Meet me in the Middle

Chapter 39

"You've been running your little experiment on 64 for two days now, Bishop. What's your verdict? Who are we letting run the scene?" I look back at Captain Parks as we hop out of the rig, and I give him a questioning look but answer him anyway. "Walker, sir." I made a deal with the Union Chief to not give them a bad rep publicly if they allowed me to spend more time at other stations. We both knew I would never run to the press to scream about the injustice of the events following the industrial fire, but they wanted to cover their bases. They weren't amused when I pointed out that they already approved of my proposal before the incident, but I didn't care much about it now.

Everything happened the way it was supposed to. Beckett was still a lieutenant, Andy was finally captain of her house, and we only lost the three people who were still trapped at the time of the collapse, instead of everyone on scene that day. After turning down the medal they wanted to award me, I asked for this instead. To spend at least three shifts a week at another station to see if my plan could work. In return of a six-month trial run, I promised to never bring up my captaincy ever again with the union, and they gladly accepted.

Captain Parks and I hang back to observe and be ready to take over if needs be, while the new combination of A and B-shift does their thing to put out a residential fire. "I think Walker would benefit taking on some of my A-shifts at 19 and getting Gibson here for a shift or two. Their leadership styles complement each other. I haven't spent that much time with the other stations, and I'll mix and match as we go on, but she has what it takes to become a great captain and I want to get the ball rolling for her."

He smiles at me and ask me my opinion about the other members of his team and I give him a rundown of everything I've observed from working with his A-shift in the industrial fire to working with B and C-shift for the last few days. He's impressed with my feedback and slaps me on the back. "I wish I came up with this idea myself. Us old guys always bring up the issue at union meetings, but nothing ever offers a solution." Getting the validation for my plan was refreshing. I was still trying to find reasons for why I survived what I did and this was a big step. Maybe I was supposed to make a difference in someone else's life to find meaning in my own.

We talk strategy for another few minutes while giving minor pointers to the female lieutenant we put in charge of the scene. She was a natural at seeing the bigger picture, I just hoped that spending time with Jack would make her confident enough to utilize her team to the best of their abilities as well. The shift dynamic in 63 was also in contrast with other stations. Their different shifts jelled so well together, that mixing them for some shifts went down like soft butter on toast. I was hoping by getting Jack over here that he'd pick up on it too and breach the gap between the other shifts at 19.

When the scene is under control and we start making our way back to the station, I review my first report of the program for the hundredth time before submitting it to the battalion chief. This report was the first step in the process we decided on. I will be going out on calls with other shifts and writing a report of the strengths and weaknesses of the lieutenants. With my report I give recommendations of where they will be best suited to receive the necessary experience from.

I then submit my report to the battalion chief who approves or denies my suggestions and notify the stations of the shift changes. That captain then writes a report on the progress being made by the sub and I work another shift with them when they get back to their original shift to get a practical example of what they've learned before one of three things happen. They either sub at another station for extra exposure, they get a semi-permanent placement with an A-shift or I recommend them to take the captain's exam and if they pass, they become more senior than the lieutenants and can stand in as captain for when he/she is off shift.

So far most of the captains in our division was all for the proposal as it would take a lot off their plates and ensure that someone qualified was present as captain at every call. To protect the firefighters who doesn't want to be a part of the experiment, we've made it completely voluntary. It was the lieutenant's choice whether or not they wanted to contribute and we only swapped them out with firefighters who volunteered to be substitutes. There were at least two at each station who were willing to give up their seats so far, which was all I needed for a successful start.