Kingston firefighter recruitment causes controversy

With lives on the line, applying for a job as a firefighter is a complex, multi-step process. Along with necessary certifications and interviews, it includes three stages of physically intense tests that are traditionally either passed or failed.

That’s why a recent decision by Kingston’s new fire chief and public works commissioner to allow a group of candidates who failed a practical skills exam to come back and retake it has left some people, like retired Kingston firefighter, Greg Masterson upset

“I just don’t think that’s right.”

Masterson spent 30 years working as a career firefighter in Kingston before retiring two years ago. His own son applied for one of the 16 new career firefighter spots posted in March but was rejected because of a clerical error. Masterson says allowing candidates who failed the test to retake it is highly unusual and has many upset.

“I know from talking to the guys that still work there they want the best of whatever competition they have. They don’t want the second-best, they don’t want the third-best.”

However, current president of the city’s firefighter association, Steve Barker, says there was at least one other occasion in the last seven years where a retest was allowed. And while he has heard complaints, the association’s focus is filling much-needed new positions.

“We are more concerned right off the bat that we get qualified candidates on the floor.”

Kingston’s new fire chief, Monique Belair, who was hired after the first group had taken the skills test, says she decided allowing the re-test was necessary because of the over 50-per cent failure rate.

“Looking at it and the number we’re hiring, we’d be very limited on who we could actually move forward in the process to actually even do an interview,” Belair said.

Belair says the job was posted without giving much information about what the tests would include or demonstrations of how to do them in part because of the urgency to move quickly to hire firefighters to staff a new station being created and meet the need as the city’s west end expands.

Ultimately, she says there will be another round of hiring as the city needs a total of 30 new firefighters. In this first round, candidates are currently progressing to the interview stage with hires expected by mid-August.

Going forward, she says there will be a better outline of requirements on future job postings to prevent the retest headache and any perception of being more lenient with some over others.