Pueblo CO Fire Department Working To Recruit More Black Firefighters

July 27 -- Eugene Polk has the unique distinction of being one of only two black firefighters to work in Pueblo, and the only one since the 1800s.

As such, he and the Pueblo Fire Department are working together to recruit and hire black men and women by doing outreach and participating in initiatives to attract applicants.

“The response was very good,” Polk said of a recent meeting he had with fire department officials that included Pueblo Fire Chief Shawn Shelton and Deputy Chief Rick Potter. “This group really wants to see more black applicants and wants black firefighters. I just asked if there’s anything I can do to help them out. It’s long overdue for a city this big.”

Polk, who has never worked at the Pueblo Fire Department, started in 1974 as an entry level firefighter at what is now known as the Transportation Technology Center Inc. He was later promoted to fire captain. In 1979, he was hired in Colorado Springs, and he retired in 2004.

Pueblo Fire has been proactive in taking steps to attract more black applicants, Polk said.

They have been working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and have met with several black ministers in Pueblo.

Polk said the department is also planning on being involved in a job fair at Fort Carson, where there are ample qualified minorities looking for firefighting jobs. Attendance at career days at both Colorado State University- Pueblo and Pueblo Community College are also in the works, according to Polk.

Polk said the possibility of having open houses at city fire stations and having fire officials visit high schools and middle schools in Pueblo was also discussed.

The fire department had a presence this year at Juneteenth, the annual celebration that recognizes the June 19, 1865, announcement to slaves in Galveston, Texas, of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Several years ago, the fire department offered a firefighting job to a black female, but she had a competing offer in Colorado Springs and accepted that instead, according to Will Gray, the department’s assistant fire chief who oversees the department’s recruitment process. The reasons the fire department hasn’t been able to hire a black firefighter are complex.

The number of blacks in Pueblo is about 3 percent of the city’s overall population, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau, and the number of applications received from black individuals is minimal.

By contrast, the Pueblo Police Department employs six black officers, who make up about 3 percent of its department, according to its 2017 annual report.

“Our goal in Pueblo is to have a fire department that reflects Pueblo, and so we have a significant number of Hispanic males,” said Gray. “But if you look at Pueblo’s demographics and the Pueblo Fire Department’s demographics, we still have work to do.

“Nationally, females and minorities are underrepresented in the fire service. That’s a national trend. In Pueblo we’re about double the national average for female firefighters. It’s still low, because I think the national average is about 3 to 4 percent, and we’re about 6.5 percent.”

Making it through the process of getting hired by the fire department, which includes written and physical testing among other tasks, is challenging. In a recent hiring cycle, just 30 individuals were hired from a pool of 600 applicants, according to Gray.

Gray said fire department officials are constantly looking at data and trying to figure out why the department isn’t getting more black applicants, and they’re working to figure out different ways to reach them.

Gray said that, beginning in mid-August, applications will be taken for the next round of hiring.

“Our goal is just to reach out to as many people as possible,” he said. “The chief has been very active in making sure our process doesn’t inadvertently affect anybody. We’ve got a process now that anybody can come into.”

Gray said the job fairs at Fort Carson should be beneficial in attracting a diverse set of applicants.

“Soldiers are good candidates, and Fort Carson is very diverse,” he said.

The department is also looking forward to community meetings and educating people about the work of a firefighter.

Polk said his son and several other black children grew up together in Pueblo and ended up getting firefighting jobs in other cities and states.

Black youth in the Pueblo community need to be able to see that firefighting jobs are a viable option for them, he said, and there hasn’t been anyone for them to look up to or use as a resource.

“Young black kids don’t have any role models here in the fire departments,” Polk said. “They don’t want to test here. There is nobody there for them to talk to and guide them. There’s a different perspective they would get talking to a black person at a fire station.”

Polk is hopeful that one day he will attend a Pueblo Fire Department academy graduation that includes a black firefighter.

“I’d definitely be there,” he said.