HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

I never really know where the inspiration for my weekly commentary will come from, it certainly was no different this week. I had just about whittled my list of topics down to one when the phone started to ring, stopping me in mid-keystroke. When I picked up the phone and said hello, I was in awe when I heard the voice on the other end of the line.

It seems that one of the real legends of the world of fire training and education was calling me to thank me for some research and writing that I recently did for the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI). Mr. Keith Royer, former head of fire service training in Iowa, legend in the world of knowledge and a founding father of the ISFSI was calling me to commend me and to share some wisdom with me.

For those of you who are true students of the fire service, it was Mr. Royer, who with his Iowa associate Floyd Nelson, developed the Royer-Nelson Ideal Rate of Flow formula. He was one of the earliest and most outspoken proponents of the need for improved training and education in the American Fire Service. And he devoted more than 50 years of his life to training firefighters all across America.

One of the reasons for his call stemmed from a recent article that I crafted for the ISFSI member magazine, The Voice. In that article, I shared my hopes and dreams for the future of that fine organization which I currently serve as First Vice President. As I am about to ascend to the President’s position in the upcoming election I wanted the membership to know my views and my plans for the future. How can I expect people to share in a dream if I fail to outline that dream for them?

In that article I stated that if we are to chart a strong course for the future, we must look to the past for guidance. So I endeavored to create an understanding of the beginnings of our organization. In my article I wrote of the, "…thirteen men (who) met in Keith Royer’s room at that hotel (The King Cotton in Memphis, Tennessee). Mr. Royer was in charge of fire service training in Iowa at that time, and had been an influential player on the fire service scene throughout the 1950’s. For the sake of posterity, I will list the members of that visionary group, just as Mr. Simpson dictated them to me. They were:

1. Keith Royer, Iowa
2. Robbie Robertson, Maryland
3. Bill Clark, Wisconsin
4. Ernest Barrett, Ontario, Canada
5. Sherman Pickard, North Carolina
6. Earl Hood, South Dakota
7. Bill Behrens, Nebraska
8. Lyle Goodrich, Washington (State)
9. Floyd Nelson, Iowa
10. Harold Simpson, Iowa
11. Jake Siken, Arizona
12. Gary Mills, Iowa
13. Ray Simpson, Ohio

During my telephone interview with Mr. Ray Simpson of Ohio for that article, he related a couple of really interesting stories from that long-ago meeting. It seems that there was some concern about the number of people in the room. Mr. Simpson remembers that there was some talk about asking one man to leave the meeting or finding one more person to attend. However, since an even number would make it tough on close votes, they stayed with the number of thirteen.

When it came time to create a name for their proposed new group, it was the late Bill Clark who suggested the American Association of Fire Instructors. Ray told me with a chuckle in his voice that, " … Ernie Barrett exploded at that point. He said that he would have to leave the room, what with coming from Canada and all." Thus it was that the international aspect of our association came into being. Mr. Royer indicated that this had in fact occurred and that there were, in fact, a number of fine Canadian instructors who came to the FDIC each year.

So it was that the International Society of Fire Service Instructors came to be incorporated in 1961 in the State of Iowa. Its original membership was limited to people with a state-level fire service training emphasis. Over time, however, its membership criteria were broadened to include anyone with an interest or a role in training.

As a new member of the ISFSI during the 1970’s, I can remember hearing stories from Roger McGary, now of Montgomery County, Maryland and John Leahy, now of Indian Rock, Florida, about the heated discussions in Memphis over the issue of who was and who was not eligible to be a member.

During our quite lengthy phone conversation, Mr. Royer also indicated that my research into this aspect of our corporate history was quite correct. But he added an interesting thought that I think might be of interest to the American Fire Service in 2001. He shared with me his belief that the focus of the state-level person is different than that of the local, municipal fire person. The state-level people had to be concerned with the broad spectrum of fire educational problems in their state. He said that local-level people had a hard time when it came to thinking about problems outside of their communities.

When he shared this with me, it was a though the Good Lord had personally shot a bolt of lightning through me from on high. Here I was talking with one of my legendary heroes, and he was giving me wisdom that I think will guide me in my journey toward the future. Think about it folks, how many times have I written in the commentary venue about the problems we face as a fire service? Why is it that we cannot come together as a community of fire service people united in our battle to become a better, more effective force for good in the patch quilt of America’s infrastructure? Mr. Royer ran head long into these same issues nearly 40 years ago when he chaired a nationwide study of the fire problem in America for the old Civil Defense agency in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Here I am working to help the fire service in 2001, and I am battling the same forces and the same problems that Mr. Royer faced four decades ago. The issue is so simple that it is going to be difficult to handle. People only worry about what they can see and touch. They aren’t worried about the fire departments that have nothing, because that is their local problem out wherever they might be.

To use the words of my youth, "we are simply stuck on ourselves." Back then this was meant to indicate that someone was self-centered. I guess that is the basis for all of the problems that I write about here each week. People simply cannot get it through their heads that we are far more alike than we are different. And this issue is becoming even more critical, because as of Tuesday afternoon, April 10, 2001, 35 fire people have died in the line of duty. Unless we start to wake the Hell up, we are charting a course to have our worst year in many a moon.

During the call, Mr. Royer charged me to come up with a vision for the future: one that will help to guide me in my journey (and my battles) for a better American Fire Service. Here is the vision that I shared with him:

I see the fire service of our great nation traveling along a number of parallel roads. Sadly, these are the same roads that were identified and defined in the watershed literary work, America Burning back in 1972. And they are the same roads that were mentioned in the America Burning Revisited document issued last year. These roads are:

• Fire suppression (the widest road, with the deepest ruts)
• Fire prevention and code enforcement
• The road to stronger building codes
• The road to installed fire suppression
• The road to public education
• The road to a better trained fire service (training is a road that is perilously narrow, and frequently overlooked)
• The road to a healthier fire service

Somewhere over the horizon of time, I see that these roads will need to converge into a single path, if we are to truly protect our people, as well as the public we are sworn to protect. Unfortunately, I cannot predict when this will happen, any more than I can predict the date of my own demise. But I would be willing to venture a guess that until these roads begin to come together, we will be forced to come together on a frequent basis to salute our fallen brothers and sisters.

I am pleased to share with you that Keith Royer approved on my vision for the future. While the road will be long and hard, and paved with hard work, sadness, and disappointment, I promised him that I would forge on. How could I do any less for a man that has been on the front lines battling for the same issues since well before I was born? I would just ask that you have patience with me as I write about the many parts that make up the fire protection puzzle in our country. Each of the roads mentioned above is important, and over time I will give each and every one their due exposure.

If we are going to come together as an America Fire Service, we have to take Keith Royer's advice and learn to think at a higher level than our own little corner of the world. The borders must fall. The thoughts must run rampant. We must learn to think regionally, and then nationally.

Let me close by having you think about adopting a broader view of the fire protection problems in America. We all fall into a familiar and comfortable rut when it comes to doing what we do in the fire service. Let me just ask a favor of you. When you have a moment, throw a ladder up against the wall of your trench, ascend it and peer out at the people in the next trench. They are probably nice people, just like you. And you may have a lot more in common with them than you think.

It is amazing how talking with a legend can stimulate you!

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