The idea that the fire service needs to be studied, practiced and researched at the doctoral level is not new. In 1868, Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, fire chief of the London Fire Brigade, visited major fire departments in the United States and made several observations, including the following:

“When I was last in America, it struck me very forcibly that, although most of the chiefs were intelligent and zealous in their work, not one that I met made even a pretension to the kind of professional knowledge which I consider so essential. Indeed, one went as far as to say that the only way to learn the business of a fireman was to go to fires — a statement about as monstrous and contrary to reason as if he had said that the only way to become a surgeon would be to commence cutting off limbs without any knowledge of anatomy or of the implements required.”

Shaw's comparison of the fire service to the medical profession remains apt. Physicians practice medicine as an applied science. If there's no research to support a procedure, piece of equipment, medication or diagnostic rubric, it is malpractice to employ it. The fire service is an applied-science discipline, so our practice should have its foundation in research.

The need for advanced academic study and research in the fire service was reinforced in the 20th century. At the first Wingspread Conference in 1966, fire service leaders of the day concluded, “A systematic and deliberate educational program leading to a broad knowledge base which is acceptable to the academic community is the surest approach to professionalization.” They also identified “mastery of the scientific method” as the first educational need of the fire service.

The academic ladder

But what have we done over nearly four decades to achieve that vision? Our path to achieving professional status has been from the bottom of the academic/research ladder.

We have associate and baccalaureate programs in fire service concentrations. More recently some master degree programs have emerged that focus on the fire service. In addition, the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications System, the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program and the Chief Fire Officer Designation program have contributed professional credentialing methods to our progress. These excellent efforts have taken decades to implement. Nonetheless, they fall short of the top rung of the academic/research ladder: the doctorate.

The doctoral degree/research academic infrastructure is what creates "... a knowledge base [for a discipline] that is acceptable to the academic community," according to David Lucht. He notes that doctoral programs offer degrees in the discrete discipline, prepare highly specialized expertise for industry, and create a pipeline of qualified personnel to serve as faculty and doctoral students to help professors with their teaching and research, making major contributions to the body of knowledge. College and university faculty with doctoral degrees in the discipline teach future practitioners, who conduct important research to add to the body of knowledge and write definitive textbooks.

Once a doctorate is available in a subject, the occupation begins to achieve professional status because knowledge and practice can be based on science and research. Presently most fire service knowledge is based on experience and consensus, neither of which is acceptable to academic and professional communities.

Some fire chiefs may respond, “Who cares if the academic community accepts what we do? You don't need a college degree to ride a fire truck.” You may not need a college degree to ride the fire truck, but you do need scientific research acceptable at the highest academic and professional levels to justify the existence and cost of the fire truck, to determine how many personnel ride on the fire truck, and to measure the performance of the firefighters on the fire truck.

Police vs. fire academia

The academic community is the mechanism by which professional disciplines justify, determine and measure the efficiency and effectiveness of their doctrine.

Examining the academic infrastructure available to the police will illustrate the shortfalls of the fire service discipline. This disparity is a principal reason for the difference in economic and political support that the two primary public emergency services receive.

For example, Peterson's Guide to Graduate and Professional Programs reveals that 29 universities offer doctorates in criminal justice or criminology. The National Science Foundation reports 62 research doctorates in criminology were awarded in 2001 in the United States. There are no doctorates in the fire service discipline listed. There are four in fire protection engineering, but that is not the fire service.

According to Dissertation Abstracts 2003, in 2002 seven fire service — related doctoral dissertations were conducted, compared to 34 police service doctoral dissertations. (See sidebar.) A review by research assistant Adam Zile of the Chronicle of Higher Education for much of 2003 finds 54 college faculty positions advertised under criminology and just two under fire science. In addition, five new scholarly books related to criminology were reported, but none were listed for the fire service.

Even the Ivy League helps to give the police service professional status; Harvard University is part of the police service academic infrastructure. The Kennedy School of Government graduate program in “Criminal Justice Policy and Management” has 12 faculty, fellows and researchers currently conducting seven major research projects related to the police service. There are no programs, faculty or research related to the fire service listed at the Kennedy School.

Why they do it

Despite the fact that there is no fire service studies doctoral program available, firefighters still are going for the gold tassel: the doctoral degree. Why do they do it, and what is the benefit to the fire service?

This question was posed to four fire officers who have earned doctorates: Ron Wakeham, past fire chief of Des Moines, Iowa, and CEO of The 831 Group; Michael Drumm, past fire chief of Markham, Ill., and visiting assistant professor of the public services graduate program at DePaul University; Harold Cohen, deputy fire chief of Baltimore County, Md.; and Bill Lowe, fire captain in Clayton County, Ga.

Lowe cited “commitment to lifelong learning, enhance personal interest and passion of the fire service,” while Wakeham wanted “to be the best I could be, to take on a challenge, to climb another mountain.”

Their views were echoed by Cohen and Drumm. “This degree would assure that my professional journey would be lifelong, offering me several roads to travel, paths to explore and paths to blaze,” says Cohen. According to Drumm, the “responsibility … to bring the most complete and up-to-date administrative skill possible to my department and the fire service” was important.

As for the benefit of such degrees to the fire service, Wakeham believes that “research skills help provide the body of knowledge needed. Leadership gets better, and those we deal with in everyday settings may look at us and the entire service much differently.”

Lowe says that the benefit comes from having “fire service practitioners with the universally recognized expertise as researchers and educators…. The visibility and contributions of the fire service's doctoral pioneers raise the academic bar.”

In the 20th century, law enforcement achieved professional status largely because of its acceptance by the academic community as an occupation worthy of study at the doctoral level. The academic infrastructure for the police service has been created and is producing the doctrine for the discipline.

That's the next step for the fire service. “The fire service is breaking stereotypical professional paradigms,” says Cohen, “allowing us to be welcomed into other professional societies…. It gives us the intellectual union card.”

The fire service has made a good first step at the bottom of the academic ladder. Some fire service doctoral pioneers are reaching the top academic rung in other disciplines, and such doctorates should be sought. But surely the fire service discipline needs at least one doctoral program in fire service studies.

To compete in the 21st century, the fire service needs bold action at the top of the academic ladder. “The leaders of today's fire service are at the forefront of the ever-changing definition of fire service,” Drumm says. He notes that leaders are “responsible for setting the vision and challenging the members of the fire service to make the vision a reality.”

The next step?

What needs to be done to achieve the vision of a fire service studies doctoral education infrastructure? Fire service studies doctoral programs would need to be developed in universities that can involve faculties who bring terminal degrees, or Ph.Ds, says Dr. Sandy Bogucki, associate professor at Yale University of Medicine, Section of Emergency Medicine. She's also the medical director for the New Haven and Branford (Conn.) fire departments, as well as Branford's fire surgeon

Ideally, faculty would have degrees in structural engineering, fire protection engineering, fire and hazmat chemistry, public administration, decision science, medical/EMS, and criminal justice. Those faculty members would have to commit to taking the new program through the academic process to have it recognized by the university as a program of studies. Those awarded the degree would generally remain in academia, and their careers would be devoted to advancing the science and methodologies of the fire service discipline with full specialty preparation and advanced research techniques now in the tool box.

Bogucki sees a “push/pull” fire service academic infrastructure evolving. The academic requirements for firefighters and fire officers is going up, so the “pull” to learn the science and research behind the disciplines doctrine is increasing. For example, all candidates who sit for the Fire Department of New York firefighter entrance exam are required to have 30 college credits. In 2007, all candidates for the FDNY battalion chief exam will be required to have a bachelor's degree. In 2009, the academic requirement for the EFOP and the CFOD will be a bachelor's degree.

“The push is that a certain percentage of bright, highly motivated individuals who get their degrees for professional qualification will be hooked on the academic aspects of the fire service, wanting to pursue higher degrees and answer the questions that arise during operations by conducting research using rigorous scientific methodologies,” says Bogucki. “That's the push the fire service can create toward doctoral-level fire service research and teaching.”

According to Chief Ronny J. Coleman, former California state fire marshal and founding chairman of the Commission on Fire Accreditation, the fire service must address three needs to create a doctoral fire service studies infrastructure:

“First, a fire service body of knowledge worthy of study at the doctoral level needs to exist. Second, broad populations of fire service personnel with bachelors and masters degrees eligible for and interested in advanced graduate study and research are needed, a critical mass. Third, we need a place for the new doctors of fire service studies to practice and make significant contributions to the fire service discipline.”

Coleman compared the professional evolution for the fire service to surgeons. Many years ago, the local surgeon was also the town barber, hence the red-and-white pole. Surgery was practiced as a trade until science and research were applied to it, enforcing advanced study and certification to the discipline.

Coleman and Bogucki came to the same conclusion as Shaw in the 19th century: The fire service is like other science- and research-based professions. It needs to be studied and practiced at the highest academic and professional levels. And the fire service, with the help of academia, is responsible for creating the infrastructure to achieve that vision.

Shaw told us the fire service needs “precision study and training, as other professions do.” In the 20th century, fire service leaders at the Wingspread Conference told us mastery of the scientific method and acceptance by the academic community was the surest path to professional status. Some fire service doctoral pioneers are leading the way, and academic requirements for firefighters and fire officers are increasing.

Today's fire service leaders have described what needs to be done. In the 21st century, we must continue the journey by creating a doctoral fire service studies infrastructure. This effort will help us better serve humankind.

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Burton A. Clark, Ed.D., EFO, CFO, chairs the management science program at the National Fire Academy. His doctorate is in adult education from Nova Southeastern University. He is assistant fire chief at the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department in Prince George's County, Md., a Maryland Fire Rescue Institute instructor, adjunct professor of research at Grand Canyon University and dissertation adviser at Nova Southeastern University. His research interests are in fire service professional development and research. He is a National Pro Board — certified Fire Officer IV.

Fire Service — Related Dissertations, 2002

Keep in mind that the degrees these scholars received are not in fire service studies. Their degrees are in public administration, education, engineering and psychology. They applied the doctrine of these disciplines to the fire service environment in an effort to advance their doctrine. The secondary effect of the research is that the information may be valuable to our fire service doctrine.

The relation between burnout and compassion fatigue in firefighter-paramedics

Jennifer L. Bissett, Ph.D.
University of Houston

Motivational factors and personality traits of individuals who decide to enter a career as a firefighter/paramedic

Robert D. Holborn, Ed.D.
University of Central Florida

Regionalization of fire protection and emergency medical aid services: A comparative case study analysis of economic and social-political impacts

Brian Seichi Nakamura, D.P.A.
University of Southern California

Decision-making in the public sector: A collective case study of fire sprinklers in Illinois' public university dormitories

Randal David Miller, D.P.A.
University of Illinois at Springfield

Air quality impact evaluation of a hypothetical fire-fighting facility

William Glenn Fuller, D.E.
Louisiana Tech University

A critical analysis of the fire accreditation process to discover if it impacts the effectiveness of paid, public fire departments

Ray O. Shackelford, D.P.A.
University of La Verne

Fighting more then fire: Boredom proneness, workload stress, and underemployment among urban firefighters

John David Watt, Ph.D.
Kansas State University

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