A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER IN ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO became concerned that the fire hose hadn’t been tested in at least 10 years. Despite his questioning the practice, nobody in the FD was interested in it. The volunteer, Tom Krajci, relates:
Curious as to whether or not there were regulations governing inspections of safety equipment, Krajci called Paul Quairoli, coordinator of Otero County emergency services.
“When I explained my concerns, Paul told me he was not going to be the bad guy in this matter and said he had received no concerns from anyone else,” Krajci said. “He said that unless he received complaints from anyone else, he was not going to do anything.”
After going on up the political ladder in his quest and receiving no interest in it from any of the county officials, the FD held a special meeting to discuss his concerns.
“The chief, Fred Kezar, asked me if I was willing to resign from my position as volunteer firefighter,” Krajci said in an interview after the meeting. “I told him I did not want to leave. He then told me that there would be a motion at the next meeting of the fire department to have me terminated.
“I asked him why, and he told me he felt I have been out of line over this safety issue.”
Krajci said the meeting, in his opinion, was driven not by any concern over safety but by raw emotion.
“One person at the meeting told me that what I was doing was potentially lowering the safety rating of the department, which will cause our department to lose money,” he said. “Someone else at the meeting told me they had ‘met my kind before’ and knew how to deal with such people. Another person asked me if I was on the team or not.”
The chief was asked if it is his intent to have Krajci removed from the department.
“It will not happen as long as he doesn’t cause any more trouble,” Kezar said. “He’s been such a butt hole that most of the guys in our department wanted to let him go. He almost got me put back to a 10 ISO rating. He’s just been out causing problems for us.”
For the full story read the Alamogordo Daily News HERE.
Firegeezer adds: I should point out that this is not the Alamogordo FD, but an outlying department, the Upper Cox Canyon Vol. Fire Dept.
