Congratulations! You’re laid off.
Long Beach firefighters let go on graduation day
On Sept. 27, 2011, his 23rd birthday, Long Beach resident Christopher Koehle learned that he had been hired as a city firefighter.
“I was like, ‘I just landed the best career ever,’” said Koehle (pronounced KAY-lee). “It’s kind of something you fall in love with and become obsessed with — it’s the best club to be a part of.”
Koehle, who had been a volunteer for the department for five years, was one of five new recruits hired last year, part of an effort by the city to address staffing issues and overtime costs. He was one class short of graduating from Arizona State University with degrees in political science and sustainability, but he decided to put his studies on hold to begin work as a probationary firefighter.
“I was working with guys in 24-hour shifts,” he said, adding that he quickly bonded with his fellow firefighters, and was given an award for helping to revive a man who was in cardiac arrest.
Koehle and fellow recruit Mike Seemann, 33, were sent to the Westchester Fire Academy for a mandatory training course that ran from April to July. (The three other hires completed their training earlier in the year.) Five days a week, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Koehle and Seemann logged more than 600 hours of extensive training: basic firefighting tactics, dealing with hazardous materials, rescue techniques, rappelling down buildings, working in confined and underground spaces.
“They also sent us up to Connecticut to do an elevator rescue class,” Koehle said. “In Long Beach we get calls for those often.” It cost the city about $7,500 for the two firefighters to receive professional certification.
But their dreams were cut short when the city — attempting to close a $10 million deficit, in part by wringing concessions from its unions — announced in May that the five new firefighters would be laid off because the previous administration had not budgeted for the new positions. “Halfway through the academy we found out,” Koehle recounted. “It was disappointing.”
On July 20, the day they graduated from the training academy, they were officially let go.
