How Wolves Change Fire Departments

In the time since I wrote the 'Be A Wolf' article, I received some messages, and had a few interactions with those in the fire service that had read it.

Their responses were interesting, as I didn't really know how it would be received when I wrote it. Of course, I heard back from those who I expected, and there were those who made sly comments in passing, those who made jokes, those who enjoyed it, and those who it had a deeper effect on, and wanted to discuss it more.

The varied feedback that I received got me thinking about how the 'wolf' can affect those around them. How they effect the ecosystem of their organization and that reminded me of a documentary on Yellowstone National Park that talked about wolves and the Trophic Cascades. In that video I saw parallels to the fire department cultures.

For purposes of everyone being on the same page, let's look at the definitions of ecosystems and trophic cascades.

From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an ecosystem is 'the whole group of living and non-living things that make up an environment and affect each other.'

Trophic cascades, according to Nature.com, are 'powerful, indirect interactions that can control entire ecosystems. Trophic cascades occur when predators limit the density and/or behavior of their prey and thereby enhance survival of the next lower trophic level.'

Below is a link to the video 'How Wolves Change Rivers' that explains the wolf's role in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, hopefully, it will give you an idea of how it all works. Watch it if you haven't and then come back to this article.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

Let's look at the Fire Department as an ecosystem, and how the 'wolf' that I wrote about last time can have a positive effect on their department through trophic cascading.

We know that species in the FD ecosystem go from the bottom feeders, who do little or nothing, all the way up to the wolves that I previously wrote about. We also know that the remaining personnel fall into every level in between.

Ecosystems are really only effective when they are in balance, and the wolf helps to provide that balance.

Wolves take care of the environment in a way that many others species will not, thus allowing others at all levels to thrive.

In the video, they talk about how the wolves, upon their reintroduction to the park, immediately began to change Yellowstone.

They talked about elk, (what Europeans call deer) of which there were too many, and that they were having a negative impact on the ecosystem.

For the purpose of this article, those Elk (deer) will represent firefighters with bad attitudes, the ones on the job for the wrong reasons, the ones who would rather complain than do their jobs, the ones who feed on drama, and can't allow anyone to rise above them because it makes them feel bad about themselves, and the ones who put forth more effort trying to get out of work, than it would have taken to actually get the work done. You know who they are, unfortunately we all have them.

The video talks about how the number of elk increased over time because there was nothing in place to control them, similar to how negative attitudes slowly creep through a department. They also spoke about attempts to control the elk by humans (FD Administration), but because there was really no natural predator to the elk, they continued to increase in number.

Despite all efforts, the elk reduced much of the vegetation (morale and potential) to very low amounts.

When the wolves were reintroduced, the immediate change was that they killed off some of the elk.

Obviously we can't do that, but the presence of a wolf in a firehouse is often enough to chase the elk away. They will often bid to another station or stop coming around, because they can't stand the presence of the wolf, and what he or she represents. So for our purposes we'll call that a kill.

Just as in the video, the firehouse wolf will begin changing the behavior of the elk. Those firehouse elk will begin to avoid the wolves, and areas where they're known to be. They'll avoid areas where they feel they're no longer safe, areas where they can no longer freely spew their vitriol without being called out about it.

The areas from which the elk have fled will quickly begin to regenerate. Morale will begin to grow, firefighters will be more productive and more fully enjoy their time in the firehouse.

Soon, the changes are clearly visible, and other firefighters will want to return, or join the pack. The system begins to recover. Once the land (firehouse) is able to regenerate, it provides an environment that is positive for growth.

A place where young firemen can come to learn and develop their craft. A place where they can be nurtured by senior firemen and grow without being cut off by the elk grazing on their potential.

It becomes an ecosystem that many more want to inhabit, and where, through support and development, the whole system becomes more effective.

In the video, the wolves also changed the behavior of the rivers. They meandered less, the banks eroded less, they became deeper and they provided more habitat for the various wild life.

Seen in context of the fire department, we look at the rivers as the leadership and vision of the department. The wolves in the firehouse aid the rivers in focusing on what's really important, the core values and objectives of the department.

They help to refocus firemen on their craft, and push leadership to go further and be better at their jobs. This, in turn, creates additional opportunity, and in turn better service is provided.

The regenerating forests helped the banks to become more stable and collapse less, allowing for the rivers to become more fixed in their courses which reduced erosion throughout the park.

In a firehouse, you can see that once the rebuilding or regeneration of that environment begins, the house becomes more solid, more effective and more dialed in to its mission. When this occurs in multiple firehouses across a region, the whole system benefits.

The wolf, no matter how few in number, has the power of the trophic cascade on its side to transform and improve the entire ecosystem.

Wolves need only a few in number to begin to thrive and become effective. A wolf or two in a firehouse will lead to more wolves and more wolves lead to an improved environment. If we look at each firehouse as a pack, we can see how those packs will have an affect on the entire department.

Be a wolf. Make a difference. This isn't a job where you just stand around and graze all day. You must take control and set your destiny. It's not for the elk to control your future, it's for you to control theirs.

Think of all the other species in the system as the public. They depend on you to do your job effectively so that their ecosystem (city or town) has the best chance of survival possible.