The Boston Fire Department was established as the first paid fire department in the United States, and is the largest municipal fire department in New England serving approximately 685,000 people living in the 48.4-square-mile (125 km2) area of the city proper. Additionally, it actively participates in MetroFire, the fire services mutual aid system which serves it and 35 other fire departments in the surrounding area.
Recent hiring practices have embroiled the department’s leadership, and the city, in lawsuits, citing biased hiring practices that emphasize politics, DEI, and nepotism over merit, and bypassing veterans who should have preference. It was recently reported that the commissioner was receiving upwards of $30K per class that graduates recruits from the new cadet program. The commissioner is due to retire in April, and has scheduled an early graduation for the upcoming class so that it “ends” prior to his retirement.
Standards at the fire academy have been lowered to push through cadets that cannot pass physical tests. Several recruits were even brought in on a weekend and miraculously passed the physical ability test (with lowered standards) with only a handful of academy staff there as oversight. Regardless of push back from the training staff, these practices are forced to continue, and the result is under-qualified probationary FFs being used to staff fire companies.
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Recent hiring practices have embroiled the department’s leadership, and the city, in lawsuits, citing biased hiring practices that emphasize politics, DEI, and nepotism over merit, and bypassing veterans who should have preference. It was recently reported that the commissioner was receiving upwards of $30K per class that graduates recruits from the new cadet program. The commissioner is due to retire in April, and has scheduled an early graduation for the upcoming class so that it “ends” prior to his retirement.
Standards at the fire academy have been lowered to push through cadets that cannot pass physical tests. Several recruits were even brought in on a weekend and miraculously passed the physical ability test (with lowered standards) with only a handful of academy staff there as oversight. Regardless of push back from the training staff, these practices are forced to continue, and the result is under-qualified probationary FFs being used to staff fire companies.