My name is Kevin Kearns. I have been a firefighter for the City of Los Angeles for 31 years and a Captain for 21 of those years. My ultimate goal in having this website is to compile information about candidates that have been deemed not "qualified" to work for the City of Los Angeles. I care about the Department, and I care about those men and women who work for years to attain degrees, certificates, and overall life experience in order to be deemed "qualified" candidates.

Over the past five years, I have noticed a dramatic shift in the hiring practices of the LAFD. Candidates that I have mentored either at the fire station or at the Oxnard Fire Academy, who were previously being hired, are beginning to receive non-selected letters from the City of Los Angeles. Ironically, candidates that I now mentor have qualifications for the position of firefighter that are at an all-time high (i.e. paramedic licenses, degrees, fire academy certificates, in-field training, etc.)

Members of the LAFD are e-mailing one another with the same conclusions. Highly qualified candidates are receiving letters which state they are being non-selected due to the fact that there are candidates that are deemed “more qualified.”

Logic dictates that there must be candidates in the Fire Academy that are more highly qualified than the candidates who I, as well as other Captains, have come across. When I contacted the Recruit Training and spoke with the Drill Tower instructors, it proved just the opposite. Many of the recruits are not nearly as qualified as the non-selected candidates. In fact, some candidates have little if any background to speak of (i.e. 19-year-old candidates one year out of high school, along with a 48-year-old candidate in the same class.)

Many candidates are receiving non-selected letters for issues in their past -- some as long as nine years earlier – yet other candidates with highly questionable backgrounds are being selected. Candidates with questionable medical histories are being selected, while others with minor medical problems are not.

Because of the continued discrepancies, I have started this website. I am looking for individuals who have received a non-selected letter for whatever reason. I want to unite all of you together in order for you to speak out against this highly questionable selection process for firefighters.

Use the CONTACT FORM to email me with your story along with your resume. With your permission, I will post your story on the website so that others can see exactly what is taking place.

I truly believe there is strength in numbers, and maybe together we can fight these injustices and make a difference.