Most fire departments are still doing regular performance reviews, and a few of them may still be happy with the process. However, many departments are clearly not. Some fire departments have even gone so far as to eliminate the performance review process altogether. What’s wrong with the way many fire departments do performance evaluations? And how can the process be improved as to be truly meaningful and valuable for those who use it? When I became a firefighter, decades ago, the performance review process worked like this: Every six months or so, someone in a position of authority would fill out a form which rated individual department members on different characteristics on a scale of one to 10.
- PUB DATE: 4/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Councilman Cody J. Horbacz would like to see city firefighters go out and complete commercial building inspections during their downtime when they’re not fighting fires. He found out on Tuesday night that’s not possible because of a 1993 agreement with the Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 191 that specifies two firefighters must complete those duties out of the city’s Code Enforcement office.
- PUB DATE: 4/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

Centinela (CA) California Department of Corrections rescue-pumper. HME Ahrens-Fox 1871 SFO cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 370-hp engine; Hale Qflo 1,250-gpm pump; UPF Poly 850-gallon tank.

Centinela (CA) California Department of Corrections rescue-pumper. HME Ahrens-Fox 1871 SFO cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 370-hp engine; Hale Qflo 1,250-gpm pump; UPF Poly 850-gallon tank.

Residents in north Spokane had to be evacuated from the top floors of a high-rise retirement home after reporting smoke Monday morning. The incident happened at the Lilac Plaza Retirement Community on the 7000 block of Wiscomb Street. Firefighters say tenants on the 12th, 13th, and 14th floors had to be evacuated.
- PUB DATE: 4/10/2018 7:38:00 PM - SOURCE: KAYU-TV MyFox Spokane