DEARBORN — The Dearborn fire chief and city officials are trying to encourage Arab youths to pursue a career as firefighters to increase the diversity of the department and help it better connect with the Arab community. 

“In any public service department you want people representative of the community,” Chief Joseph Murray said. “It makes things easier to have people from the community you are serving. It could be something as simple as having someone who grew up here and knows the roads. It could be someone might be from a particular cultural group who understands the customs of the culture or even sometimes the language.”

Murray added that Dearborn is a multicultural city, so it is sometimes challenging to communicate with people who are not fluent in English during emergencies. He said the department sometimes uses translation services or relies on family members who speak English for communication, but that could prove problematic, especially when discussing medical issues.

“That’s why having someone who is bilingual is definitely beneficial,” Murray said. “The Mayor [Jack O’Reilly, Jr.] has made it one of his priorities to bring Arab Americans to the department.”

Murray told The Arab American News efforts to hire Arab Americans go back to his early days in the department when he was hired by the city’s first Arab American fire chief, Nazih Hazime, in 2004.  He described Hazime as one of his role models.

“He was going out to different community groups asking why isn’t there more interest in being a fire fighter in the Arab American community,” Murray said. “That was actually the topic I used for my doctoral dissertation.”

Murray received a PhD in public policy and administration from Walden University in 2011.

“What we found is nothing really earth-shattering,” he said. “There is just a significant interest in entrepreneurship and lack of exposure to being a fire fighter in the Arab American community.”

Fire Chief Joseph Murray with Councilman Mike Sareini.

Murray, whose father was also a firefighter, explained that being a firefighter is often passed down through generations after witnessing family members who practice the craft. He said because many Arab American families have only been here for one or two generations, it diminishes their exposure to the profession. 

The chief detailed the benefits and advantages to being a firefighter.

“If you are a person who is interested in contributing to the improvement of your city, then this is the job for you because it’s not just fire fighting and EMS; it is about helping others,” he said. “We are very fortunate to have a good pay and great benefits to support ourselves and our family. But we don’t want to hire somebody who is here for the pay. We want somebody who wants to make a difference in the community.”

According to Murray, the starting yearly wage at the Dearborn Fire Department is $46,000, with the potential of an increase of more than $15,000 within five years. 

“It’s an exciting job,” Murray added. “It never gets boring. Every day we experience something new. We’ve all seen things that you couldn’t even fathom would happen in the world— some of them are terrible, some of them keep you up laughing at night and some of them give you a genuine feeling that you have helped someone.” 

All applicants to the fire department must have a paramedic license, which typically fulfills the requirement to have more than 60 credit hours in college, and Fire Fighter 1 and 2 certificates. The licenses can obtained through classes offered at local community colleges, Murray said.

The applicants must also pass both a fitness exam and a written test before being interviewed by the chief.

At the Dearborn Fire Department, all response employees are cross-trained to be fire fighters and paramedics, according to Murray. 

“For example, we’d have two firefighters on an ambulance; they’d be doing their regular medical calls,” Murray said. “If we get a fire, we’d take the ambulance to the fire. The gears are on the truck. They would just suit up to put out the fire.”

The chief said being a firefighter requires courage and commitment to serve others. 

“We want someone who has a solid work ethic, someone who has a dedication to help his fellow man and his community,” Murray said. “We’re an all-services organization. If we are driving down the road and we see somebody with a flat tire, our guys are going to get out and help him.”

The chief said high school graduates who are in the process of acquiring the certificates required to be a firefighters can sign up for the Dearborn Fire Cadet program, which allows them to train with the department. Fire cadets engage in paramedic, fire and ride-along drills with firefighters.

“It’s all volunteer training, but it’s a great experience,” Murray said. “What it does for us is that it helps us get out in the community and expose people to being a fire servant; and it gets us to know some of the people who might apply for a job with us a few years down the road.”

The chief said former cadets do not get an official preference if they apply, but the fact that they are known to the department does enhance their chances.

The department has 128 firefighters/paramedics and five fire stations to serve Dearborn and Melvindale. The Dearborn Fire Department merged with Melvindale’s in August 2013. Murray said the merger meant that the neighboring city was contracting the Dearborn department to provide services. Hence, Dearborn has the final say in the hiring process. But the chief said he consults community leaders in Melvindale about decisions in the department.

Firefighters in Dearborn work 24-hour shifts nine days a month.

Councilman Mike Sareini said he is working with Chief Murray to speak at high schools and tell students about the advantages of being a firefighter. 

Sareini urged community youths to pursue public service careers, including firefighting. 

“This type of job is rewarding, not only in a monetary way,” Sareini said. “You can save someone’s life. How do you put a price on that?”

Sareini said when he started his campaign for city council he heard complaints about lack of Arab Americans in city departments. He said he discovered that the low number of Arab Americans in the fire department stems from the fact that the department does not hire people in large numbers and also the lack of Arab applicants.

“Dearborn will be the leader for fire department in the region,” he said. “I can see it in the future taking on four or five cities like we did with Melvindale. I want to be a part of it. I want to make sure that our community sees the opportunity. We are becoming a larger department. You’re either growing or you’re dying and this department is growing. That’s why I want our community to be more involved.”