| Cypress Pointe Fire/Rescue recently conducted an Officer Promotion Process for multiple positions within the department.
All organizations look to promote the most qualified person for the position. However, we have chosen to look deeper than the standard promotion practices used by similar departments. We have evaluated both existing talent as well as untapped talent with leadership qualities to help us build future generations of firefighters. We are not just evaluating certification and longevity, we are looking for leaders with the right attitude that will represent the department on the incident scene, in the station and most importantly in the community.
Our promotion process is multiple step process that includes the following phases of evaluation:
• Notice of Intent from a qualified member wanting to promote.
• Letter of Recommendation from an existing member on the behalf of the applicate.
• Written test with 100 questions divided into three sections from the following areas:
IFSTA 6th Edition Company Officer
Jones and Bartlett Fundamentals of Firefighting Skills 5th Edition
CPFR Standard Operating Guidelines
• In-Box Exercise based on “day to day” operations
• Tactical Assessment Exercise
• Cumulative scoring based on the applicates Education, Certification, Training Hours and Testing Scores.
• A review of Leadership Skills and Previous Performance.
Our process was designed to evaluate education, knowledge, leadership potential, attitude and previous performance.
Our expectation is that each officer values our culture of providing caring compassionate service in a professional manner. They hold themselves and their crews to the highest standards and are passionate about service delivery each and every day.
Our officers and members meet our expectations and enhance our culture through the use of aggressive tactics, avid training, a willingness to lead and always putting people first.
We look for leaders that value accountability but also afford our members the desire to follow and learn from them as a leader.
Fire Chief Mike Cameron announce the following promotions to Captain effective September 1, 2024:
Joe Kennerly has been a member of the department since July 2003. He currently serves as a Driver/Operator but has had multiple responsibilities throughout his years of service. Captain Kennerly will be responsible for maintaining our rural Watering Points throughout the district. Joe has a wide range of emergency services experience including airport firefighter and has worked for an EMS transport service. He currently works full-time for Pinebluff Fire Department as a Lieutenant. Joe’s father was also a member of the department as is his wife, Denise.
Brandon Morris joined the department as a junior member in April 1998. He has served in many capacities and currently works multiple shifts each month and routinely fills the role of Battalion Chief on shift. As a CPFR Captain, Brandon will be responsible for Ladder Testing and Maintenance, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Maintenance and OSHA required Fit Testing. Brandon has a strong base of knowledge to work from and understands the principals of service delivery. Captain Morris holds a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration and works full-time with Southern Pines Fire Department as Shift Captain. Brandon is married to Trinity, and they have two children Taylor and Noah.
Stephen Russell has been a member of the department since August of 2014 he currently holds the rank of Lieutenant within the department. Stephen works multiple shifts each month with CPFR and is well respected by his peers and members of the public. He can often be seen imparting his wisdom on our newer members either on the scene of an incident or in the apparatus bay. He currently oversees our Smoke Alarm Program and assist with the training of new members. As a Captain he will continue to manage the Smoke Alarm Program, and he will assume the responsibilities as the department’s liaison with our Harnett County partners. Stephen works full-time for Southern Pines Fire Department as an Assistant Fire Marshal. He has two adult children Zacary and Emma that frequently visit him at the station.
Please take the time to congratulate these new captains on their promotion and the hard work that it has taken to achieve this accomplishment. |
