A Message to the Chief

I have been wrestling with the idea of whether to run this since the beginning of the week. I am certain some people will be unhappy with my decision.

It is a comment from the NOVA section of thewatchdesk.com. Like most, but not all, comments on TWD and on STATter 911, it is anonymous. The person who wrote the message uses the name “blowin’smoke”.

It was posted on Monday, the day Alexandria’s new fire chief, Adam Thiel, was sworn-in. It is addressed to Chief Thiel.

While I can’t attest to the validity of the information or the claims made in the posting, I am intrigued by it. Intrigued because the message is very direct and very clear.

It refers to the missed rescue of Debra Chiles in Fairfax County and makes the case that something similar could happen in Alexandria. The writer describes some of the same symptoms and problems that I have seen in the many comments STATter 911 received following the Lorton fire.

So remember, I put this out here, not because I endorse it, or support it, or can even attest that the facts are accurate. It is meant solely as a catalyst for discussion.

It seems clear a lot of people have feelings similar to the ones expressed in this message. That means, like it or not, these are issues that, one way or another, will confront Chief Thiel, Chief Mastin and other chiefs.

As always, if you have an opposing viewpoint, we want to hear from you. You can use the comments section or email me at dstatter@wusa9.com.

411 for Chief Thiel

Welcome to the AFD Chief Thiel. I sincerely hope that you will find this post and take it for what it is — candid pieces of advice containing accurate and useful information pertaining to your new position in a troubled department. For starters, if you have not already, please review some of the posts on this website about the fatal FFX Co. fire of several weeks ago in which a woman died on the third floor of an MOG townhouse. This turned out to be a small kitchen fire, contained to the first floor. The victim was on the phone with FFX dispatchers with units on or near the scene and she was never found despite reports of completed primary and secondary searches. This is catastrophic incompetence personified and you must know that the potential for the same display of malpractice and dereliction of duty exits here right now. There are some excellent firefighters in this department, some of them are officers. There is, however, no shortage of idle, underperforming, incompetent, and unaccountable people among all ranks on the payroll. If you think this claim is an exaggeration or a simple statement of frustration, I assure you it is not. A long standing lack of professional commitment is a large part of why FFX Co. is suffering the fallout of the previously mentioned incident. On any given day in this city, depending on the box and who is on duty, the same disgraceful fatality could occur here. It is time to weed the garden before it is too late. Next, you should direct your attention to the racial discontent of the St. Louis Fire department. There is a current promotional debocle that offers insights into the racial problems of our own department. Information about this case is readily available on the internet. In short, our hiring and promotional practices are cloaked in the cloth of political correctness and the garb of diversity and everybody, and I mean everybody on the job knows it. People are hired who cannot meet physical and academic standards while candidates who can are turned away. Promotions are granted to low scoring candidates who lack both the credentials and the job knowledge of their competitors. This system is debilitating to the people who work here, and the people who live here. If transparency and merit do not become paramount factors in the hiring and promotion of personnel, you will find the tide of discontent here potentially impossible to contain. This, Chief Thiel, is also no exaggeration.
As I mentioned above, there are some true professionals here, for many however, this job is “10 days a month, great benefits, and four day breaks.” I would suggest you set your expectations for every employee beneath you very high, and keep a close watch on the ground. Many of your immediate subordinates have been living on easy street for a long time and they will have little motive to revolutionize anything or accurately report to you any areas in need of major improvement. After all, much of the decay has occurred on their watch. There are firefighters here who couldn’t tell you much of anything about this job, there are officers here who know little more than they do and they don’t care, there are battalion chiefs who would rather look the other way than stare an honest problem right in the face, and now they all belong to you. Please remember this, when we let somebody die because of the degraded state of competence within our ranks, and it will happen, just like it has down the road, that is when everybody with a political stake in this city, and the media as well, with be screaming at the top of their lungs “How could this happen?!” And the worst of all, most of it will be directed at you. We’ve gotten off easy here for a long time. “Obese, weak, lazy, or ignorant? – no problem the Alexandria Fire Department has a job for you!” This has to change for the benefit of this department and the citizens of this city. I wish you luck with the unenviable task before you.