HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

As an observer of the national fire service scene, I am always on the look out for topics that deserve to be placed into the spotlight of public scrutiny. When my work in this field began, I was concerned that sufficient fodder for my use would be hard to come by. How many issues could arise that would pique the general interest of so diverse an audience as the American Fire Service, I wondered.

To say that I underestimated the ability of society to provide the trigger for my thinking mechanism is, in and of itself, an understatement. Everyday something happens that causes me to think outside of the box. Life has become a joyous celebration of thinking and writing.

Rare is the time when three separate events can come together to create a growing level of anger within my soul. But that is what has happened over the past week. The following issues seem to be tightly bound together in what they seem to say about our country's perception of the fire service:

• The United States Census Bureau advertisement that portrays the fire service in a most inept light, to suit their needs
• The Ford Motor Company's pick up truck commercial that shows a group of volunteer fire personnel rolling up next to a burning structure in a representative model of their product.
• The ongoing battle over Congressman William Pascrel's FIRE Bill legislation in Congress

These three issues created a worrisome thought in my brain. People only think of the fire service when it serves their narrow agenda. That is the reason for my choice of the title of this commentary: The Fire Service - America's Red Carpet.

When would you expect to see a red carpet in use? You will encounter this symbol at those events where one someone wishes to make a strong positive impression on another someone. How many times have you seen a President of the United States escort a foreign dignitary along long a path carpeted in beautiful red hues? And the list of public events where this symbol of honor is used to create the proper ambience of public symbolism is beyond number.

However, did you ever wonder where the red carpet is stored when it is not being used for its public duties? It is hidden away in the deepest recesses of someone's stuffy storage closet. We have actually peeked into the closet where a particular red carpet of our acquaintance was stored. Do you know what? Sometime the carpet wasn't even cleaned before it was hastily rolled and tossed out of the public eye.

Have you ever felt like that? One day you are the hero that saved the widow's son. And the next day you are the enemy that hides in the firehouse down the street. One day you are feted at the banquet of life and then the next you are tossed on to society's ash heap.

Before putting finger to computer key (remember when it was pen to paper) I contacted a spokesperson from the Census Bureau, Mr. Kerry Sutton. I did this to confirm an article that came across my e-mail list from Mr. Lou Angeli and his Flirting With Fire network.

In Mr. Angeli's commentary, Mr. Sutton spoke of the fact that research by a well-known public relation's firm had determined that the fire service was a "hot button topic" with the public. They felt that by the use of such a "dramatic" theme, they could capture the public's awareness of the importance of returning the census documents. Their intentions were quite noble. The Census folks are fighting to stem a 10 percent drop in returning census documents that has occurred over the past ten years. I can agree with that.

My initial reaction to the ad was negative, but then a metamorphosis took place. The stimulus for this came from my friend, Chief Bill Goldfeder from the Mason, Ohio Fire Department. He sent me an e-mail that discussed the problem of under funding in certain areas, because of apparent under counts in the census data. OK, he made the same point that the Census Bureau made, that seemed right in my mind.

And then an old phrase from the advertising world popped into my brain. Any publicity is good publicity if we choose to spin it our way. Once again, we in the fire service are in danger of missing another boat, and heaven knows that untold thousands have left docks everywhere without the fire service on board.

I strongly disagree with the manner in which the volunteers are portrayed in the Ford pickup commercial. Even if people responded in that manner, they would surely park a lot further away from the burning structure. As a matter of fact, most departments discourage the use of private vehicles to arrive on location. On the other hand many do allow this practice. That is a measure of how diverse we are as a fire service.

However, even though I disagree with the portrayal as depicted, there is still the fact that people are seeing us on their televisions. Rather than criticizing these two public images of the fire service, we should be using them to put forward our fiscal agenda at the federal level.

This brings us to the first point in my dissertation. If the Census Bureau can fund a study that shows how important we are to society in general, how come Congress cannot comprehend that fact?

Point two follows very quickly upon the heels of the first. Why do we, as a fire service, point fingers at the Census Bureau and bemoan the way in which we were portrayed? This same point can also be made using the Ford commercial.

If the advertising industry can come up with statistical data about the importance of the fire service to society, why is the import of this data not reaching the U.S. Congress? If we are such an integral part of society in general, why are we treated like the red carpet alluded to earlier in this article?

The reasons may be listed quite simply:

• We are divided into a world of us versus them.
• If it doesn't benefit us directly, the heck with everyone else.
• We can do it with what we have got; we always have, haven't we?

I have seen great things accomplished by the fire service. And I have seen dastardly deeds done by firefighters to firefighters. Therein lies the dichotomy. We are not united in one crusade. I will not go into great detail on each of the three negative centripetal forces listed above, as that would merely strengthen the issue of disruptive negativism. What I would suggest is that we have a very short window of opportunity to piggyback our issue on the free publicity provided to us by Ford, and by the Census Bureau. To use a fire related metaphor, we must strike while the iron is not.

Someone should contact the Ford Motor Company and the Census Bureau to seek permission for use of the two video clips. Press releases could be generated, Congress could be bombarded, and hay could be made while this short view of the sun shined.

Some thoughts:

• The hose in the Census Bureau advertisement broke because there was not enough money in the Volunteer Fire Assistance Program. According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, "… in fiscal year 1999, the program received only $2 million. However, the program receives an average of $24 million in requests from needy fire departments. This lack of funding is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the nation's rural fire service."
• The firefighters in the Ford advertisement arrived in the pickup because their rundown old relic of a 1955 pumper broke down on the way to the fire.

These are just two of the many ways in which we could put our case forward, if we could just get our act together. We know of numerous fire departments across America who are begging on the Internet for the equipment that they desperately need to provide fire protection for their communities. Many people are hesitant to help because of liability related issues on donated equipment.

Come on America, get off the dime and go to work. Let's think about:

• Using these fabulous PR opportunities in a positive manner.
• Contacting our own legislators in a most personal and timely manner.
• Let us make fire protection an issue in this year's elections at every level. Do not even support local dogcatchers who are not strongly pro fire service.
• Having a central national clearinghouse for serviceable, used equipment of all types. Let us return to that spirit of community and sharing that made this nation strong.
• Let us think about the other person for a change. For those of you in well-funded fire departments, pause and think about those who are less well off.
• And how about a national "Adopt a Fire Department" program to tide us over until we can win the Battle of Capitol Hill on the FIRE bill and the Volunteer Funding Program. Many of you are already doing this on an informal basis. Let's join hands and enhance what you are already doing.

We can do all of these things. Or we can continue to don our dress uniforms and continue in our classic role of America's Public Safety Red Carpet. I don't know about you, but I am a bit tired of people walking all over me.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service