Jumpline magazine January 2024 - Flipbook - Page 49
What was I thinking?
Doug Keller
Which Chief did you piss off? What the
hell did you get caught doing? Are Fire
Investigators being eliminated? These are some
of the many questions I was asked when, after sixteen years in the Fire Investigations Bureau, and
at 57 years old, I bid back to Operations. Well, the
answer is no one, nothing and nope. I just wanted,
and as it turns out, needed a change.
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station, but the truth is, it’s actually not as jarring as
my OIC phone ringing while I was in bed at home.
Of course, I did take a signi昀椀cant pay cut to go back
to Ops. Fortunately, I was able to handle the decreased hourly rate because my kids have graduated from college, and I’ve paid off my modest home
and vehicles.
I know that many Ops people think that any
Fire Department position, which does not require
responding on a green unit, is a gig. There is no
doubt that getting on a truck within 60 seconds
and responding to 911 calls at all hours can be extremely stressful and dangerous, both in the short
and long terms. We are lucky to have a seniority-based bid system that allows us to seek out slower units as our bodies and
minds start to slow down. But believe me, there are downsides
to the many support and administrative positions as well. In fact,
though it is a different type of stress, there can be quite a bit of it
in those non-Operations jobs.
I can only convey my own experience, which hopefully will give
you a little glimpse into what non-Ops personnel do during their
forty-hour work week. Here’s a look at a typical day in my 昀椀ve
years as the Fire Investigations Bureau OIC: 1) Traf昀椀c – working
in Doral meant traf昀椀c morning, noon and night, and when you’re
in an MDFR vehicle, you don’t get the satisfaction of telling the
other drivers what you think of them being in your way. 2) Telephone – from the moment I got to my desk, I was answering
messages and calls from upset citizens, arson detectives, rude
newshounds, insurance investigators, demanding lawyers and
other MDFR, as well as outside 昀椀re department personnel. I’m not just talking about
business hours either. Carrying an MDFR
cell phone means you’re always on duty.
3) Chiefs – as a Bureau OIC, you work for
each and every CFO and Division Chief. 4)
Paperwork – I’ll sum this up in a few 昀椀ngernails on a chalkboard words: budgeting, accreditation, grants, request for department
travel packet, citizen complaints, accident
packet, etc.
What have I gained by returning to Ops? Shift
work, time off, station life, helping people solve
whatever predicament that they have found themselves in at the moment. Pretty much all of the
things that I wanted to do on the job twenty-six
years ago. Stress, of course, comes with running
911 calls, but it’s a different type of stress than the
daily stress I felt as a Bureau OIC. For the moment, I seem to be
dealing with this new type of stress better, but there’s no way of
knowing how I’ll handle it going forward. If it gets to be too much,
I’ll look for something else that I’m quali昀椀ed to do. Or I’ll retire.
I’ve made it to that phase of my career where that is always on
the table. I loved being a 昀椀re investigator, but for me, the OIC
position was far less satisfying. Change is scary, but staying in
an unsatisfying place is worse.
The reason I wrote this article wasn’t to complain, vent or
brag. It was to let my Local 1403 brothers and sisters know that
you’re never stuck. At my age, I didn’t think my back could cut it
in Ops. I didn’t think the Fire Investigations could make it without
me. Well, I’ve been on a suppression for a year now and have
not blown out my back yet, and in a slap in the face to my ego,
the day after I left the Bureau, somebody else slid into my seat
and is doing as well, if not better, than I ever did in the OIC chair.
There are two takeaways I hope to leave
you with: 1) Be happy! If you’re not feeling it where you are working, move. Shake
things up. Try out a forty-hour position for
a while. Go back to Ops for a bid period
or two. Don’t pigeonhole yourself. We are
very lucky to work for a Department that allows us to move up, down and sideways. A
change of scenery has done me a world of
good. I look forward to going to work again.
2) A full-service department like MDFR has
a lot of moving parts. Don’t forget to think
about all those people on this great department working behind the scenes, doing the
jobs that you don’t want to do (both for the
department and the union). Without the forty-hour folks doing
their best, the whole thing would collapse.
Change is scary,
but staying in an
unsatisfying place
is worse.
It wasn’t all bad, of course. After so many
years in the Investigations Bureau, I was a
big 昀椀sh in a small pond. I was in charge
of MDFR’s burn permits and illegal burning
enforcement. I maintained the County’s explosive cache list and
revamped MDFR’s Juvenile Firesetters Program, helping keep
many children and families safe. I was considered an expert in
the investigation 昀椀eld and was well respected throughout Florida’s Fire Investigation community. On top of all this, I was still
able to investigate an actual 昀椀re every now and again, though
that part of my job became less and less, as my OIC responsibilities took the front seat. Finally, there’s the money. A Bureau OIC
is paid well at MDFR.
Leaving the Bureau meant giving up a take-home truck, a laptop computer, a smartphone and money. It also meant no more
vehicles on my grass, no more writing or reviewing reports while
off duty, no more Chiefs calling me while I am on family vacation to ask me the cause of a 昀椀re that I wasn’t at, or even knew
occurred. I still hate the recall going off when I’m asleep at the
Hardly anybody asks me why I left Fire Investigations anymore. And though I’d like to think that it’s because I’ve proven
myself a great Ops of昀椀cer, the truth is different. The people that
noticed my move have already asked me about it. The rest are
divided into two groups: those that don’t care about my career
path and those that have zero idea that I even exist and what
I was known for around here. That last group is getting larger
every day. To most people I encounter that have been on the
job for less than 昀椀ve years, I’m sure they see me as just some
senior (old) Captain who is a little lost on 昀椀res and critical EMS
calls. That’s 昀椀ne. With any luck, they’ll make it to this point, too.
As my skills improve every shift, I intend to fully enjoy this new
phase of my career.
January 2024 | JUMPLINE Magazine