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Franklin Twp. fire chief, assistant chief, charged with disorderly conduct
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Permalink Reply by Al Williams on
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Franklin Township Fire Chief Donald Stranger Sr. and Franklin Township Assistant Fire Chief Dale Douglas Stranger have been charged with disorderly conduct following a fire that destroyed the assistant chief's house on Sunday.
Dale Stranger, 35, of Monroeton was charged with a third-degree misdemeanor of disorderly conduct, while the fire chief was charged with the summary offense of disorderly conduct, the state police at Towanda said in a press release that they issued on Monday.
A third firefighter at the scene - William J. Haney, 35, of Monroeton - was also charged with the summary offense of disorderly conduct, state police said.
The fire took place in the village of Powell in Monroe Township, which is the jurisdiction of the Monroe Hose Company, so Monroe Hose Company Fire Chief Paul Bump was in charge of the fire fighting operations at the scene, said Richard Vargson, second assistant fire chief of the Monroe Hose Company.
State police said they were summoned to the scene by Vargson at 2:46 p.m., because Dale Stranger was interfering with fire personnel performing their official duties, according to the press release.
Dale Stranger "was not satisfied with the manner they (the Monroe Hose Company) was putting out the fire," state Trooper Ben Bigus said.
Dale Stranger was yelling and shouting at the firefighters on scene and "had to be detained by fire personnel on scene," Bigus said.
"It was getting out of hand," Vargson said, explaining why he called in the police. "I just wanted him (Dale Stranger) to calm down or leave" so that firefighters could continue to put out the fire without interference, Vargson sad.
Vargson said he feels bad for Dale Stranger, because he lost everything he owned in the fire, but said that he shouldn't have gotten "all irate" at the firefighters.
State police said that after they arrived on scene, they ordered Dale Stranger to cease his actions.
Dale Stranger "again became disorderly and was taken into custody" after two TASERS were used on him, the state police said in their press release.
Donald Stranger, 61, of Monroeton, who is the chief of the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Company, "became disorderly after failing to comply with orders from the state police," the press release said.
Donald Stranger "became argumentative with the state police and had to be detained," Bigus said.
Haney was cited for disorderly conduct after he "entered an unmarked police cruiser without authorization to speak with Donald Stranger," the press release said.
Haney is a firefighter with both the Monroe Hose Company and the Franklin Township Fire Company.
Donald Stranger and Haney both refused to listen to what the state police were telling them to do, Bigus said. The fire was an emergency situation, and people need to obey the police at such a scene "to maintain the safety and security of the scene," Bigus said.
"The situation was starting to get volatile," Bigus said. "We had to tell people what to do, and they didn't listen. The situation could have gotten much more out of hand if we had not detained the people we detained."
Haney declined to comment at this time on what happened at the fire.
Donald Stranger, who is the father of Dale Stranger, said he had been advised by his attorney not to comment on what happened.
However, the fire chief did say that Haney did not go inside the police cruiser, but was outside the cruiser and had talked to him through an open window of the vehicle.
The fire chief said that after the court proceedings in the case are over, he would issue a press release about what happened.
"There were a lot of things that were said and done (by the state police at the scene) that should not have happened," the fire chief said.
Chief Bump had said the fire had started as an electrical problem with the home's furnace. The fire is not considered suspicious, fire officials said.
Anyone with information about the disorderly conduct incident is asked to call the state police in Towanda at (570) 265-2186 and ask for Trooper Bigus.
Attempts by The Daily Review to reach Dale Stranger were unsuccessful.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com
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Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on
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so I dont understand what happened for them to be charged. Did they purposly not put the fire out did they take to long. Me needy more info
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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I recall reading books about fire departments that would literally get into fist fights with other fire departments in order to win the right to put out the fire. In fact, even members of the same department, but different companies, racing to the scene of the fire, and beating each other just to they could put out the flames. Hard to believe it actually happened according to those books. The interesting thing is, that was way back in the 1800's or earlier. I guess these jokers were just trying to keep up fire department traditions.
I wonder what the bystanders and the taxpayers were thinking about the service they pay for?
just a thought.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Sounds like this may be a combination of high tension and jurisdictional differences. I have to think that arriving to see one's house burning down is going to cause not a little anxiety in the home owner. That the homeowner happens to be a fire chief, with his own ideas on how to handle the situation can only further inflame (no pun intended) the situation.
Marry in the possibility of jurisdictional disputes and operational differences and you have the potential for some high spirited discussions. That it got so out of hand is, to a degree understandable but in reality, given the parties involved, inexcusable. Hopefully cooler heads will prevails and the issue handled reasonably.
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