First Due: The Farmer and the Firefighter: The Harvest Time Is Now

Harvest time is coming to a close for most of the farmers in the United States. With that crossing my mind, another thought occurs to me: I wonder about how the profession of the farmer and of the firefighter relate.

For farmers, the harvest provides an opportunity to see the fruits of their labor—the preparation of the fields with lime and fertilizer, cultivation of the ground, softening of the soil, so the seed that’s planted is given the best chance to survive. During the preparation, rocks are brought to the surface. If they aren’t removed, they can cause issues for equipment that’s used at the time of harvest.

Then farmers spend days hoping for the right amount of rain. Too much or not enough can affect growth. Summer brings the heat, and that heat is needed for proper growth, but too much can scorch the growth into submission.

Then comes October, when farmers hope to reap what they sowed months ago. Will their efforts bring a return on the investments?

I find the job that fire department leaders have similar to that of a farmer. We are the “fields,” in that we continually look for knowledge and skills to ensure that we are equipped to harvest the best firefighters and produce the best service.

We continually look for ways to break the surface of our current education to ensure that future growth can happen. We do this by getting out of our comfort zone. Whether it’s attending a conference or getting involved in an internal department effort to improve the service, we look to cultivate ourselves. Every once in a while, a challenge, deficiency or opportunity—a “rock,” if you will—surfaces. We must address the rock before moving on. Otherwise, it could cause problems down the road for our career or department.

Then recruits show up. They are the “seeds.” We plant those seeds in an academy for multiple weeks/months, and then we pass them to an officer/a crew to provide additional attention, care and instruction. We sweat, serve and we grow with them.

Then we wait for the jobs to come so that those seeds are exposed to heat from actual fires, which is needed for growth.

Shift after shift, we invest in recruits who, at some point, shed that title, and we will call them a firefighter. Will our investments bring back a return? When will harvest time come?

The firefighter harvest
For the fire service profession, we can’t rely on hope for a harvest. We don’t hope to get the line to the door. We prepare daily to ensure ourselves and those who we serve that the line is coming to the door.

Each of us must ensure that our department can produce a harvest, not just seasonally, but year-round.

What does a firefighter harvest look like?

The day of harvest arrives when we see whether those seeds, those recruits-turned-firefighter, truly are ready to take on additional responsibilities, which can come in the form of a new task, leading a program or even a promotion. That day when leaders look around and see the department moving toward something better is when the return on all of the investment is paid in full.

For now and the future
Farmers keep cultivating the fields. So must fire department leaders. Their responsibility to grow the profession, to grow as individuals and to keep giving recruits the best that can be offered never was greater, because one day, long after the work was sacrificed, you’ll find your department not with a seasonal harvest but, rather, a year-round one that’s plentiful enough to feed the current and future generations of the department.