Selecting Leadership In A Volunteer Fire Rescue Organization

The contents of this paper contain realistic goals to assist Executive Fire Officers develop a program to guide the selection of volunteer leaders. In the volunteer fire service, leaders are selected in various ways, including popularity votes with no regard to qualifications. This situation can result in a non-trained, nonskilled, unqualified yet "popular" individual managing a complex array of situations in a department. This paper is directed toward communities with volunteer Fire-Rescue leadership. The objective is to provide specific ideas in the development of a policy that can still allow the selection of the "popular" individual. However, it will be from a group of trained, skilled and qualified candidates.