break’ zone.  The success of your ability to communicate can directly co-relate to how your scene plays out.

You can never stop learning. This might take the award for the most spoken phrase in the fire fighting world, but I can’t stress this enough.  I aim to take two courses every year and I know others in my department that complete three or four courses. I would love to have that energy and determination.  But the learning that I am talking about doesn’t take place in a class room. As a new leader in the fire service there are going to be a lot of eyes upon you, one of the best ways to hit the ground running is to know your crews’ strengths and know your rigs like the back of your hand.

I strongly think one of the best ways you can strengthen your leadership style is by having your training officer set up a drill. By participating in the drill as the captain of the crew, you can start to see how your role works with your team and what you need to do to help get your objectives done. Making the transition from firefighter to a captain role does take some pre-planning, and when you reach the red helmet your training for the job has only just begun. It’s a heck of journey — embrace the entire path.

Jason Clark has been a volunteer firefighter in southwestern Ontario since 2007. Having made the transition from firefighter to captain, Jason shares perspective on roles in the fire service and riding in the front seat. Contact Jason at jaceclark71@gmail.com or @jacejclark.