On February 4^th, ten fire departments in Colorado sent teams to attend the first pilot of Recruiting & Retaining Diversity in The Fire Service, which was hosted by West Metro Fire Rescue Chief Doug McBee at the department’s new Training Center in Lakewood.

The workshop’s 48 participants that included fire chiefs, recruitment officers, human resources staff, and union representatives came from West Metro Fire Rescue, Aurora Fire Department, Littleton Fire Rescue, Grand Junction Fire Department, Denver Fire Department, South Metro Fire Rescue Authority, Colorado Springs Fire Department, Boulder Fire Department, North Metro Fire Rescue District, and Cunningham Fire Protection District.

The workshop was facilitated by Larry Sagen, Hanley Brite and Chief Debra Amesqua from Madison, Wisconsin. Using video segments from interviews that FIRE 2020 conducted, a ‘virtual faculty’ included Bob Oliver (Fire Chief, Redmond, Washington), Robert Creecy (Fire Chief, Richmond, Virginia), Cheryl Horvath (President, iWomen), Niles Ford (Fire Chief, Lincoln, Nebraska), Kelly Fox (President, Washington State Council of Firefighters), Gordon Graham (Co-President, Lexipol), Alberto Olmos (President, National Association of Hispanic Firefighters), Tomi Rucker (Fire Investigator, Washington, D.C.), and Adam Thiel (Fire Chief, Alexandria, Virginia).

A few highlights of the first pilot:

• West Metro’s Training Center is a state-of-the art facility. Deputy Chief Don Lombardi, who was the driving force behind enrolling participating departments, asked us on a scale of 1 to 10 to rate the Training Center. Our response of “20!” included the terrific support we got from the Training Center’s staff. To learn more about West Metro’s Training Center, go to: http://lakewoodedge.com/2009/10/11/weather-fails-to-chill-west-metro-training-center-opening/.

• The top two parts of the workshop that were considered most significant in broadening participants’ perspective for recruiting and retaining diversity in their fire departments were: 1) Group discussions with team/policy makers. 2) Department Report Card and Assessment.

• What did participants want more of? The top four responses were: 1) Best practices/case studies. [We’ve had a hard time identifying others beside Madison Fire Department. Our search continues. Recommendations are welcome.] 2) More time—1½ to two days. [Making some of the content available online is being considered.] 3) Develop an actual plan. [Another time issue and/or focus for a follow-up session.] 4) Copies of the slide presentation and video clips.  [These are going to be made available shortly—they just need some tweaking.]

• Would participants recommend the workshop to other departments’ leadership, local unions, and city/county HR staff? One person was neutral and everyone else responded affirmatively. Time is precious. FIRE 20/20 appreciates the acknowledgement that the workshop was considered a worthwhile use of it!  

The watchwords for the pilots of Recruiting & Retaining Diversity in The Fire Service are: continuous improvement. Thanks to this first pilot’s participants and their feedback, we have been given a clearer path to follow.