Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Ryan Farrell
VHFD Lieutenant Ryan Farrell stands next to the fire engine at Station 2 on Columbiana Road.
Many problems a fire department sees require firefighters with a hose or medical personnel in an ambulance. With the right kind of thinking, though, VHFD Lieutenant Ryan Farrell said some of those problems could be solved before a fire engine ever turns on its siren.
Farrell, a Vestavia Hills native and 12-year veteran of the city fire department, recently completed the four-year Executive Fire Officer Program, a training course that only selects 200 to 250 firefighters nationwide to participate each year. Chief James St. John and Assistant Chief Marvin Green are previous attendees of the program and encouraged Farrell to apply. Farrell said he was the only firefighter from the Southeast in his class.
At Station 2 on Columbiana Road, Farrell supervises a crew of five to seven people, a fire engine and rescue vehicle. He said he loves that the job brings something new each day, though his particular station receives many emergency medical calls, especially on nearby I-65.
“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Every day is different, solving other people’s problems which is what I like to do,” Farrell said.
The Executive Fire Officer Program, which Farrell described as “second to none,” requires attendees to travel to Maryland once a year for two weeks at a time to attend classes on leadership and problem solving.
In between visits, program participants work on research projects based in their own fire departments. The lengthy overall program and time spent away from home can make it difficult to stick with the Executive Fire Officer Program. However, once Farrell was accepted, he planned to see it through.
“I knew when I was accepted I wasn’t going to quit, I was going to finish it,” Farrell said.
The classes in Maryland also gave Farrell a chance to network with firefighters from across the country, including Alaska and Hawaii. He said that has been as valuable as the training courses; when Farrell is applying for grants or trying out a new program, he can call or email firefighters who have experienced the same thing at their own departments.
“What you learn in the class through the research is outstanding, but … just having that network of people I can email or pick up the phone – they may be 3,000 miles away but they’ve done exactly what we’re trying to do,” Farrell said.
Each year, Farrell has worked on a different research project. His first was to study the process of closing Vestavia Hills’ dispatch center and transferring those duties to Shelby County’s dispatch center. In learning how to make that change go smoothly, Farrell said he learned more about the big picture thinking that the executive program teaches.
“I think in the fire service we’re used to problem solving that we do here, where I go to somebody’s house that’s on fire and we put it out, and the problem’s solved,” Farrell said. “A lot of folks make the mistake of solving all their problems in the fire service like that, but it teaches you a different way of thinking through this program.”
Another research project gave Farrell the chance to study the fire department’s public education program, including interviewing Vestavia teachers and comparing the program to a similar one at Tuscaloosa. He has shared his results, including which areas of education are meeting community needs and which require improvement, with the fire marshal to adapt the education program.
Farrell also studied response times as part of the program. The National Fire Protection Association sets the standard call response time in suburban areas to 10 minutes or less, which is the goal for VHFD and similar departments. To meet or beat that time, Farrell looked at response data across the fire department by station, shift and type of call. Firefighters have the most ability to improve in the span of time between the call coming in and the moment the fire engine pulls out of the garage.
“We’re not going to drive any faster to get there and be unsafe, so really the only thing we have control over is how fast I get from right here [the station’s main room], find the address on the map where we’re going and get in the truck and start moving,” Farrell said. “We definitely identified where we can make improvements and educate our people on why it’s important because that’s the only thing we can change to get there sooner.”
Overall, Farrell said his time in the Executive Fire Officer Program will pay off for his entire firefighting career and the community he serves.
“I think it will make me a more effective officer in the fire department, but I think Vestavia fire department and the community [will benefit] just as much,” Farrell said.
