THE CITY MANAGER OF MINNEOLA, FLORIDA, TOOK THE DRASTIC and unusual decision to shut down the city’s fire department for 48 hours starting at 2 pm Wednesday. Mayor David Yeager will not say what caused the shutdown, but there has been an intensed dispute within the ranks of the firefighters pertaining to procedural issues that occurred during several emergency calls over this past weekend.
Minneola FD photo
Yesterday the City Manager walked into the fire station and ordered all of the firefighters to go home. Then he issued this press release:
Mayor Dave Yeager blames the closure on an internal dispute between firefighters that may have led to a violation of procedures more than once during several calls over last weekend. An investigation is currently underway.
It was reported last year that there had been many complaints filed by the firefighters against the fire chief for “irrational behavior” and for going over two years without any standard operating procedures for handling fires.
TV Channel 13 is reporting:
The head of Minneola’s Firefighters Union says the “city manager is overreacting” in how he is handling the fire department’s internal investigation.
Late Wednesday evening, the president of Minneola’s Firefighters Union told News 13 “the city manager’s investigation should be done while firefighters are on duty so they can continue to provide the same level of service to the community.”
The fire department launched an internal investigation to look into how a lieutenant and the crew worked together during several calls over the weekend, including a couple of medical calls.
The Lake County Fire and Rescue and the neighboring Clermont FD are covering the city of 10,000 during the interim.
Channel 13 also has a video report HERE.
The Daily Commercial has MORE.
