Chief Leader

The actual exam, known as CPAT, will be conducted in April, with the expectation that a list will be in place for use by the Fire Department when it appoints its next class of probationary Firefighters in June.

Those within the FDNY who have complaints about the exam - and that includes ranking officials at both ends of the political spectrum - have been conducting their own full-pitched debate, replete with the racial politics that hangs over the test.

Chief's Suspicions

It began with a Jan. 25 letter to this newspaper from Deputy Chief Paul Mannix, who asserted that the exam as constituted reduced standards. He expressed the suspicion that the FDNY black fraternal group, the Vulcan Society, had given those who took its tutorial course inside information about the kind of questions that would be asked on the test, and claimed numerous irregularities in how the Jan. 20, 2007 exam was conducted.

That drew pointed replies from two prominent Vulcan Society officials, including President John Coombs, in which they bristled at the implication that the group indulged in "cheating" and accused Chief Mannix of being a "dangerous bigot."

Several veteran white firefighters wrote in response to vigorously defend him, and Mr. Mannix in this week's paper weighs in once again while contending that his critics attacked him without making a case against the essence of his arguments.

Over the years, his letters to this newspaper have marked Chief Mannix as unambiguously conservative in his political views on subjects ranging from FDNY testing to abortion to Presidents. It would be a mistake, said one senior firefighter I know who has worked with him, to view his conservatism as a cover for racism, saying that he had never seen Chief Mannix make a firefighting decision influenced by the race or religion of those involved.

"I never saw him carry any of that baggage," said the firefighter, who added that it was "sad that the department is so under-integrated."

Told of one Fire Department official's joking suggestion that the agency ought to force Chief Mannix and his Vulcan critics to work in the same firehouse, this firefighter replied, "I think he'd get along. I don't know if they would."

The irony is that Firefighter Coombs has agreed with Mr. Mannix's contention that the most-recent Firefighter exam included far too many subjective questions to be a fair determinant of which candidates were best-equipped to be Firefighters. Noting that roughly 45 percent of the 195 questions on the exam had more than one correct answer, the Vulcan Society president said last April, "Answers should be 'a', 'b' or 'c,' not 'maybe.''' He called the test "poorly written" back then and said, "At the last minute things were added that candidates hadn't been told to study for."

Good Guess Seems Likely

But in his Jan. 25 letter, Chief Mannix noted that the Vulcans were the one group that offered a tutorial that prepared candidates for that kind of question format, and suggested someone might have broken the rules by leaking details of what the test would cover. This claim was ridiculed by Mr. Coombs, who stated in his Feb. 15 rebuttal letter that the Vulcans merely benefited from having the foresight "to hire someone knowledgeable of testing strategies which are used in fire departments throughout the country, for this is what one does rather than point fingers."

A Fire Department investigation after allegations were made about inside information being shared found there was no basis for that charge. And Mr. Coombs's explanation is plausible, particularly so because the Vulcans are involved in the Justice Department lawsuit challenging the two previous exams for Firefighter as being biased against minorities. As the Bloomberg administration defends itself against that suit while saddled with the reality that 91 percent of the firefighting force is white, it doesn't take a clairvoyant to figure that it would look intently at the types of tests used in other cities which have achieved greater diversity among their firefighters. Chief Mannix and his defenders believe the Fire Department should continue using the traditional civil service exam for Firefighter. Underlying the Vulcans' suit is the belief that this has the effect of discriminating against black candidates, who while passing the 1999 and 2002 tests at a reasonably high rate did not score well enough on them to gain anything close to a corresponding number of appointments to the job.

Stuck in between are the relevant parts of the Bloomberg administration - the Fire Department and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which devised the exam.

Both agencies were thrilled to announce late last November that 38 percent of the 21,000-plus who passed the latest exam were minorities, as were 33 percent of the top 4,000 scorers - those most likely to be appointed, assuming they pass the physical test.

Gloomy Forecast

Mr. Coombs held his applause, saying he would wait to see whether that percentage was whittled down by the time those from the list emerge from the Fire Academy. Chief Mannix and his defenders have warned that the FDNY may be risking bringing less-qualified applicants into the firefighting ranks, which could jeopardize the safety of their colleagues and members of the public.

Some within the Fire Department believe Mr. Coombs did not respond enthusiastically to the latest test results because he is hoping the Justice Department will order a quota system as the means to rapidly improve black representation in the firefighting ranks. A quota was utilized once before, in the 1970s. It briefly produced an increase in minority representation but also spurred heated resentment among white firefighters, and the current administration is not anxious for a repeat.

Greater diversity resulting from the new exam would enhance the city's argument that the task can be accomplished without using a divisive tactic that dilutes the merit system.

Pete Hayden, who retired two years ago as Chief of Department after being involved in the planning - including an intensified recruitment campaign - for the 2007 exam, said it was not surprising that some veteran firefighters like Chief Mannix had accused the city of "manipulating the testing process. When the exam is not [completely] based on objective questions and answers, you're going to have controversy."

Because of that, he said, "I think there will be problems in terms of [new Firefighters'] acceptance if it's seen that they didn't take a true exam."

Equal Stigma for All?

But if any kind of stigma were to be attached, it would have to also be applied to the white candidates who wind up on the list, who are likely to comprise 60 percent or more of those who will be hired. Unlike when women entered the department 26 years ago after being allowed to take a modified physical exam, everyone taking this exam has competed on a level playing field.

Chief Hayden said that the testing changes, including abandoning the competitively-scored physical exam of the past for the pass/fail Candidate Physical Ability Test that is used in other cities, did not play a role in the FDNY's decision over the past couple of years to increase the training period in the Fire Academy from 13 to 23 weeks. That had long been a goal of the department, he said, but the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget had insisted it would be too expensive, and so it was not uncommon to send field firefighters back to the Academy for additional training if they struggled early in their careers. Recent budget surpluses provided enough cushion to increase the training, first to 18 weeks and then to 23.

One senior fire official said that any concerns that the changes in testing would produce a less-qualified crop of candidates should be addressed during the training period. "The Academy should be the place where people should be seen as physically fit or academically up to it," he said.

A Place for Winnowing

Chief Hayden acknowledged that in the past those candidates who lacked the aptitude to be capable firefighters were "usually winnowed out" during their time at the Fire Academy. "The instructors usually know early on who's having trouble with the academic portion, as well as the physical part of the training," he said. Those who don't seem able to raise their performance are generally nudged in the direction of dropping out: the senior FDNY official said that typically there is a dropout rate of about 10 percent in every class of fire probies.

The department has also been mindful of the experience of the NYPD. More than 20 years ago, the city's then-Director of Examinations, Judy Piesco, told a City Council hearing that the test for Police Officer had been so watered down to better integrate the NYPD that "a functional illiterate" could pass it.

But the easier entrance exam has not had a discernible impact on the quality of Police Officers since then. Aside from the continuing decline in crime - which some argue owes less to smarter cops than to factors including a more drug-aware public and a larger police force than the city had 25 years ago - a case could be made that the greater diversity has been a factor in a drop in corruption, and its confinement to isolated pockets of the NYPD. One reason major and widespread scandals afflicted the department every couple of decades in the past may have been that in a more homogeneous force, there was less fear that officers would risk being ostracized by objecting to illicit schemes.

Getting the Word Out

Chief Hayden said that members of the minority community had said that the Fire Department "was not viewed as a welcoming organization" because firehouse doors were frequently closed in those neighborhoods, even in warmer weather. Part of the problem has been that the relative lack of black firefighters meant there were fewer to spread the word about the job's benefits, within their own families or among their neighbors.

The recruiting campaign for last year's test took a different approach than in the past. The FDNY's chief spokesman, Frank Gribbon, said recruiters had realized that selling the job as a place where heroes could flourish was not producing enough interest from communities where potential candidates were less likely to be familiar with the other, more-tangible perks of the occupation.

"The department is proud of the effort that was put forth by the recruitment unit, not just in reaching out but in talking about the benefits of the job that people don't know about," Mr. Gribbon said. "That message got through about lifelong medical benefits and a half-pay pension after 20 years and the chance for promotion," as well as a solid salary.

Awareness of those aspects has always been keen enough in the ethnic communities that have long been the bedrocks of the FDNY that, Chief Hayden noted, "The Fire Department has always had a waiting list and the competition is very high."

Trying Too Hard?

Chief Mannix in his Jan. 25 letter asserted that recruiters overtaxed themselves in ensuring that minority candidates completed their applications and then showed up for the exam, questioning why the extra efforts were necessary if the candidates themselves were sufficiently motivated.

But Chief Hayden said of the FDNY recruitment unit, "I think they did a good job of recruiting, and I applaud that."

The more-rigorous tests of the past, he said, had value because those who scored highest showed they had the motivation to do the necessary preparation.

Even so, he added, "The test really does not prove you'll be a successful or competent firefighter. It does show the motivation and the desire to succeed."

One FDNY official said the new test actually offered a better gauge than past editions as to whether candidates would adapt to the unique conditions of a firehouse. He cited one question that stirred some controversy concerning a Firefighter who reported for duty to discover that his company was not in quarters but the kitchen was a mess, with a bowl of chili lying on the floor. The question, concerning what the test-taker would do in such a situation, had less to do with the task of cleaning up somebody else's mess than it did the culture of the firehouse, which included the understanding that you pitched in and helped your colleagues.

'Unlike Any Other Job'

Referring to the old test format, he asked, "Is reading comprehension alone going to make you a better firefighter? Is it going to tell the department what kind of a person you are as opposed to what you know? There's a communal environment in the firehouse that's unlike any other job you're going to find."

Of course there's also the simmering racial tension that resurfaces whenever the issue of low minority representation in the department is raised. After an editorial ran in this newspaper questioning the Vulcans' decision to hold a press conference at the FDNY's January graduation ceremony to protest the low number of black Firefighters in the class, Mr. Coombs in his letter claimed common cause with the Rev. Martin Luther King.

"If you look at history," he wrote, "those who oppose change would always state this is not the time."

But that editorial was questioning the place for the protest as much as it was the decision to hold it even though the latest exam figures seemed to signal major progress. As one 20-year veteran noted, for many of the new firefighters the graduation is the biggest moment of their lives to date, and so for them and their families a protest can seem like an inappropriate intrusion. Most groups with a point to make about municipal affairs will find their biggest media audience by coming to City Hall, although picking that venue rather than the graduation site makes it less of an in-your-face gesture.

Time to Lower Heat

Then again, lowering the temperature wouldn't be the worst thing at a time when the Fire Department is on the verge of perhaps the biggest ethnic shift in its history.

"We've worked hard to get people interested in the job," Mr. Gribbon said. "Protecting civil service is important, and it's also important for the department to diversify and better reflect the city. Everybody took the same test, and whether you anticipated the questions or not, it's about your ability to go to probationary school at Randalls Island and train to be a Firefighter."