Click here and here for previous coverage of this issue
STATter911.com has learned that Alvin G. Graham, an ordained minister and the chaplain for the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, has turned in his car and department equipment. Contacted by phone at his Upper Marlboro home, Graham, 64, confirmed he informed PGFD Chief Eugene Jones on Friday of his immediate resignation.
Graham said he was concerned about the direction of the department, particularly plans that had the chaplain corps reporting to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) instead of directly to the fire chief. Graham believes it is important to work with EAP, but says the spiritual mission he is responsible for is something quite different.
Lt. Col. Victor Stagnaro from PGFD website.
Sources indicate that Alvin Graham is close friends with Lt. Col. Victor Stagnaro, who was fired by Chief Jones on Monday. According to the sources, it was Stagnaro who recruited Graham to fill the volunteer position.
Chief Jones said through a spokesman on Monday, that contrary to STATter911.com’s report, the departure had to do with Col. Stagnaro’s intention to retire and that Stagnaro is on leave until February 12, his retirement date.
Those familiar with the situation tell STATter911.com, that while Alvin Graham had serious concerns about the restructuring of the chaplain’s position, the timing of the firing on Monday and Graham’s resignation on Friday are not a coincidence.
PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady, upon hearing the news about Chaplain Graham’s resignation, said Graham will be greatly missed. Brady told us the chaplain has been a constant presence at significant department events, both happy and sad, over the last nine years.
Alvin Graham was born in Fairmont Heights, Maryland. He moved to Seattle, Washington in 1963 and returned to Prince George’s County in 2000. Graham said he came back in an effort to make a difference in the community where he grew up.
In other PGFD news, Major Steve Hess has been named acting lieutenant colonel of Administrative Services. This is part of the realignment after the dismissal of Stagnaro. According to sources, Human Resources, which had come under Administrative Services, has now been moved to Management Services, headed by Lt. Col. Angela Peden.
Also on STATter911 …
- Prince George’s County Emergency Operations chief let go. Fire Chief Eugene Jones makes changes at the top with the firing of Lt. Col. Victor Stagnaro. – January 25, 2010
- Firing of top PGFD official brings scathing message from union president to his members. Local 1619′s Pantelis says ‘we now find it difficult to work in good faith’ with the department leadership. – January 28, 2010
- Quick Takes – February 1, 2010
- 12 Rockville, Maryland firefighters suspended. Two separate cases of building break-ins being investigated. Teen volunteers involved. – March 12, 2010
What a sad state of affairs. With Lt. Col. Stagnaro gone, the “command staff” ( and I use that term extremely loosely)is totally clueless.
A/Ltc. Hess, Congrats on your appointment – Keep a level head and don’t let Eugene bully you.
Clueless for sure. “Doing more with less” I call BS this department sadly is “Doing less with less” Im not proud any more of my position in this dept. I have seen this place come crashing down because of this chief. He forgot who buttered his bread and gave him his wonderful pension in the first place. He has made work conditions almost intollerable. I wonder how he can wreck this dept and not care at all about it. People say hes just doing what his superiors are telling him to do. What a disgrace you have been to this once proud organization. Your legacy will be an infamous one. I hope that when your done you NEVER look another fireman in them eye again.
Who does chief Jones think he is…….GOD????
I like Hess, but isn’t he a short timer? I understand that he is counting the days until retirement. What sense does it make putting him in that spot? OOPSSSS I used sensewith PGFD that never works. lol
Chaplain Graham truly cared about all firefighter’s well being, career and volunteer. I had the chance to talk him several times and was impressed each time. He gave his time and guidance to anyone who needed it. He did not preach or try to recruit people to a certain faith. White, black, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, he just wanted to help people in their time of need. This is a very sad day for PGFD. I wonder what Eugene is going to say on Judgement Day. Sorry God, The devil (JJ) made me do it!
It seems that it’s time for the independent cities in PG to exercise their right to provide their own fire departments and quit wasting their tax money with an inefficient county fire department.
Berwyn Heights, Bladensburg, Bowie, Brentwood, Capitol Heights, Cheverly, College Park, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, District Heights, Eagle Harbor, Edmondston, Fairmount Heights, Forest Heights, Glenarden, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Landover Hills, Laurel, Morningside, Mount Rainier, New Carrollton, North Brentwood, Riverdale Park, Seat Pleasant, University Park, and Upper Marlboro.
And the ship sinks deeper…….can PGFD really stay afloat much longer? We can only hope that the next County Executive has more sense than this one and hires a real Fire Chief instead of one that spent his whole career in the office, retired, goes to OEM and then comes back as the Chief. Sad, very sad.
I can second Anonymous’ opinion of Chaplain Graham. He used to visit me at the station and it was always nice to talk to him, and he never tried to recruit me to any particular religious group. He always had the well being of the personnel foremost in his thoughts. This is indeed a sad day for the department, it has entered an abyss from which I don’t think it will ever emerge from.
Perhaps Eugene should take a hint from failed leaders and executives in Japan. Do you know what they do Eugene?
How about replacing him with a Chief that does not collect a pension, gets paid from a grant from Homeland Security, and recieves a salary from Prince George’s County all at the same time!
Why cant you look at failures to respond to 9-11 calls Dave? I know some stations that fail hundredes of times a month and it is allowed as long as noone speaks up in this county. You must have privy to that info. Even in this snowstorm there is several companies with noone home and numerous failures to respond. ITS YOUR PUBLIC that needs help and you still dont respond. How dispicable.
anonymous says needs to learn to spell. I expect he is also caught up in the pay grid. What a shame. He should go to D.C. and let the vollies do their job!!!
How bad is it when God leaves the department? It’s gettin hot in here.
Ok so in a nutshell:
-The Vollys hate the public (if you aren’t one of them) and the Union… and the Chief.
-The Union hates the Chief and the vollys.
The Chief hates anyone with more common sense than him.
Great job fellas.
It’s pretty sad when the Chaplin leaves the department due to the “direction” we are going. I wish this crap would stop, but we all know that is not going to happen. Maybe if someone had more then a H.S. diploma he would be able to see the destruction he is causing. Even God can’t get through his thick skull. We are such a mess.
keepin it safe are you on crack?i havent heard any vollie or paid staff say they hate the public!it is people like you that keep this crap going on in this department,in times like this we need to band together because neither vollie or paid is doing well with this guy driving the boat.
Oh I agree with you Dep’… 100%. Band together…by all means, who’s gonna be first to lay down their hatred and stop being so self serving?.
Now’s the time , I think we agree.
I really don’t think I have to qualify my statement. It’s my crack-free-opinion, I’ve worked quite a bit in PG and for what I see and have seen, it’s the way it is. You’re right no one is on record as having a disdain for the public. My Bad.
Why would any group of people organized for public protection feel the need to run (the people they care so much about) off the road? (you know…getting so close to their bumper it scares the crap out of them). Why would they break crap in a house rather than protect it? (you know, get inside do a little EXTRA overhaul-LOL!!)
Isolated incidents I’ve witnessed or a cultural problem?.
I do wish everyone would get it all together but I’m not betting on it.
ok keepin it safe ima give you that some people do go over the top on breaking thing’s when they dont have to,i am a vollie in this county i live in this county and i just wish ALL of us would just stop jaw jackin and become the department i joined in 1991.do i think jones is doing a good job NO,do i think times are hard and he has no choice yes i do,he dont have a good rep on either side all i can say is stay low and be safe.
When the IAFF Local 1619 stood up at his confirmation and spoke out against Eugene Jones being confirmed as Fire Chief, they were given 5 minutes to state their case and then they were all but ignored by the County Council, and shrugged off as being “greedy” and “they just don’t like him cause he is pro volunteer!” Volunteer Chief after Volunteer Chief stood up and sang his praise. They couldn’t think of a more qualified candidate. He dangled the carrot of “power” in front of the volunteers and they all ran for it. Now, all of a sudden they’ve realized just how rotten the carrot is.
Well, you made your bed…Now lay in it!
This moron is drilling holes in the bottom of the “U.S.S. PeeGeeFD” to try and get all the water out; and the Volunteers helped hand him the Drill.
There will never be unity within the PGFD as long as Career and Volunteer are held to a different set of standards and different levels of accountability. Eugene has established an atmosphere of ZERO accountability for the Volunteers. If a Career firefighter wrecks an engine on the way to a call and someone gets hurt, they are drug tested and slapped with “Step 3″ Charges and a $1000 fine.
If a Volunteer wrecks on the way to a call and causes injury, it is left up to the Volunteer “Leadership” to dole out the discipline; which often results in nothing more then MAYBE a slap on the wrist or MAYBE a 30 day vacation from the firehouse.
If a Career Firefighter kills a patient through gross negligence and violations of mandated EMS Protocols, they face loss of their certifications as well as “Step 3″ Charges, possible loss of rank or in the most serious cases, the loss of their job.
A Volunteer kills a patient through gross negligence and violations of mandated EMS Protocols, more often then not it is swept under the rug because “It will look bad for the volunteers.” Or we hear the common excuse “I’m just a Volunteer, you can’t punish me, I provide a ‘free’ service to the public!”
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are exceptions to the rules on both sides of the fence. There are times where both sides are no more innocent than the other. But more often then not there is an almost total lack of accountability for the actions of the Volunteers. Until there is Equal Standards, Equal Accountability and Equal Punishment for Equal Actions among Volunteers and Career Firefighters in PG County, there will NEVER be unity among the two forces.
You can not allow the Inmates to Police the Asylum and then wonder why the Guards are so upset.
Unity, means bringing the volunteers and career members together into ONE department, with ONE set of rules, ONE set of Standards, and ONE Organized Chain Of Command, from Probie to The Fire Chief. Not Battalion Chiefs that are in charge some of the time, until the volunteer chief decides they want to play. Not several different volunteer organizations that all view each other as rivals, fighting for bragging rights and control. Not some volunteers refusing to take ambulance calls because, well, they just aren’t as fun as running fire alarms…and then getting away with it.
Not a sermon, just a thought.
The Prince George’s County Fire Department is like the Middle East. Until there is like minded Volunteer Leadership, all working towards unity and learning to trust one another, Career Leadership that isn’t afraid to hold the volunteers to a higher standard and making them accountable for their actions, and a County Council and Executive that won’t be intimidated by the volunteers, there will NEVER be Peace.
I would like to invite all Paid PGFD Firefighters and all Volunteer PGFD Firefighters to all meet together this Friday evening at 1800 hrs, at PGFD HQ to gather enmass, as one and sing Kumbaya. Everyone bring a candle so we can have a candlelight ceremony (EVerybody except arsonists)
Then as we leave we can sing row, row, row your boat…you know the volunteers can start and the paids can follow up. Oh the paid want to start the song and have the vollies do the 2nd part..hey no fighting…yo stop!
Ah, never mind, cancel the peace fest, unfortunately some thought it was a hockey game.
As long as there are SCABS from DCFEMS, and all other surrounding juristictions, who continue to volunteer in PG County; taking jobs away from union brothers and treating PG County Career firefighters like they are second class citizens, there will NEVER be Peace among career and volunteer firefighters in this county.
If we showed up at your firehouse and told you to “get on the ambulance, i’m a volunteer, i only ride Fire Trucks”, then left a mess everywhere we went and expected YOU to clean it up for us, you’d be pretty pissed off too.
The only thing that comes to mind is, WAH WAH WAH!
You’re paid, if you don’t want to ride an ambulance, get a job at a department that is only fire. Vollies should get 1st pick of what they want to ride, you’re paid to do it, that includes EMS. WHy don’t you vollie? then you could pick the ride you want. If you don’t like it quit!!! There I said it and don’t you forget it.
The last several respondents above are “Crazy” out of thier minds. Every single IDIOT that sings the song pitting Vollies against Career are the problems within the system. Both sides have good and bad, one is no worse than the other.
Abolish the PGFD, period! Enact legislation that requires every station to provide both fire and EMS transport service or they don’t play at all. Develop a formula to divide the money, similar to grants. Each station must provide 24/7 protection, each station must staff, at a minimum, a suppression piece and ambulance, no station may fail to respond on calls without severe penalty. Each station must write their own management proposal, in form of a grant request, to justify how they will provide the aforementioned tasks. Money that will be distributed may be used to maintain the apparatus, pay personnel to ensure staffing as required, purchase fuel, etc.
The county can run the paramedic program, there should be a minimum of 30 ALS quick response vehicles staffed with one paramedic and one EMT/Driver. They would ride on a transport unit when needed to. 4 of the above 30 would be supervisors, who would also have a driver and can then function as a second medic as needed. This could vary dependant upon time of day and call statistics.
HA yeah no wonder you guys are a last rate Fire department look at you all. It’s always someone elses fault.
Keep the insults toward each other comin.
Sheez, nobody wants to ride an ambulance now and you want to start paramedic chase trucks?? You might as well put an ER Doc on each rig, cause they’ll just be sittin on scene waiting for 3rd due EMS to finally show up.
Seperate Fire and EMS into 2 seperate entities, see how EMS would be a self sufficient animal and fire wouldn’t need so much money anymore. Fire only wanted EMS when they saw they really aren’t needed all that much anymore.
“Sick of PAID cry babies”, you are the exact reason career personnel hate volunteers. If you were a carpenter, electrician, painter, accountant, or anything else, and a volunteer walked in to your workplace whenever they felt like it (once a week/month/year) and said they were in charge because they were doing it for free, you’d feel the exact same way. “We’re all the same” is the cry, but we all know we’re not. Training, experience, accountability, on and on and on, or WAH WAH WAH! as you so put it. Grow up, get a career and let the professionals handle it. Whether you consider a “professional” someone who does it for free or just someone who does the job well…. with that attitude, you obviously aren’t either!
“WAH! WAH! WAH! I’m a Volunteer, I Should have FIRST pick of what i WANT to ride! I’m not here to serve the public, i’m here to have fun and run the calls i WANT to run, not the calls that NEED to be run! Me! Me! Me! Me FIRST!”
I joined the Fire Department to serve the public while earning a paycheck for something i enjoy doing. I didn’t join so i could just run the “Fun” and “Exciting” calls. EMS and the Ambulance are part of SERVING THE PUBLIC! Try it sometime.
Paid? Vollie?
If all of us paid guys quit so we didn’t have to ride your ambulance, who would do it? The only all volunteer station I can think of that always gets out at least one ambulance is Co. 809. I don’t think they can take up your slack.
Maybe I’ll have to spell it out for you. F-I-R-E (FIRE) Department. Just because I want to serve my public by putting water on a F-I-R-E (FIRE)and not being covered in feces, urine and vomit. Then thats how I will help my public for free.
You take their money so thats why you have to do all the jobs that even you paid guys don’t want to do (see several previous posts) ergo A-M-B-U-L-A-N-C-E (that spells ambulance)
Wow, went from the Col. getting the can and the Chaplin leaveing to vollie vs. career. And we wonder why there are so many messed up things with pg. Please can we get back on topic?
Rick Clever- I guess you want to turn the clock back to 1966. While your at it, let’s go back to wearing tin can helmets, black canvas coats, only requiring Advanced First Aid to ride the ambulance. What the Department needs to do is hire a PROGRESSIVE chief from the outside-similar in style to the late William E. Clark who was Fire Chief in the early 1970′s-but was fired from PGFD for being “too progressive- having training standards for the volunteers, holding them accountable for their actions. As long as the Council allows the volunteers to dictate who is going to run the department, it will always be clusterfu__
You paid guys should stop and read the headlines from all across the country “City closing Fire Stations” “20 Fireman Laid off” “FDNY to close 20 Fire Stations in 2011″
Volunteers are the true heros and will be the salvation to communities across AMerica, including PGFD. The Government ain’t goon do nothin to volunteers cause they need us now more than ever. Get it?
I remember when Reading Pa fire department was combo. The Union chased them away with requirements that were outrageous. Well they chased them away and they never got 4 guys riding every truck, so now they just fight fires shorthanded, and when they need help they wait for off duties to come in and then they call vollies to help. ANd last year they had to battle the city to kep as many of them as they could, I’m sure next year they’ll face the axe again. My prediction is that in 3 years they’ll be beggin for volunteers to come ride the trucks again. Ah my old stomping ground, how I miss good old PA. PGFD kinda reminds me of the good old days in 2010.
Really–we all need to quit the whining guys. Do you think the public gives a flying flip about the status of the guy or gal in the funny suit, as long as they can put the wet stuff on the red stuff? Give me a friggin’ break? Why does everything come down two who is paid or volunteer?
The truth is–and will probably remain–that unless the county has all the money in the world, it will never be able to fund an entirely career fire department. AND–before we vollies get it twisted–the glory days are gone–and most of us work full-time jobs and cannot commit the time to staff firehouses 24/7/365.
The paid guys are right–we should all have to maintain the standards, and it is unlikely that anyone riding once in a blue moon can really do that. And yet, the sacrifice, dedication and commitment of those of us who make every effort to stay on our game to do it right, often exhibit more pride and responsibility to the citizens than we can ever be paid for.
What is so hard about putting yourself in the others shoes? Who (paid) would want to be around a firehouse most of the time, and have someone (volunteer) show up for the first time in months, ordering them (rudely, most times) to be stuck on an ambo, because we’ve arrived? And similarly, what makes anyone think that a paid guy is God, and that our training and determination cannot be used efficiently to help, and make sure we all remain safe?
‘ve had the benefit of working with some first class paid and volunteer firemen who I’ve learned from, respected and loved. And you know what? Those of us who are serious about this profession will figure out how to find ways to help each other, rather than being on Stater blabbing and moaning like a bunch of morons.
The citizens need us to get to work, get it right, and get over this ridiculous rift about whose jock is bigger.
This nonesense–and all of us who engage in it–are wrecking this department faster and taking us all further down–than any Fire Chief, budget crises or stupid administration decisions ever will…
Grow the hell up.