The Death of an Old Adage

摘要

Let it be known that in the year 2012, the popular fire-service adage "200 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress" is officially dead. Why now? First, the U.S. fire service is more than 300 years old. Second, while there still are many fire-service traditions, the past 50 years of the fire service have been all about (selective) progress. While paging through the August 1993 issue of FIRE CHIEF, I found an article entitled, "Time to Change Our Attitudes About Change." In it, Chief Rand-Scott Coggan included a list of 25 changes he predicted the fire service would experience in the next 10 years. The list included: the introduction of safety officers; downsizing, right-sizing and privatization; consolidation, both internal and external; physical-fitness requirements; environmental protection; emergency preparedness; and terrorism.