2015: Start of the Cooperation

New requirements of the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior made it necessary to revise the existing leadership training at the State Fire Institute North Rhine-Westphalia (IdF NRW) in 2015. On the one hand, this involved standardizing the training of volunteer and full-time group leaders. On the other hand, the training courses for volunteer platoon leaders were shortened from three to two weeks.
To test these new training course concepts, a measuring instrument was needed that would allow a comparison between the previous training courses and the new concepts. On the initiative of the IdF NRW, a cooperation with the Organizational and Business Psychology at the University of Münster was established. Together they set the goal of developing a set of instruments that could measure the practical benefits experienced by course participants in all types of courses.

2015 - 2019: Development of Several Evaluation Tools

Based on relevant literature and interviews with lecturers and course participants of the IdF NRW, the FIRE core questionnaire was first developed and then validated (Schulte & Thielsch, 2019). With the help of this questionnaire, reliable information on the performance of the new course concept could be collected.
Due to the successful use of the FIRE core questionnaire, further FIRE questionnaires were developed, e.g. for the evaluation of one-day seminars or exams. In addition, additional modules were created, which can be used, for example, for the evaluation of individual group work or operational exercises.
Many students of psychology became involved in the project during this period and visited the IdF NRW in the context of excursions or final theses. In total, seven excursions as well as 22 bachelor and master theses (some of them still ongoing) have been realized so far.

2019 - 2022: Intensification of the Cooperation in FIRE II

As early as 2018, the IdF NRW and the Department of Organisational Psychology at the University of Münster agreed to expand their cooperation. The FIRE II project has been running since October 2019. It is funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The aim of this project is to analyse the effectiveness of IdF NRW's training courses over longer periods of time. It also focuses on research into teamwork and leadership in high-risk contexts.
The online survey panel FIRE Feedback was launched at the beginning of 2021. Since then, the panel has been used to conduct scientific surveys and studies specifically tailored to emergency services, including over longer periods of time.

2023 - 2025: Scientifically investigating competencies - FIRE III

A central goal of the FIRE project in phase III (since the beginning of 2023) has been the identification and investigation of competencies relevant for fire service leaders on different levels. Since the beginning of the project, numerous studies on leadership competencies have been conducted, for example on group, platoon and formation leaders. The competency models that have been developed since then support the longitudinal standardization and scientific substansiation of leadership trainings for firefighters.

One competency model is already utilized this way: The evaluation of the training for senior fire service officers (LG 2.2. staring office) combines elements of the FIRE-Toolbox with a tailor-made competency model. By that, the evaluation offers valueable impulses to optimize the current training to the IdF NRW and other eduvational providers. Additionally, the procedure allows for scientific investigatons on a sample of high-ranking managers within emergency services.

End of the FIRE project and a look into the future

The FIRE project demonstrates how fruitful cooperation between science and the fire department can be: At its core is an effective symbiosis of practical psychological issues and scientifically sound findings—for the benefit of the fire department and the safety of the population in North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond. In addition to publication in renowned scientific journals, practical articles appear regularly in specialist magazines – most recently on the topic of motivation among volunteer helpers.

The project ended in December 2025 at the University of Münster with “FIRE III.” However, a cooperation agreement has already been concluded with the University of Wuppertal – the new academic home of project manager Prof. Thielsch. The next projects will take place there from the end of 2025. This lays the foundation for the continuation of the successful cooperation between psychology and IdF NRW. The focus of this new phase of cooperation will be on new technologies, personnel development, and the training and further education of managers, especially in career group 2, 2nd entry level.