The Fire Chief's Toolbox

By Ron Graner, Chief (Ret.)

This is not another book about how to put the wet stuff on the red stuff.

The Fire Chief's Toolbox presents a clear view of the personal and professional issues affecting a new fire chief and offers tools to address the issues successfully. The Fire Chief's Toolbox will provide readers with:

• Realistic insight into the knowledge, skills and abilities that every fire chief must have to succeed
• Guidelines for long-term career preparation
• An understanding of the job search and selection process
• A fundamental plan for assuming command
• An understanding of the importance of the chief's role as a politician, educator, salesperson and marketer to assure career success
• Guidance for spouses and families of those who seek to become The Chief
• A reminder that the primary job of every fire chief is the safety of his or her personnel

As a future or current chief of any fire department, you will:

• Benefit from the practical, straightforward and common sense advice
• Discover the thought processes needed to meet the challenges that face every chief
• Gain insight that will help your family cope with the stresses your job as fire chief will bring to their lives

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Credentials, philosophy and assumptions
• Career preparation
• Fire chief position available
• The job search
• Researching position openings
• Application and selection
• The job offer
• Assuming command
• The policy makers
• Human resources and labor relations/unions
• Politics
• Standards of response coverage
• Outsourcing
• Why can't we run government like a business?
• Budgets and service delivery
• Purchasing
• Ethics
• View from the fire chief's office
• General management tools
• Tools for improvement
• Beyond suppression
• Fire chief, lessons learned climbing the ladder review
• Tools for your family and your personal values
• The golden rule
• Conclusion
• Exercises, check lists and reminders
• References
• Index