[RP TownTalk] Fwd: Volunteer Fire Department Incident and Response

[Vernon Archer]

My apologies to all for sending this to myself instead of town talk.  Here
is my statement regarding the fire department incident a day late.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vernon Archer <varcher at gmail.com>
Date: Oct 3, 2007 8:47 AM
Subject: Volunteer Fire Department Incident and Response
To: varcher at gmail.com

Friends and Neighbors,

I want to take a few minutes and report to you about what I now know
regarding the recent incident that occurred at the fire house, how the
command staff responded, and some changes to make such problems less likely
to occur in the future. Let me preface this by saying that I am making no
attempt to recap the story presented on TV or other information that has
been shared on this list.  I am presenting what to the best of my knowledge
occurred on.  The local investigation carried out by the President Steve
Lamphier and Fire Chief Vince Harrison is complete, but the County Fire
Department has not definitively closed its investigation--though we may
never get an official "close".

In mid September a 17 year-old male from Pennsylvania contacted the
Riverdale Volunteer Fire Company expressing interest in joining the company.
The company accepted him for a "ride along" that would give the person a
chance to experience life in the fire company and the volunteers a chance to
observe the potential recruit. This is standard practice for volunteer
companies. From the command staff's perspective the recruit spent several
uneventful days at the fire house and then left to check out another
volunteer company.

On September 18 Chief Harrison was informed that an incident had occurred on
the evening of Saturday September 15 that resulted in the recruit receiving
a small--approximately 2 square inches--second degree burn on his lower
back.  Upon investigating the situation the chief and president discovered
that two company members and the recruit had engaged in an activity that
used an alcohol based body product to start small fires on themselves that
was then quickly snuffed out. Apparently this is a common activity among
young people. The burn to the recruit was inflicted when the alcohol was not
snuffed out quickly enough.

The recruit was treated at the fire house and made no complaint/report to
the officers.  He remained on the premises and made no attempt to leave. The
fire chief and president view this incident as an accident based on immature
behavior that did not represent any kind of "hazing." They also view the
action as unacceptable and have conveyed that to the entire department.

Chief Harrison suspended both members of the company that were involved in
the actual incident for 30 days and has not made a final decision about
whether to recommend to the full company that one or both be permanently
removed from the organization.  The officer in charge of the house the
evening of September 15, who should have immediately reported the incident
to the chief and/or president was reprimanded for failure to make such a
report.

Regarding actions to try to insure that a similar situation does not arise
again are as follows:

1. All ride alongs must be personally approved by the Fire Chief until a
thorough review of the practice can take place and any recommended changes
implemented.  This makes the Chief personally responsible for any
non-members at the station or going along in responding to calls.

2. A new-member review board is going to be set up that will more thoroughly
evaluate potential members prior to their being sent to the membership for
formal induction into the organization.

3. A re-evaluation of the Junior Fire Fighter practice of allowing
participation of 16-17 year-olds will be undertaken.  This classification is
part of Prince George's County Fire Fighter policy, but individual volunteer
companies may elect to set higher standards than the county requires.

While more information may come out, this is where it is now.  If
substantial new information becomes available, I will report it promptly.
Be aware that there are some constraints on what town officials such as
myself can say because of the potential for legal action in cases such as
this.

One other item to be aware of relates to reporting complaints about actions
or words from fire fighters.  If you witness inappropriate behavior please
report it to the Fire Chief or Department President.  If they don't know
about it they cannot address it/correct it.

Best wishes,

Vern

-- 
Vernon Archer, Mayor
Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland


-- 
Vernon Archer, Mayor
Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland
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