Fire Engineering Books: 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

296 Pages/Hardcover/6x9/2007