Of all the jobs in a standard fire department, a lieutenant’s is among the most difficult. When a fire truck approaches a blaze, the lieutenant decides how to tackle it—what windows to breach, which floors to prioritize, and how best to deploy the truck’s three or four firefighters against a shifting, inanimate enemy.
To see if they’re up to snuff, most departments administer a written test, typically multiple-choice, to prospective lieutenants. The cut-off score is the minimum required to be considered. A higher score increases the likelihood of promotion. The exam is designed to make sure the people who are making the life or death decisions have the minimum knowledge to do so.
So firefighters in Seattle, Washington, were surprised when their department’s lieutenant exam focused almost as much on social justice as on firefighting.
The test, which has both written and oral components, is based on a list of texts assigned by the Seattle Department of Human Resources—including, as of this year, Antiracism is a good thing. by Ibram X. Kendi and Both Sides Of The Fire Lane: Memoirs Of A Transgender Firefighter Bobbie Scopa ,…
