Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Zack Spalding on March 28, 2008 at 10:17pm

Is all of that legal?

Permalink Reply by Scamehorn on March 29, 2008 at 12:56am

I don't think they can legally do that.... I didn't think you could fire anyone off a volunteer dept.... I would suggest legal action.... I'm sure your dept has a leg to stand on.... What does your community think about this.... Surely there not going to put up w/ this when it comes to there protection?

Permalink Reply by Zack Spalding on March 29, 2008 at 1:27am

That is what I am thinking, there must be some rules in place on how the chief is selected. So I would probably find out where those rules our written down, and also check out your state laws in regards to fire depts and fire districts. In some case the law prevents the town government for directly interacting with the dept and have to go through the district, unless someone from the town board joined the dept anyway. The more paper work to prove your case the better. Then take everything you got mail it off to every newspaper and TV station you can think of.

Well that is my two cents anyway.

Permalink Reply by Scamehorn on March 31, 2008 at 11:34pm

I totally agree. I know our dept (as small as it is) has protocols on how we elect officers. Who is eligible. Pretty much a rule or guideline on anything we do from the way meetings are conducted to what trucks role out. Also I don't know how your dept works but we have a Rural Board that governs us. A body totally seperate from the town. I would also check to see who is actually in charge of the dept. The village, a Board, A third party, the county? It could possibly be the village board, around here it isn't done that way, but it's possible... The paper and News is a good twist too..... Be prepared to take some heat for it though, and have the proof to back up whatever you say!!!!!! Good Luck

Permalink Reply by Machine4911 on April 5, 2008 at 10:08pm

We went through this crap a couple years ago. Nearly drove us under. Alot of politics, alot of people who only care about the toys and the glory.

As a volunteer organization, you should have by laws. As a member, you are entitiled to a copy of those by laws to review.From my experience and from what I get by your post, this was highly illegal, if not unethical.

This migth be a tricky situation though. In our town, we have two companies. The borough chief is supposed to rotate from one company to the other each year. Lately, the council has been appointing the borough chief (the chief from the second company in town). In your case, it all depends on the municpal codes in Wisconsin, your company charter, by laws and municpal ordinances.

All of that information should and must be made available to you, especially the municpal stuff. I'd get ahold of that and start researching. Depending on that, and if the other members agree to pursue it, you might have legal standing to rectify this.

As for funding. In PA, every municipality is required to devote a certain millage of tax revenue for the fire department for operations and such. Again, look into that, as I'm pretty sure that is universal.

Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Lou Ortiz on April 5, 2008 at 10:25pm

I hear of this happening all over the U.S. But the thing you need to know is that you'll be letting your community down if you get killed. He doesn't want you to wear your PPE? So what is going to protect you? He won't go on calls? The who is going to be in charge? Being an officer is not about wearing the cool badge and being able to call yourself a firefighter/ officer/ chief, it's about training and knowing what to do when the time comes, and making sure everyone is safe and goes home after the call.

To answer your question about turning in your pager, the answer is YES, before something bad happens. If enough people leave, the "Chief" will be forced to do something, if not, the town can take care of him.

Permalink Reply by paul michael komandt on April 21, 2009 at 5:03pm

is your new chief a certified FF? Thats one legal leg to stand on if he is not.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Thompson on April 21, 2009 at 9:26pm

NFPA!!!

Permalink Reply by Nathan McIntyre on April 25, 2009 at 9:47am

that is not legal, if i was you i would contact the attorney generals office in your state and speak with them about the matter.

Permalink Reply by Rick on May 5, 2009 at 8:29am

Besides the legal actions listed, another thought is, how do the rest of the members feel? If everyone is on the same page, it might get a lot of attention if EVERYONE hands in their pagers. Public opinion is the biggest motivator there is.....