WPBFD History

Participants were eager to take an active part, espe- cially when identifying problems and issues. Some 160 problems were listed by the attendees, setting a new re- cord for Fabyan & Associates who had conducted similar workshops for numerous other fire departments. After several hours of discussion and massaging, the list was narrowed to 79 and by consensus the four most important problems were: lack of career development, personnel allocation problems, polarization/lack of unity, and man- agement of multiple priorities. Committees were as- signed to formulate solutions to each of these four prob- lems. One of the exercises in the workshop was to work on a mission statement. After reviewing the current mis- sion statement, it was agreed that changes were in order. The following was the final product of the group: West Palm Beach Fire Department Mission Statement The fire department mission is to preserve and protect life and property in the City of West Palm Beach, by minimizing the effects of fire, medical emergencies, other emergencies and disasters. Our goal is to provide quality service through- out the community in the areas of fire preven- tion, public education, and emergency response. In support of this goal, we are committed to: Effective and efficient management of avail- able resources Pro-active planning for community needs and values Maintaining a well trained and professional, qualified work force The program concluded by reviewing the results of a survey that had been conducted prior to the workshop. One hundred and fifty-five West Palm Beach firefighters (86% of the department) had answered the questionnaire and, according to the consultants, the survey presented an accurate picture of how the organization was perceived by its personnel. The organizational strengths were identified as: dedicated personnel, professionalism, and a progres- sive/proactive culture. The organizational weaknesses were: polarization/communication breakdowns, ineffec- tive leadership, and promotional practices. Two arson fires occurred on the same street August 28, 1991. The first was in a vacant house at 1017A Grant Street at 6:45 a.m. The second fire was reported in an occupied home at 12:27 p.m. at 807 Grant Street. Several of the occupants had walked a short distance to a corner market and while returning saw smoke rising from their street. Eleven family members lost all their belongings and had to be moved into hotel rooms by the Red Cross.

unteer, purchased the truck for one dollar in 1965. On June 17, 1991, the antique truck was donated back to the West Palm Beach Fire Department by Lawrence's widow, Mrs. Jean Feeney. Chief Rehr presented Mrs. Feeney with a plaque in recognition of her generous contribution to the history of the department. The City of West Palm Beach celebrated the 4th of July with a parade in 1991. The fire department took an active part by supplying three pieces of apparatus appro- priately decorated with American flags and bunting. The newest E-One engine, the new E-One platform, and Truck 1/2 passed down Flagler Drive as fire clown Steve Bar- nard raced from one side of the street to the other passing candy to the kids. The F.O.F. brought Old 42 to join in the festivities. Truck 1/2 continued in its proud tradition by winning yet another trophy. West Palm Beach was selected as the site for the Florida Firefighter Olympics to be held in 1994. This would be the third time the department had hosted the event. Centennial Committee Chairperson Walter Barndt and William Serey produced a video featuring Mayor Nancy Graham and Local 727 President Dennis Hashagen that was credited with helping the department win the selection process. Nineteen mandatory sports would be held and any number of seventeen optional events could be selected by the host department. The Olympic compe- tition was planned to coincide with the West Palm Beach Fire Department Centennial celebration so that firefight- ers from across Florida would be able to share in the his- torical festivities. Twenty-two members of the department completed an eight week course at South Technical Education Cen- ter during the summer and earned Hazardous Material Technicians ratings on completion. The training was in preparation for the department's new Special Operations Team aimed at taking offensive action at hazardous mate- rial incidents. Training included plugging and patching leaks, using "Level A" entry suits, and operating ad- vanced monitoring equipment. Once the new program was in place, the department would no longer have to rely on mutual aid to handle these critical emergency situa- tions. Chief Rehr was instrumental in organizing a strate- gic planning workshop to identify and solve problems within the fire department. The three day seminar was held at the Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach on Au- gust 21 through August 23, 1991. Twenty-seven depart- ment members representing all divisions and ranks at- tended the sessions conducted by Fabyan & Associates, Management Consulting Services. The workshop focused on such concepts as team building, system analysis, mis- sion clarification, problem identification and prioritiza- tion, organizational climate assessment, and problem analysis.

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