Historically negative relations between the line staff and the board of directors. Instead of working for a common goal, the board views the union with derision and fosters an “us against them mentality”. The Board of Directors historically tends to be quite vindictive and has been known to deny training or equipment obtained through grants, just to ”teach line staff a lesson”.
Chief Officers 1 star out of 5.
Of the 3 most recent Chiefs, two have received votes of no confidence and were fired. The Assistant Chief has been the one constant over the last few decades, and a majority of the department’s negative public reputation is due to his actions. He made it to his position as an Assistant Chief through the attrition of far better candidates that left, and not by any ability on his part. He is widely regarded as being inept in his role, within the department & by neighboring agencies, and he views anybody that disagrees with him as a threat that needs to be disciplined or fired to protect his ego.
Senior Officers (Captains) 1 star out of 5.
The District employs Captains in the traditional role reserved for Battalion Chiefs. Their mantra tends to be
’’as long as it doesn’t affect me. I don’t care what happens”. They are the mouthpiece for the chief officers and are quick to discipline subordinates. They enjoy the role/pay/responsibility of a Battalion Chief, but fight tooth and nail to remain in the union so they can enjoy its protections. Their primary focus is to restructure their job descriptions so they don’t have to respond to EMS calls, respond to calls during the night or be on the overtime list so they won’t get forced to work when the District is short-handed. Captains rarely take an active part in training, either voluntary or mandatory, of any kind while on shift. The excuse that they continually give is that they have to manage the district, but they will always give themselves credit for attending/participating so they still pass all State and District annual training requirements.
Lieutenants 2 stars out of 5.
The Lieutenants work the role traditionally reserved for Captains in other departments. Almost all the Lieutenants with the District worked to achieve this rank for all the wrong reasons. Instead of wanting to use past experience and training to get back to the next generation, personnel promote because historically once this rank is achieved, they are able to quit riding on the ambulance/taking patients for half of the year or more. A good portion of the Lieutenants do not have the required certificates i.e. Fire Officer I, Fire Instructor 1, Crew Boss, etc., and most actively refuse to look for, or attend any training to become better officers. The core group of Lieutenants have held their position for 10 years or more and have not attended any classes since they promoted. A common trait of all officers within the department is that there isn’t a single leader within the group, they are all merely managers. Discipline is inconsistent, usually nonexistent, and it shows in the poor behavior of subordinates and newer personnel who have learned they can act out and are completely safe if they are in the right clique.
Union Brotherhood 2 stars out of 5.
IAFF local 3387 has always had problems with cliquish behavior of its members. If an individual gets in with the right group, they can prosper, but if they offend any of the unofficial leaders, they quickly become ostracized. There is a long history of individuals bypassing union leadership, and taking their complaints directly to Chief Officers, completely bypassing/ignoring shift and union chain of command structures. There is little to no discipline for their actions, which only encourages the behavior to continue. Disruptive behavior is encouraged in the new hires, either through apathy of senior members or by other bad actors that want to cause discord by any means available to them. The overriding belief for most of the line staff is that the union is only there for their convenience if they get in trouble and to forward their own personal agendas.
Work Culture 1 star out of 5.
The work environment at the District is very caustic. It is an ambulance department that maintains a fleet of fire trucks at its stations. For decades, the administration has refused to allow line staff to respond to state conflags, or task force activations to neighboring districts. It happens with such regularity that Task Force leaders will not contact the department because they already know what the response will be. They have a negative track record of pulling staff from active fire scenes to man ambulances for EMS calls that possibly might happen. Instead of relying on mutual automatic aid when or if the need arose. Anybody that disagreed with this practice was immediately threatened with disciplinary measures for questioning the violation of district policy. There is no espirit de corps. New firefighters will ignore direct commands from superiors that they don’t like because they know there aren’t any consequences. Personnel callbacks go unanswered because of line staff apathy. Work culture is so negative that within the last few years 10+ employees out of a total of close to 30 line staff have either taken early retirement or left for other departments because of the board of directors, chiefs and other officer‘s refusal to admit that their actions are creating problems. When it is brought up, these same individuals will double down on their decisions and continue to blame their underlings for the negative environment.
EMS Ability 4 stars out of 5.
The one undeniable strong suit of the department. Every line staff personnel, from Captain on down, is a paramedic and of the approximate 3600 calls every year, over 3000 are ambulance related. Given the long transport times, anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour or more in length, medics are able to practice their skills regularly. Older medics are used to doing more with less and are comfortable with running most calls with two people only on the ambulance.
Fire Ability 3 stars out of 5.
Personnel ability is about as good as can be expected given the low volume of structure fires that occur, and it correspondingly shows in firefighter competency. The knee-jerk reaction by staff is the only attack structural fires defensively and stay outside. There is very little experience difference between the most senior personnel and the newest hires when it comes to fire fighting ability
Training 1 star out of 5.
Inconsistent in-house training and nearly non-existent external training are the department’s hallmarks. For decades line staff were told that if they wanted to attend any training, they had to pay all the expenses on their own and that they would have to use personal comp. time, vacation time or get trades as a District refused to authorize any time off or overtime. Specific training opportunities, would be denied outright because chief officers felt that individuals took those courses to get hired elsewhere. In recent years, the district put a troubled Lieutenant into the district’s newly created training officer position. This Lieutenant has minimal ability or skill and got all of his training expertise by watching YouTube videos while on shift. Every shift operates differently, does skills differently, even though the skills were supposed to be standardized throughout the department. Again the lower ranks, i.e. the Engineers and Firefighters are the only personnel that actively seek outside training opportunities, but quickly become apathetic when greeted with the old saying ”this is the way we have always done it” when they attempt to bring new ideas back.
Community Involvement 2 stars out 5.
Within the community and in the state at large, the district has a negative reputation. Community members routinely bring up negative interactions going back 30+ years. In recent years, fire department personnel will go out and volunteer at some events however, it is minimal. As a general rule personnel prefer to remain unapproachable to the public and only want to work their assigned shift and go home without being bothered. The local sheriffs department maintains a better reputation of community involvement than the fire department.
Treatment of former employees 0 stars out of 5.
Truly abysmal. The fire district was operating for approximately 40 years before they had their first person ever complete his entire career there and the first action the district did on his retirement was to attempt to cheat him out of a portion of his retirement. Across the board, all employees immediately cut ties with any staff member that retires. There is no retirement party, official recognition or social group of retirees that get together on a regular basis. Most departments provide retirees with gift certificates or some other token of appreciation for their years of hard work. Neither the union or district pays any respect to those leaving. Recently, due to personnel shortages, the district tried to bring back retired officers on a temporary contract basis, and they all refused once they learned that the district would let them retain their rank, but they could only work as firefighters and would be on the ambulance full time.
Summary
The pearl of wisdom to take away about La Pine Fire District is that unless you are truly desperate for employment, do not work there. If you are recently out of school and simply need experience, spend no more than 2 to 3 years there with the plan to move on to a more dialed in fire department. By doing so you won’t lose your love of the job and you can take your skills where they will be appreciated.
Rating Breakdown
1/5
1/5
2/5
1/5
1 Reviews on “La Pine Rural Fire Protection District”
Board of directors 2 stars out of 5.
Historically negative relations between the line staff and the board of directors. Instead of working for a common goal, the board views the union with derision and fosters an “us against them mentality”. The Board of Directors historically tends to be quite vindictive and has been known to deny training or equipment obtained through grants, just to ”teach line staff a lesson”.
Chief Officers 1 star out of 5.
Of the 3 most recent Chiefs, two have received votes of no confidence and were fired. The Assistant Chief has been the one constant over the last few decades, and a majority of the department’s negative public reputation is due to his actions. He made it to his position as an Assistant Chief through the attrition of far better candidates that left, and not by any ability on his part. He is widely regarded as being inept in his role, within the department & by neighboring agencies, and he views anybody that disagrees with him as a threat that needs to be disciplined or fired to protect his ego.
Senior Officers (Captains) 1 star out of 5.
The District employs Captains in the traditional role reserved for Battalion Chiefs. Their mantra tends to be
’’as long as it doesn’t affect me. I don’t care what happens”. They are the mouthpiece for the chief officers and are quick to discipline subordinates. They enjoy the role/pay/responsibility of a Battalion Chief, but fight tooth and nail to remain in the union so they can enjoy its protections. Their primary focus is to restructure their job descriptions so they don’t have to respond to EMS calls, respond to calls during the night or be on the overtime list so they won’t get forced to work when the District is short-handed. Captains rarely take an active part in training, either voluntary or mandatory, of any kind while on shift. The excuse that they continually give is that they have to manage the district, but they will always give themselves credit for attending/participating so they still pass all State and District annual training requirements.
Lieutenants 2 stars out of 5.
The Lieutenants work the role traditionally reserved for Captains in other departments. Almost all the Lieutenants with the District worked to achieve this rank for all the wrong reasons. Instead of wanting to use past experience and training to get back to the next generation, personnel promote because historically once this rank is achieved, they are able to quit riding on the ambulance/taking patients for half of the year or more. A good portion of the Lieutenants do not have the required certificates i.e. Fire Officer I, Fire Instructor 1, Crew Boss, etc., and most actively refuse to look for, or attend any training to become better officers. The core group of Lieutenants have held their position for 10 years or more and have not attended any classes since they promoted. A common trait of all officers within the department is that there isn’t a single leader within the group, they are all merely managers. Discipline is inconsistent, usually nonexistent, and it shows in the poor behavior of subordinates and newer personnel who have learned they can act out and are completely safe if they are in the right clique.
Union Brotherhood 2 stars out of 5.
IAFF local 3387 has always had problems with cliquish behavior of its members. If an individual gets in with the right group, they can prosper, but if they offend any of the unofficial leaders, they quickly become ostracized. There is a long history of individuals bypassing union leadership, and taking their complaints directly to Chief Officers, completely bypassing/ignoring shift and union chain of command structures. There is little to no discipline for their actions, which only encourages the behavior to continue. Disruptive behavior is encouraged in the new hires, either through apathy of senior members or by other bad actors that want to cause discord by any means available to them. The overriding belief for most of the line staff is that the union is only there for their convenience if they get in trouble and to forward their own personal agendas.
Work Culture 1 star out of 5.
The work environment at the District is very caustic. It is an ambulance department that maintains a fleet of fire trucks at its stations. For decades, the administration has refused to allow line staff to respond to state conflags, or task force activations to neighboring districts. It happens with such regularity that Task Force leaders will not contact the department because they already know what the response will be. They have a negative track record of pulling staff from active fire scenes to man ambulances for EMS calls that possibly might happen. Instead of relying on mutual automatic aid when or if the need arose. Anybody that disagreed with this practice was immediately threatened with disciplinary measures for questioning the violation of district policy. There is no espirit de corps. New firefighters will ignore direct commands from superiors that they don’t like because they know there aren’t any consequences. Personnel callbacks go unanswered because of line staff apathy. Work culture is so negative that within the last few years 10+ employees out of a total of close to 30 line staff have either taken early retirement or left for other departments because of the board of directors, chiefs and other officer‘s refusal to admit that their actions are creating problems. When it is brought up, these same individuals will double down on their decisions and continue to blame their underlings for the negative environment.
EMS Ability 4 stars out of 5.
The one undeniable strong suit of the department. Every line staff personnel, from Captain on down, is a paramedic and of the approximate 3600 calls every year, over 3000 are ambulance related. Given the long transport times, anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour or more in length, medics are able to practice their skills regularly. Older medics are used to doing more with less and are comfortable with running most calls with two people only on the ambulance.
Fire Ability 3 stars out of 5.
Personnel ability is about as good as can be expected given the low volume of structure fires that occur, and it correspondingly shows in firefighter competency. The knee-jerk reaction by staff is the only attack structural fires defensively and stay outside. There is very little experience difference between the most senior personnel and the newest hires when it comes to fire fighting ability
Training 1 star out of 5.
Inconsistent in-house training and nearly non-existent external training are the department’s hallmarks. For decades line staff were told that if they wanted to attend any training, they had to pay all the expenses on their own and that they would have to use personal comp. time, vacation time or get trades as a District refused to authorize any time off or overtime. Specific training opportunities, would be denied outright because chief officers felt that individuals took those courses to get hired elsewhere. In recent years, the district put a troubled Lieutenant into the district’s newly created training officer position. This Lieutenant has minimal ability or skill and got all of his training expertise by watching YouTube videos while on shift. Every shift operates differently, does skills differently, even though the skills were supposed to be standardized throughout the department. Again the lower ranks, i.e. the Engineers and Firefighters are the only personnel that actively seek outside training opportunities, but quickly become apathetic when greeted with the old saying ”this is the way we have always done it” when they attempt to bring new ideas back.
Community Involvement 2 stars out 5.
Within the community and in the state at large, the district has a negative reputation. Community members routinely bring up negative interactions going back 30+ years. In recent years, fire department personnel will go out and volunteer at some events however, it is minimal. As a general rule personnel prefer to remain unapproachable to the public and only want to work their assigned shift and go home without being bothered. The local sheriffs department maintains a better reputation of community involvement than the fire department.
Treatment of former employees 0 stars out of 5.
Truly abysmal. The fire district was operating for approximately 40 years before they had their first person ever complete his entire career there and the first action the district did on his retirement was to attempt to cheat him out of a portion of his retirement. Across the board, all employees immediately cut ties with any staff member that retires. There is no retirement party, official recognition or social group of retirees that get together on a regular basis. Most departments provide retirees with gift certificates or some other token of appreciation for their years of hard work. Neither the union or district pays any respect to those leaving. Recently, due to personnel shortages, the district tried to bring back retired officers on a temporary contract basis, and they all refused once they learned that the district would let them retain their rank, but they could only work as firefighters and would be on the ambulance full time.
Summary
The pearl of wisdom to take away about La Pine Fire District is that unless you are truly desperate for employment, do not work there. If you are recently out of school and simply need experience, spend no more than 2 to 3 years there with the plan to move on to a more dialed in fire department. By doing so you won’t lose your love of the job and you can take your skills where they will be appreciated.