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intoxicated chief
what do you do to stop a chief that shows up with booze on his breath all the time
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Permalink Reply by me on
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they came to me!as Sec/tres.All the guys come to me for answers and help.So now what
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thanks guys all of the above with the exception of bringing him up on charges are being done.i took the matter to the president of our association.I just wanted to make sure i was doing everything right.I am trying to hold a small volunteer dept. together.
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Permalink Reply by Arkymedic on
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if he responds to a scene like that...well..thats why PD is there...
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Permalink Reply by Will2745 on
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when it comes to having a fire chief arrested at a fire scene, you may want to check your state laws,,in Michigan, only person that can legally arrest a fire chief at a scene is the county coroner..crazy laws.
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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If your department is going to you and your the secretary/treasurer, your department has a lot more problems going beyond a chief who is on the sauce. There is a chain of command that should be established, and I would think (and hope) that the powers to be (i.e. Assistant Chiefs, Captains, Lieutenants etc) would have the meeting behind the scenes to fix this issue before it kills someone. Having a meeting and coming up with a majority vote of no confidence is a route that is possible. (depending on bylaws of course) If your department is that haphazard where they approach the secretary for advice on what to do, it seems to be way beyond the point of a warning to the chief.
Don't write a letter in the paper about it, you will only succeeed in Publically crucifying your department. Nip this problem in the bud by following your by-laws and if that doesn't work, get him out.
Drinking and being on the fire scene is only one problem, he drives there as well.
How much money do you think you would get at the next budget meeting after the public reads and article like this. "Fire Chief kills family responding to call intoxicated. The department knew but did nothing to curtail the issue" I pray this doesn't happen of course, but without intervention the possability increases daily. -
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Permalink Reply by Wolfy Lang on
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He's voted into position by SOMEONE ... and they can vote him OUT just as fast. If your bylaws do not state that being under the influence is against dept policy, then they need to be ammended.
Not knowing how your organization is set up, I would present it to the President of the Board of Directors asking for his removal, but here again, you got to watch out for the "good ol' boy" syndrome.
With any type of department, there are procedures for removing someone, Some its a vote of the membership, some its the BOD, some have to go through county commisioners.
If yall cant get together to remove him, a simple anonymous call to the news and perhaps the State Atty Generals office might do the trick.
Wolfy -
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Permalink Reply by IDoItAll on
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We had a problem with a firefighter coming to calls with alcohol on his breath, not an officer but a firefighter. He was told the first time to leave or be removed. He left. The second time he was taken aside and driven home by another firefighter. The third time he was removed and taken in front of the Board and suspended. He was told the second time that if he came to a scene like that again he would be turned over to the police for driving to the scene intoxicated. Now, I have worked for years as a substance abuse counselor and I know that the problem is real and hard to stop. Maybe he needs a private talk with the officers and offered counseling and needs a list of where the local meetings are. Maybe he doesn't think it is showing but that is a dangerous situation and what if he is driving a fire truck and wrecks, my Gosh the way people love to sue these days, you are set up for a major law suit. Or if he makes a bad call on a scene and something happens, again, a major law suit could happen. Can't worry about his feelings as much as you have to protect your company and all the firefighters involved. STAY STRONG about it!
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Permalink Reply by joe on
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you need to check on the state laws on how to remove the man from the postion of chief. in connecticut there is a set forth law that you follow and must give due process to this it takes a long time but it can be done. the mayor or town council should be able to help , by have a zero tolanrance policy for alchol or drugs. and talk to the town lawyer to see where the company stands becouse he is only the cheif when a fire sence in conn. good luck
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