Oct. 2 – Decatur Fire & Rescue Chief Tracy Thornton said Tuesday he would take appropriate action after learning of an “inappropriate” training exercise as the Alabama Fire College continues to investigate the DFR recruiting school.
The state began its investigation into DFR’s recruit training Monday after the class was abruptly sent home Friday, Thornton said. The class started on September 3 with 21 new recruits. In addition to Decatur firefighters, the DFR Training Center offers classes to self-sponsored recruits and aspiring firefighters from nearby departments.
“A video was shared with Decatur Fire/Rescue that was taken during one of our previous training classes… The video was taken during an exercise designed to show recruits that they may have responded to very strange circumstances on emergency calls” , Thornton said in a written statement.
“During the video we witnessed an exercise being used that was not suitable for this type of training. While the concept of preparing recruits for the unexpected is good in theory, the practical application was completely wrong.”
The Decatur Daily has obtained the video Thornton referenced in his statement. It shows an apparently simulated medical emergency: a man lies face down on the bathroom floor with his pants down around his thighs. The handle of a plunger appears to be sticking out of the man’s backside, even though it’s not actually stuck inside him.
A man who appears to be an instructor stands on the left of the screen, filming on his phone as four recruits enter the room. As the recruits decide how to respond to the simulated injury, some in the video struggle to contain their laughter. One man is wearing a Decatur Fire jacket, while another man is wearing a shirt that says Alabama Fire College. Another man, apparently playing the role of bystander, wears a shirt that says Fire Marshal. “He just really likes plungers,” the latter tells the recruits.
“Training scenarios like this should never have happened and will not happen again,” Thornton said. “It was wrong. Even though the DFR Command Staff should never have allowed this to happen, it did happen and now that we know, we are taking appropriate action.”
According to Thornton, the video shows a “completely different” recruiting class than the current one. He said it was filmed during training earlier this year.
Thornton confirmed that three recruits dropped out last week, although he does not yet know if the dropouts are related to the ongoing investigation. On Tuesday evening, he said the Fire Board had cleared the department of all major charges, but some minor changes needed to be made. He said recruit school would resume Wednesday morning.
Earlier Tuesday, Thornton said it was common to lose some recruits during training. “I really don’t know what prompted (the investigation) other than the fact that I know the Fire College has had some allegations about things we did at our recruit school that we shouldn’t have done,” Thornton said.
According to Thornton, all firefighters in Alabama must receive their certification through the Alabama Fire College. All certification courses, such as recruit school, must teach the curriculum approved by the Alabama Firefighters’ Personnel Standards and Education Commission. The Commission ensures the efficient operation of the Fire Academy. The Fire College has the authority to revoke a training center’s certification, Thornton said.
A spokeswoman for the Fire Council said on Tuesday it had not issued a statement about the investigation and had not responded to further inquiries.
“The Fire Council comes here to open the school and talk to the recruits about what’s going to happen and we know what the rules are, what we have to do,” Thornton explained. “And then during the recruit school, which lasts for weeks, they have a regional coordinator come in several times to check on everything to make sure everything is going well, and we’ve never had any problems in the past.”
Thornton said Fire College representatives interviewed recruits one-on-one on Monday. They interviewed DFR personnel on Tuesday.
“This is a lengthy process that is being completed for both the Alabama Fire College and Decatur Fire/Rescue to obtain as much information as possible regarding the investigation,” Thornton said.
The investigation comes just as the appeal hearing for Kevin Jackson, a DFR lieutenant who was double demoted in June, is set to resume on Wednesday. One of the accusations against Jackson is that he refused to participate in training that he did not find useful.
– david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.
