San Antonio firefighters and Lacrosse University, etc.

More info on charade of S.A. firefighters' university degrees

"The degrees of 10 firefighters were determined to be from "inappropriate" colleges/universities. And the diplomas of 21 firefighters who recently applied for incentive pay were found to be from unaccredited educational institutions."

 

Why would anyone care whether firefighters had any degree at all? Ability on the job seems to be the measure around here.

 

A college degree is not required for entry as a firefighter as most folks are well aware. I think it's more a matter of deceit & firefighters are among the people we put the most trust in.

I think it all deals with trust issues and nothing more.

 

Having worked in the areas of firefighting, EMS at the paramedic level, and hazmat response, all as a volunteer, many fire departments require degrees for promotion opportunities beyond lieutenant or provide incentive pay for degrees. Particularly in the large urban fire departments which are run on a civil service basis, additional education can be worth more money in your paycheck.

What is interesting about the degrees is that there are relatively few bachelor's and above-level degrees offered. It is very common to see senior fire department administrators with an associate's degree in fire science, fire command or fire administration.

I recall that when I was working as the training lieutenant for the hazmat response team, I was considered quite the oddity, having a MSc in chemistry. But then again, in the volunteer department where I worked, it was a pretty educated area, and we had lots of Boeing engineers and the like in the department.

 

There's a small town not far from me whose volunteer firefighters win all the competitions for automobile extractions.

They have a long stretch of busy highway and they do more of this type of thing than most professional firefighters.

 

Actually times are changing in the fire service. There seems to be an increase in the number of educated candidates applying to departments in cities and counties. With the advent of DL and flexible shifts, many firefighters involved in fire administration and fire science programs. In fact, it's quite unlikely that anyone makes it to battalion chief unless one has the minimum of a B.S. degree along with many years of service. It's unfortunate when some go to the extreme of getting unaccredited degrees for the purposes of gaining recognition or advancement within the department. A good site that talks about the fire service and some of the DL programs that are available to firefighters is -
www.firehouse.com

 

Dennis: There's a small town not far from me whose volunteer firefighters win all the competitions for automobile extractions.

John: What a concept. I'm picturing putting 36 same-sized families into 36 Ford Escorts and driving them into a stone wall at identical speeds, and starting the stopwatches as the firefighters race to the scene.

So what do they really do?

 

They put someone (usually a volunteer from the crowd) in a junk car, then time how long it takes to cut the roof off and extract the victim.

As an aside, in 16+ years of police work, I've only seen 3 accidents that actually required cutting the roof off a car.

 

Yes, but out in rural Canada, if someone was to accidentally break a kitchen window it would usually result in the dispatch of a first alarm assignment.

 

Roddy Stinson: To firefighter union: Throw cash at captains, not Democrats

 

what's important

To be quite honest, as long as they have the guts to risk their own lives and walk into a burning building to save my life or the skills to cut me out of a car that's been crushed by a semi. I don't care where they say their degree is from!!! I know what someone will say "they're getting extra money that they don't deserve". The fact is we pay our firefighters & police CRAP for the jobs that they do, and I think that they are the LAST people that anyone should be scrutinizing. They proved themselves worthy many times over (9/11 for example)... Imagine if the media was allowed to look at the files of corporations, what deceptions would they find there?? WE SHOULD LEAVE THE PEOPLE THAT SACRIFICE THEIR LIVES FOR US ALONE!!

 

Re: what's important

As one of those people, I disagree.

If anything, we (police) should be held to a higher standard, since we're entrusted with powers to deprive people of their freedom and carry firearms.

I earned my degrees through a lot of hard work and time away from my family. I get a very generous incentive because of it, but no way should a co-worker of mine get that same incentive through a bogus degree just because he/she wears the uniform that I do.

 

Re: what's important

Dishonesty and fraud should be discouraged, even when (especially when) our beloved firefighters and police are involved.

 

Re: Re: what's important

I guess we will just have to disaqree on this. While I agree that dishonesty should be discouraged. Most people work in the private sector and will never have to deal with the press rumaging through our closets. If firefighters or police want to investigate their own then I'm all for it. The rest of us and the media should leave them alone..

 

Re: Re: Re: what's important

The reason that happens is because it's public money.

My paycheck is public money, and I believe that the public has a right to know that their money is being spent legitimately.

 

Re: what's important

How much they're paid (or not paid) has no bearing on whether or not taking extra money for a fake degree is unethical. It is. It is stealing. Sorry, but being a firefighter doesn't give one the right to steal from taxpayers, the people they're hired to serve.