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The AFD brings all of its officers together, from lieutenants to fire chief, and work on professional development and issues affecting the fire department at the Officers Summit.

From Feb. 20 through Feb 22, the Alabaster Fire Department held its annual Officers Summit professional development program. This is the eighth year the AFD has held the Officers Summit. (Contributed)

By RACHEL RAIFORD | Staff Writer 

ALABASTER – From Feb. 20 through Feb 22, the Alabaster Fire Department held its annual Officers Summit professional development program. This is the eighth year the AFD has held the Officers Summit. The AFD brings all of its officers together, from lieutenants to fire chiefs, and work on professional development and issues affecting the fire department. The program featured keynote speakers, like Pelham Fire Chief Mike Reid, basics of discipline, physical fitness, team building and more. 

“We’ve had a good round of promotions in the past year, so we went back to some simplistic things,” Alabaster Fire Chief Tim Love said. “We spent two days of it on classroom-oriented projects and on the third day we put it all into action.”

Each morning began with fitness training at the fire department gym, which Love said turned into a bit of a competition between shifts. Participants also enjoyed team building activities alongside round-table discussion.

Alabaster Mayor Scott Brakefield kicked off the summit and shared a vision for the city moving forward. Love said they got into “the nuts and bolts” of the available resources when it comes to discipline within the department. The officers even got to participate in case-study role play to better understand the steps to take as a supervisor. 

Pelham and Helena fire chiefs came in to speak about their plans for the next year and day-to-day problems they face. Love explained that this was a good opportunity for their junior officers to hear from other fire chiefs and understand that everyone faces some of the same issues. 

There were various team-building activities with one being to build a tower, within certain dimensions, out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. This activity’s purpose was to not only promote team bonding but allow the teams to work together to develop an effective plan. These are all strategies they use within the fire house and in the field on a day-to-day basis. 

On day one, each group was tasked with creating a recruitment video. The video had to be at least one minute long and hit certain recruitment points. In order to accomplish the task, participants brought in HR Director Tracy Worley and Alabaster Public Relations Manager Neal Wagner to score the recruitment videos. 

“They performed outstandingly,” Love said. “They actually exceeded what I wanted. All of that is to work in teamwork with the goals and issues we’re facing in the department. We need all of our people selling the same motto for us, and our best recruiters are our own people.”

Within the last year, the AFD has created two new positions, and had a few retirements which has caused an upward shift in promotion, all the way down the chain of command. The department also recently got approval for 10 new positions—nine firefighters and an EMS officer position. Love said that, with the continuing growth of the department, recruitment is crucial. 

“It’s important that we keep our officers mindful of that, and that we mold the culture from those young people we are hiring,” Love said. “We hire here for character, physical fitness and people that want to have a career here.”

Love said the training program was a success, and he is looking forward to the growth of the department and their officers over the next year.

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