Serious Conflicts With Fire Board

THE ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP, 13 VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS IN NICHOLAS COUNTY, Kentucky, resigned from the department Thursday night following a confrontation with the County Fire Board.

Apparently there have been many issues over the past several months involving some dubious actions by the fire board that have hindered the operations of the fire department, at least in the eyes of the firefighters.  Last night the spokesmen for the volunteers demanded that the fire board members resign.  When they refused, the firefighters quit en masse and walked out, leaving their gear and equipment on the floor.

WTVQ-TV Ch. 36 Lexington covered the evening's activities in this video report:

Much of the causes for the conflict have been kept within the department, but some local community online forums suggest that the fire board, which consists of appointed members who have no requirements to meet any particular qualifications, has been operating in questionable ways.  On the other hand, the fire board seems to be concerned about the lack of training in the FD, claiming that nobody is a certified instructor and no training has been done in six years.

A local blogger, Brian Cannup posted today on his website:

For the last 90 days there has been a political battle in Nicholas County over the leadership of the fire department. Allegations of impropriety have been levied by and against both members of the fire board and line serving firefighters. That argument has grown and grown to the point where firefighters with decades of experience have resigned and there is, for the first time since the 1960’s some doubt about who will come when a Nicholas Countian Calls 911. This tension has also caused members of the Fire board to resign from their posts.

The Carlisle Courier has published:

According to several firefighters, tensions between the board and the volunteer firemen increased when members were appointed to the board who, they claim, wanted to get rid of then fire chief Mark Hughes for personal reasons. The situation worsened when the former county judge, who according to the by-laws appoints three of the seven fire board members, appointed a fourth member after the board failed to add names to the general election ballot for one of the two members who are to be elected by the citizens of the county after his term expired.

A number of board members countered with the argument that several matters had come to their attention recently that were not being done correctly or done at all, that the fire chief who has the responsibility of overseeing the operation of the fire department had been negligent in several of his duties, and that they had an obligation to take action to protect the citizens of the county.

Fire Chief Hughes was subsequently dismissed by the fire board in March under three charges: 1) Failure to have the pumps tested; 2) Failure to have the trucks serviced; and 3) Billing the fire board for telephone, fax, and internet lines that were not located at the fire department.

In a Letter to the Editor, Mr. Hughes announced his decision not to appeal the decision of the board, claiming their decision was based on personal reasons, that their minds were made up before the disciplinary hearing, that no amount of evidence would change their minds, and that the same situation would have continued eventually resulting in the same outcome.

Although several firefighters agreed that they had become lax in certain areas and needed to improve, they felt that the board, rather than working with them, was continuing to advance their own agenda, citing how the board had called meetings without proper notice and failed to follow their own procedures.

Read the entire article in the Carlisle Courier HERE.  (no direct link, you may have to scroll down.)

Later last night, after the walkout, all but two of the seven board members did resign, but the FD remains shut down.

Protection for the county will be covered by the Carlisle Fire Department temporarily.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

From Amazon:

Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse

Today Only – 50% Off!

CLICK HERE to learn more and order yours.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

The Fire Chief Merry-Go-Round Continues

*  *  *

STAFFORD COUNTY, VIRGINIA'S FIRST all-county fire and rescue chief announced Friday that he is resigning to take a new position.  Chief Rob Brown, 49, sent an email to all members of the department Friday telling them that he has accepted the position of fire chief of Fresno, California.  He will take over that position in mid-May.

Chief Brown took on the newly-created job in Stafford County in 2005 after the Board of Supervisors decided that the growing county would have to take a more direct control over the volunteer fire departments.  Currently the county has 116 career firefighters  and about 250 active volunteers in 14 stations.  Fresno has 357 paid firefighters and 24 stations.

The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star has the DETAILS.

*  *  *

CHILLICOTHE, OHIO, FIRE CHIEF Bruce Vaughan has been temporarily relieved of his duties and the department's Assistant Chief Jeff Creed has been appointed interim chief to maintain the office.  Chief Vaughan's latest problem surfaced last month when it was discovered that most of the department's breathing air bottles were beyond their 5-year expiration date for hydrostatic testing.  The mayor is especially upset over not being made aware of the situation and yet the newspaper did.

Vaughan has said that he will announce tomorrow (Monday) whether or not he will voluntarily take his retirement.  He has been on the department since 1973.  The Chillicothe Gazette has the STORY.

Firegeezer readers may remember that a year ago the city's only remaining fire station was cited by the state fire marshal for not having a fire alarm system and having an inoperable sprinkler system.  The department then had to pay firefighters overtime for 24 hours to patrol the station on active fire watch until the systems had been corrected.  Reat that story from March 31, 2011, HERE.

On patrol for time-and-a-half.

*  *  *

THE SWANSEA, ILLINOIS, VILLAGE COUNCIL is thinking about fire department layoffs to help balance the village budget.  Nothing new there, except their layoff consideration  is the fire chief instead of the firefighters.  In reality, the village has just two paid firefighters, the chief and the deputy chief, and 35 paid-on-call FF's.  But since the chief makes $15,000 more than the deputy, the council has this brainstorm suggesting that they lay off the chief (who is just 4 years shy of retirement eligibility) and appointing the deputy as acting chief without any raise in pay.

Chief John McGuire tells the News-Democrat:  "Why would you cut a department with two people that have a direct, daily effect on the residents when you could cut other places that don't affect residents' safety? Anybody could read that budget online and find the budget problems are not caused by the Fire Department."

Read the entire article HERE.

 *  *  *  *  *  *  *

More Turnover at the Top

*  *  *

A PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF has been given a "30-day suspension with intent to dismiss" yesterday for failing to inform the fire chief that he had been arrested and charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct in a domestic dispute with his wife back in September.  Robert Wilkins, 50, pleaded guilty to the charges last month.  TV Channel 10 adds:

On September 24 of last year, police responded to the Quality Gas Station on York Road in Warminster for an assault report. When police arrived they found a woman who claimed she was assaulted by her husband while driving south on York Road in the vicinity of Street Road. While police say the woman suffered several facial injuries and bruises they claim she refused transport to the hospital and said she would seek private medical treatment.

Wilkens made news back in March 2010 when he shot a woman who had broken into his home in mid-day.  Wilkens was sleeping upstairs when she broke out the glass in a storm door and kicked in the front door of the house.  Hearing the noise downstairs, Wilkens grabbed a gun and confronted her.  When she turned and started running away, he shot her four times.  Despite the fact that she was running away and she was unarmed, no charges were filed because it was ruled to be "self defense" on the deputy chief's part.  (see video report from STATter911.)

His luck appears to have run out.  Monday's personnel action is reported HERE.

*  *  *

PERRYVILLE, MISSOURI, FIRE CHIEF Charlie LaRose has been bounced from his position as a result of his participation in a scheme to steal city property and sell it to scrap dealers in St. Louis.  The Southeast Missourian is reporting:

LaRose had already been removed from his position as water/wastewater superintendent, along with three other public works employees, coinciding with a city investigation into the theft of scrap metal owned by the city. However, no charges have been filed against any of the fired men more than a month after suspicions surfaced.

City administrator Brent Buerck informed the board of aldermen in closed session Feb. 21 that four employees allegedly took wire from a city facility to a recycling center in St. Louis "for personal profit." After an internal investigation headed by Perryville police chief Keith Tarrillion, the workers were fired March 6.

*  *  *

ORO-MEDONTE TOWNSHIP IN ONTARIO has just hired a new fire chief and they were waiting for Bob Davidson to report to work yesterday when he sent word that he wouldn't be taking the job after all.

The Barrie Examiner tells us:

Bob Davidson, who was recently named director of fire and emergency services/fire chief, has informed the municipality that he will not be taking the job for "personal and confidential reasons."  As a result of Davidson’s decision, Deputy Chief Hugh Murray was named acting Fire Chief by council on March 28.

Future and Former Chief Davidson

"When you manage to find somebody who fits the position as well as Mr. Davidson appeared to, and then to find out that he will not be coming to the position, there is a disappointment," said Mayor Harry Hughes. He would not give a specific reason for Davidson’s decision, stating it is a personnel issue that must be confidential.

Details in the Examiner HERE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Afraid to Let Firefighters Rescue Trapped
Woman Who Died From Delay

THE CHIEF OF SCOTLAND'S LARGEST FIRE RESCUE service is beseiged by citizens and politicians alike following the release yesterday of a scathing report on a bungled incident four years ago.  Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Chief Brian Sweeney is being blamed for the department's becoming increasingly "risk averse" and shunning difficult challenges.

Chief Brian Sweeney

The Herald summarizes the incident based in the report:

Alison Hume, a mother-of-two, fell 45ft down a disused mine near her home in Galston, North Ayrshire, in July 2008, but was not rescued for seven hours because firefighters feared the implications of health and safety laws.  Mrs Hume, 44, who had developed hypothermia, suffered a heart attack as she was brought out of the mineshaft. She later died in hospital.

In his report, the Chief Inspector of Scotland's Fire and Rescue Authorities, Steven Torrie, said there existed a perception the service was becoming increasingly "risk averse" in response to the challenges and action it had faced recently.  Mr Torrie said there was an "inexplicable lack of focus" on Mrs Hume's medical condition, the risk of hypothermia and the consequent time pressure for a rescue.

He described multi-agency working at the scene as weak, with little evidence of a professional discussion between police, fire and paramedics, nor of a shared risk assessment or decision-making.

Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley MSP Willie Coffey said a comment by Mr Torrie that the brigade was "not a learning organisation" was "a damning indictment of the senior management of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, and those involved should be considering their positions".

At one point a firefighter was lowered into the shaft, but the commanders halted the rescue attempt in a decion to wait for a "mountain rescue team" to arrive three hours later and they in turn took the same risks that the Strathclyde firefighters faced.

Despite being only 45 ft. down, the rescuers
spent nearly seven hours getting her out.

The full article in The Herald is HERE.

The Scotsman reports further HERE:

Yesterday’s report, commissioned by the Scottish Government and written by HM Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Authorities Steven Torrie, sets out in clear detail how fire service responsibility for the rescue attempt was passed around during the crucial hours as Mrs Hume lay stricken in the mine shaft.

At first, a watch commander who arrived at the scene with a fire crew began attempts to lift her out of the mineshaft, after having formulated their own risk assessment as to the danger they could get into. However, he was over-ruled by a more senior officer who turned up at the scene who, a few hours later, was then replaced by a third commander. After that, another more senior commander also arrived.

Mr Torrie’s report sets out clearly that it was the decision to suspend the initial rescue attempt which was the "defining moment" of the incident.  Mr Torrie said another key factor had been a policy decision by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue effectively to rule out using lines in rescue attempts earlier that year, for reasons of safety.

The policy decision by the organisation, under Mr Sweeney’s control, "effectively removed the ability of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue staff to adapt existing equipment and skills to perform specialist rescues in a way which was very much routine within the fire and rescue service in general".

Read the entire official REPORT HERE.

Despite the outcry and political pressure, Chief Sweeney may well recover from this onslaught.  He has been a lightning rod for controversy for the many years he has been chief officer but manages to hang in there.  In 2008, just one month after this incident, he was criticized for spending the equivalent of $10,000 to have a private bathroom installed in his office that has such comforts as a heated towel bar.

The year before he was castigated for joining a $30,000-yr. private "dining club" and then started dating the director.  That was not long after the notable incident in Glasgow when the Muslim terrorist drove a bomb-laden car into the lobby of the airport and started a major fire. When Chief Sweeney arrived on the scene he had his 9-yr.-old son with him and took him along to the forward command unit. According to some newspapers, the inquisitive youngster erased the whiteboard that showed all the apparatus positioning while the fire was ongoing.

He is currently being considered to head the combined Scottish mega-fire rescue service scheduled to be created later this year when all departments will be merged into on national agency.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Driver Blinded By Sun

A RHENA, GERMANY, FIRE BRIGADE VAN was transporting a group of Junior Firefighters to an event Sunday morning when it wrecked and rolled over.

112-Magazin / pfa photo

The group was headed to a Fire Brigades Youth Day in Frankenburg when the 23-yr.-old driver was blinded by the sun in his direct vision.  This caused him to leave the road where the van struck a tree on the right rear side, then spun around and went into a ditch where it rolled over and landed back on its wheels.

The van was carrying five boys of ages 9 through 16 yrs. who all received relatively minor injuries but were transported to the hospital for treatment.

112-Magazine has the full STORY HERE plus this brief video report:

Submitted by Christian Lewalter, Feuerwehr Weblog.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Albuquerque's Monthly Misadventure

YOU HAVE TO FEEL SORRY FOR ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, Fire Chief James Breen.  Every month, it seems, another ghost from the past floats in and causes an embarrassment for the fire department.  The March edition brings disclosure of a series of unauthorized photos of a porn model in various levels of undress posing provocatively with the former Engine 6. 

Chief Breen explains that the pumper, which was used at the fire academy for about eight years, was auctioned off as city surplus in 2008, but the FD had failed to remove the door decals and department identification.

The photos showed up in a Las Vegas-based XXX website and is causing a bit of both embarrassment and notoriety for the department.

KRQE-TV Ch. 13 filed this video report interviewing the fire chief:   Notice:  Apparently the city attorney (or maybe pornsite's attorney) has been working weekends because all the tv stations' video reports have been pulled from the internet while this article was being written around 10 am Mountain time.

KOAT-TV has more details of the lurid story HERE.
KASA-TV has more HERE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

*  *  *  *  *

HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT SENIOR CAPTAIN Thomas "Bill" Dillion, 49, collapsed while working a kitchen fire Wednesday morning and was pronounced dead a short while later at the hospital.

Captain Dillion had 22 years service on the FD and is
the 64th Houston firefighter to die in the line of duty.

Reports say that the fire on a cooking stove was almost out when the FD arrived.  Capt. Dillion was just entering the premises when he collapsed.  The fire itself is not a factor in his death, but the department and the union are both saying that it appears to have been a heart attack.  An autopsy is being performed today to determine the cause.

KUHF-FM has the details HERE.
KHOU-TV has a photo gallery HERE.
Houston Firefighters Local 341 WEBSITE.

Firefighters and paramedics lined the roads and freeways of Houston Wednesday
to honor a HFD Captain Thomas Dillion, of Fire Station 69, who collapsed and died
at the scene of a kitchen fire after complaining of chest pains.
An ambulance, accompanied by a police and fire escort, carried Dillion’s body
from the hospital to the medical examiner after he passed away. (KHOU-TV)

all photos via KHOU 11

*  *  *

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Collapsed at the Pump Panel

DAVID CRENSHAW, A LONG-TIME VOLUNTEER firefighter and former fire chief died suddenly Monday morning at the scene of an auto wreck in Anderson County, South Carolina.

Crenshaw had driven a Pendleton Fire Department engine to the crash scene at 6:30 am Eastern and was found collapsed at the pump panel, apparently unwitnessed.  He was transported already in cardiac arrest and pronounced dead at the hospital.  The coroner stated that initial findings indicate a probable heart attack.

Mourning members immediately began gathering at the firehouse.  (WYFF-TV photo)

He had been a member of the PFD for 50+ years and served as their fire chief for 21 of them.  He was a retired deputy sheriff who also served one term as County Sheriff from 2004 to 2008.  He had just recently been elected to the Pendleton Town Council. 

WYFF-TV has the early REPORT.
The Anderson Independent Mail has MORE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

51 Years On the Job

THE LONGEST-SERVING FIREFIGHTER in the history of the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department retired last Friday at 0700 hrs. when he got relieved at shift change.  Captain Louie "Scooter" Martin, now 75 years old, has hung up his gear after serving 51 years on the department.

Capt. Louie Martin at his last fire Thursday night.
(Kansas City Star photo)

He spent most of his career as a truckie, usually assigned to Truck 2, one of the city's busiest ladders.  Tony Rizzo writing in the Kansas City Star reported:

(Fire Chief) Dyer praised Martin as someone who exemplified what firefighting is all about."He’s the kind of firefighter you want," Dyer said. "He has dedicated his career to serving all of the citizens of the city."

Most amazing, from Dyer’s perspective, is the fact that virtually every shift of Martin’s tenure has been spent "on the line" and not behind a desk. "He’s had an unbelievable career," Dyer said. "This is a historic day for the Kansas City Fire Department."

Martin admits that, as a child, he never dreamed of becoming a fireman. He "stumbled" into the job as a young man who thought it sounded interesting. He said he is grateful to have been blessed with such a long career doing something he loved, and still loves. But it was "just time to go. You have to leave sometime," he said.

Read the entire article including some reminiscenses of Capt. Martin's in the Kansas City Star HERE.

Kansas City Fire Department WEBSITE.
IAFF Local 42 WEBSITE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Released Wednesday Morning

THE NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION released their anticipated video to the public this morning.  It was produced in cooperation with the Chicago Fire Department and was embargoed for two weeks until all the personnel at the Chicago Fire Department and the families of their fallen members had the opportunity to view it first.  After watching it you will understand why.

It is being released with the hope that many of you will encourage your local politicians and civic leaders to also take the 38 minutes needed to view it.  It carries a lot of impact and is a remarkable report.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *