FireMedic049, things in the fire service are the same all over! Your last line in the post about the disciplinary action sounds similar to where I work!
I received a written repremand about 13 years ago for backing our 1994 E\-One pumper into a commercial mailbox in a condominium complex. I did have a spotter but took my eyes off of him just ever so briefly to make sure the front bumper of the engine was going to clear one of those short squatty round green plastic telephone boxes on the corner of the street where we were located and as I was turning the steering wheel, and the next thing I knew I had struck the mailbox, tilting it over somewhat, but not breaking the post. The damage to the pumper? A teeny tiny ding in the rubrail of the backstep that was barely visible. My Captain received a verbal repremand and wasn't even there when the accident happened. We'd been out checking hydrants and he was up the street around the corner when this occurred. He didn't even know anything had happened. The postal service's reaction to this incident? "It happens all the time. It's no big deal." Needless to say I had this in my personnel file for a year. I didn't press the issue with our union at the time, by the advice of my Captain, because I was up for a promotion to Lead Firefighter (and got it a month or so later).
When I showed the damage to a friend of mine who is now a chief, and the disciplinary action I received, his response was, "You gotta be kidding!"
Fast forward to 2 years ago and one of our newest guys has had 3 or 4 very minor accidents involving our 2009 Osage/Chevy C-4500 ambulance and NEVER had any disciplinary measures against him. I'm not upset with him but I am upset with the system. You have to make discipline consistant, and in these two cases it clearly was not.
Now, as far as the pumper with the bald tires and the chains breaking and you taking your concerns to the chief and them being dismissed, that's a crime! He sounds like an arrogant jerk, like no one tells him what to do or how to do it. Typical with some chiefs, as we all know. Not all but some. Some chiefs still remember where they came from and will bend over backwards for us. But your boss sounds like a piece of work. Good luck with him, Brother! Stay safe out there! Karma has a way of working things out!
I received a written repremand about 13 years ago for backing our 1994 E\-One pumper into a commercial mailbox in a condominium complex. I did have a spotter but took my eyes off of him just ever so briefly to make sure the front bumper of the engine was going to clear one of those short squatty round green plastic telephone boxes on the corner of the street where we were located and as I was turning the steering wheel, and the next thing I knew I had struck the mailbox, tilting it over somewhat, but not breaking the post. The damage to the pumper? A teeny tiny ding in the rubrail of the backstep that was barely visible. My Captain received a verbal repremand and wasn't even there when the accident happened. We'd been out checking hydrants and he was up the street around the corner when this occurred. He didn't even know anything had happened. The postal service's reaction to this incident? "It happens all the time. It's no big deal." Needless to say I had this in my personnel file for a year. I didn't press the issue with our union at the time, by the advice of my Captain, because I was up for a promotion to Lead Firefighter (and got it a month or so later).
When I showed the damage to a friend of mine who is now a chief, and the disciplinary action I received, his response was, "You gotta be kidding!"
Fast forward to 2 years ago and one of our newest guys has had 3 or 4 very minor accidents involving our 2009 Osage/Chevy C-4500 ambulance and NEVER had any disciplinary measures against him. I'm not upset with him but I am upset with the system. You have to make discipline consistant, and in these two cases it clearly was not.
Now, as far as the pumper with the bald tires and the chains breaking and you taking your concerns to the chief and them being dismissed, that's a crime! He sounds like an arrogant jerk, like no one tells him what to do or how to do it. Typical with some chiefs, as we all know. Not all but some. Some chiefs still remember where they came from and will bend over backwards for us. But your boss sounds like a piece of work. Good luck with him, Brother! Stay safe out there! Karma has a way of working things out!
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