F.I.R.E. has a new chief.
He’s Captain Abram Pruitt, a 16-year veteran of the St. Louis Fire Department and the Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality (F.I.R.E.), which he began officially chairing Sunday after being sworn in by former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White.
Pruitt was one of 17 members of the 20-person board who were present to be sworn in at a regal ceremony at the Missouri History Museum.
“We had never done anything like that on that scale, but it’s reflective of Abe’s leadership,” said Wayne Luster, who was sworn in as vice chair of the fraternal organization of men and women who work to extinguish any forms of racism within the fire department.
“Electing him was one of the best moves our organization has made,” Luster said of Pruitt.
“He’s always showed concern for new hires and takes time out of his busy schedule to make sure they have what they need and maintain it.”
Pruitt joined F.I.R.E. right out of the academy.
“I believed in what they were about and what they do,” Pruitt said. “The fire department can be a good job as long as it’s fair, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Pruitt has been vice chair of F.I.R.E. for two terms and is hitting the ground running as chair.
“It’s a monumental task, but it can and will be rewarding,” Pruitt said.
“I have ideas that will move us into more of a leadership role in the city and possibly the state and vault us to being leaders in the nation n that’s my vision, but nothing happens overnight.”
Pruitt’s ascension into the fire department certainly didn’t happen overnight. He was working as a women’s shoe salesman when a friend suggested they both apply for the fire department.
It looked like a great job, Pruitt said, for a black guy who had a high school diploma and some college as a mechanical engineering major. Pruitt called fighting fires the best job in the world n one that hands over instant respect and the satisfaction of helping fellow Americans.
“A lot of African Americans don’t know about this job and most of the recruits in my class didn’t have relatives here, so we didn’t have access to some of the things that our white counterparts did, but F.I.R.E. is trying to change that,” Pruitt said.
In his newly elected role as chairman of F.I.R.E., he knows that respect isn’t instant. It requires a long ladder up to fair hiring, retention and upward mobility of current and prospective black firefighters.
Respect in that regard may not come as easy as it does while riding on a fire truck to protect and save lives, but Pruitt puts his work in.
“He spends tireless hours on the issues that affect us,” Luster said of Pruitt.
In last week’s American, Pruitt wrote a blistering column accusing Mayor Francis G. Slay of meddling in the recent F.I.R.E. elections in hopes of seeing someone elected who would be willing to soften the organization’s stances.
Racism in the St. Louis Fire Department has posed a major political problem for a series of mayors, and F.I.R.E. has kept this issue before the media and the public.
No mayor fumbled the problem of racism within the fire department worse than Slay, who promoted a black community liaison (Charles Bryson) to the post of director of Public Safety in order to carry out a threat of disciplinary action previously issued against the city’s first black fire chief, Sherman George, a member of F.I.R.E.
George resigned and has since sued the mayor for illegal job action and racial discrimination.
Pruitt also gets his hands dirty with the nitty gritty of working in the fire service. He goes out his way to makes sure new recruits obtain mandatory EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) licenses and maintain them. Taking it a step further, he personally tutors them on his own time.
“He realizes the impact of being a firefighter on the African-American community,” Luster said, pointing to the estimated $25 million annual spending by black firefighters in the U.S.
Pruitt, 46, grew up in North St. Louis City and County with two older sisters. He attended Aquinas Mercy, now the North County Christian School.
His father retired from the post office and his mother worked in a factory, both teaching him an excellent work ethic.
“They were hard workers, and I believe they taught me right,” Pruitt said.
Pruitt said he enjoys the 24 hours on and off, and the three days on and four off. He works at Engine House No. 2 at Tucker and Spruce Downtown. It’s the second busiest house in city, he said.
And Pruitt loves it that way n he just wants it to be fair.
