It has been said that a busy fire department is a happy fire department, but what do you do when the members begin fighting amongs themselves. The first thing you have to do as a leader is ask yourself, “Is this due to anything that I have done or have not done?”, and then begin to devise a plan to fix the problem. To some extent in fighting is normal and takes place in every organization, fire and otherwise. However, just like the fire we fight, infighting left unattended for too long will grow, resentment will grow, wounds will be made that leave long lasting scars
The line that determines when a leader should step in and intervene is thin, far from straight, and hard to see. A great deal of the decision has to come from the gut. When it doesn’t feel right, you better be doing something about it, before, like a the fire we fight, it gets to a point that you cant’ bring it under control. Here is a link to a department that is having some significant issues. We would like to hear what you would do as the new Chief of this department to begin healing the wounds. http://heraldbulletin.com/crime/x552316324/Infighting-at-Richland-fire-department-revealed