Fire Commissioner's New Fitness Plan TBA

By Margaret Lyons in News on Nov 17, 2004 8:54PM

Chicago Fire Commissioner Cortez Trotter announced yesterday that he'll unveil a health and fitness program for firefighters in the next few days. The planned program will be voluntary, but Trotter has also been pushing for mandatory physical fitness benchmarks for firefighters.

The Mikva Commission, whose report already prompted major organizational changes in the CFD, also called for mandatory physical fitness levels, but that's getting mixed reviews. Trotter's plan, the details of which are still undisclosed, might include "offering cash incentives or points toward promotion to firefighters and paramedics capable of passing a fitness test, and putting exercise equipment in older firehouses," according to the S-T.

Jim McNally, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, said he'd be receptive to plans that help firefighters stay in shape. He's not a big fan of mandatory tests, though. "We're all in favor of fitness, but I don't think we should manufacture a problem that really doesn't exist…. For the most part, our guys are in good shape and they police themselves," he told the Trib. He's had a few months to practice that last part. Over the summer,

…McNally told the Chicago Sun-Times there was no need for a mandatory program -- not when firefighters are forced to carry 100 pounds of equipment and face the wrath of colleagues if they can't.
"If somebody isn't pulling their weight or doing their share, other people have to pick up the slack, and they don't tolerate that. You could call it a self-policing thing," he said.

Are we the only ones who thought firefighters already had to take fitness tests? Like, they definitely have to take one to become a firefighter, but we totally thought there were tests every year. Our bad.

Find out how the CFD is responding to the Mikva Commission's recommendations.