By Christina M. Wright
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. —
Ideas were tossed about the fire house meeting room like hot potatoes as a diverse group of 10 came together Thursday for the first Anderson Fire Department minority council meeting.
“The reason we’re here is the fire department has been challenged, as the police department has, to get as many minorities in the department as possible,” said Floyd Edwards, the human relations director for the City of Anderson.
The group — minus two local councilmen who have recently scrutinized the fire department’s diversity — talked about ideas to reach minorities, get them interested in being firefighters, and offer pertinent information about the job and application process.
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to lower any standards,” said deputy chief Dave Cravens. “The standards will not be lowered.”
The meeting included the Urban League president, two black firefighters, a woman firefighter, two of the department’s deputy chiefs — who are white men — and a Hispanic community leader.
Missing from the group were Madison County councilman John Bostic and city councilman Rodney Chamberlain, both of whom have badgered the fire department in recent months about the lack of black firefighters.
The group in attendance discussed ways to recruit applicants for the next eligibility list, which opens in March 2011. The list would last for two years, and then the process would begin all over again.
As Floyd went around the room asking for suggestions on how to target specific minorities, different challenges arose.
Benny Santiago, the Madison County Sheriff’s Department chaplain, said Hispanics must be able to read and write in English and have legal status.
William Raymore, of the Urban League, said the department faces a mindset that they are just as reluctant to have blacks as they were “back in my day.”
He suggested sending black firefighters to talk to the community about life on the job. The two black firefighter in the room nodded in agreement.
“Something has gone wrong,” said Phil Cooper, a black firefighter, after hearing that only three out of 175 applicants in 2008 are black. “I don’t know what happened, but that’s a real concern for me.”
Capt. Jeanna Eldridge said she often hears women complain about work time away from their children. Firefighters work 24-hour shifts. But, Eldridge said, that’s the job.
“There is no, ‘tomorrow’s my kid’s birthday,’ ‘tomorrow’s my anniversary,’” she said. “That’s the schedule.”
Almost each idea included such reality checks: applicants cannot have felonies, new hires must have an EMT license within one year, the physical fitness is not easy, most firefighters apply two or three times, and firefighters deal with more than just fires.
“We’re EMS. We’re rescue divers. Firefighting is not our only job,” Eldridge said, adding that last year she responded to four baby deaths.
Kelsey Carter attended the meeting for her husband, black firefighter Sherman Carter. She said Sherman Carter suggested getting some ideas from the Indianapolis Fire Department’s minority council.
Her husband suggested, she said, offering pre-tests for applicants and seminars about what’s expected of applicants, including interview attire.
She said the Indianapolis council may have put on such events, “but it was for everybody,” not just minorities.
Cravens also said that any opportunities the Anderson council offers to minorities will be available to others, too.
That includes a “community day” that the department is planning for Oct. 2. The day will give interested men and women a chance to perform tasks required to be a firefighter, including climbing a ladder, dragging a dummy, and entering a tunnel to test claustrophobia.
Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.
