Photo by Steve Baer | FireDog Photos
*Bill Heffernan is a retired West Haven Fire Department lieutenant, longtime department historian, former technical adviser and consulting producer for *the hit comedy *Tacoma FD, and cousin of Tacoma FD actor Kevin Heffernan. He now serves as a Connecticut state representative. His blend of frontline experience, historical insight, and behind‑the‑scenes perspective fuels *Off the Record with Cousin Bill Heffernan, where he answers your questions biweekly.
Q: When the day-to-day grind gets repetitive, how did you keep your crew focused on the mission and the community?
A: You need to mix things up. I had a captain who always trained the same way. We would go down to the parking lot of a local church and flow water. Training the crew on pump operations. Always the same thing. He just liked to “check off the box.” Pump training … Check! After awhile we would just say, “I guess we will be watering the church again today …”
Training can be a great morale booster. It is important that the crew appreciates the drills and actually learns something. There is “training” and then there is “practice.” If the crew feels they are doing something worthwhile, they will be more engaged and even, God forbid, enjoy themselves.
“Watering the church” is just busywork. Nobody likes busywork.
