THE FIRE CHIEF OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, Richard Borden has been engaged in a long-running confrontation with his firefighters with a series of antagonistic stances.  He took another swipe at his troops yesterday (Monday) by preventing the city’s public health department from administering swine flu shots to the firefighters.  The city received a shipment of vaccine to be used for all its 1st-responders, police, fire, EMS.

Late last week the clinic advised the FD that they could begin showing up for their innoculations and the deputy chiefs began rotating the FF’s through for their shots.  But yesterday the fire chief ordered them to cease getting their shots.  The Eagle-Tribune reports:

“We got a call this morning from the city’s public health nurse that she has the vaccine for the firefighters,” Paul Weinburgh, president of the firefighters union, said yesterday. “The deputies started sending the men over to City Hall to get their shots this morning. But the chief stopped it. The nurse said the chief ordered her not to give the vaccine to any firefighters.”

Reached yesterday afternoon, Borden said the dispute is the result of a misunderstanding, combined with his deputies acting inappropriately without checking with him first.

The chief was apparently miffed that the deputies were doing their jobs and making decisions instead of sending everything to his desk for action.  Borden later told the Eagle-Tribune that he had things “already taken care of” and he wanted to make sure that the non-EMT’s in the department got their shots, too.

Weinburgh said there are only three firefighters who are not EMTs.

“Are you telling me he has denied us all the vaccine so he can give it to three other firefighters first?” Weinburgh said when told about the chief’s explanation. “I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t want his men to have the vaccine as soon as it is available. In my opinion it’s about control. He’s mad the deputies sent us over (for shots) before he had a chance to do it.”

Read the entire story HERE.

Haverhill Fire Department WEBSITE.

Firegeezer adds:  “What a guy!”