FireFighterNation

In this interview with FireRescue editor-in-chief Tim Sendelbach, Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Metro shares three fundamentals of good fire service leadership--character, competency and connection--as well as some of the traits that contribute to good leadership.

Two things the fire service is big on: respect and training. However, according to Kevin Milan, the two do not go hand-in-hand, partly because of the lifetime certification of some firefighters. Milan discusses the need for recertification as a means to prove firefighter competence, currency of skills, and consistency in delivery of those skills, which in turn would garner respect from politicians holding the purse strings.