An active duty female D.C. firefighter is breaking her silence to speak up for young female cadets who allege sexual harassment at the DC Fire and EMS Training Academy.
Fearing retaliation, the firefighter requested anonymity. She’s being referred to as “Susan” in this story.
She says when she joined a recruit class a few years ago, it came with a warning from a female academy employee about some of the male instructors.
“She just said, ‘be careful, because a lot of them, they don’t know their boundaries,” she says.
Almost immediately, Susan says, the sexual harassment began. One instructor commented, “guess who wore the wrong bra today,” she says.
After a tough day of training, Susan says that same instructor got her alone. She says his hand moved from her shoulder slowly down to the top of her backside.
“And then as the hand like went lower to like you know here, I was just like, ‘Um, yeah please don’t ever touch me. Like, that’s hugely inappropriate,’” she says.
Fearing for her job, Susan kept quiet until she saw ABC7′s recent investigation centering on two young female cadets, fresh out of high school, who accused two instructors of sexual harassment. She says those cadets came to her for advice and told her what the instructors said.
“You know, they’re babies. And, so for them to speak to them like that and you know, just make any sort of sexual comments toward them is just disgusting,” she says.
The fire department has reassigned the two instructors to positions outside of the academy and launched an internal investigation.
But when ABC7 approached D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe in February, he insisted the alleged harassment was “not” sexual in nature.
“What we believe happened was more some inappropriate language and touching, not of a sexual nature, but the matter made the youngladies uncomfortable,” Ellerbe says.
But one male firefighter says he also felt compelled to speak out, saying he’s aware of cases in which superiors intimidated female firefighters into not filing complaints.
“And I know of two issues uh, first hand, um where issues of sexual harassment or harassment towards women have been basically brushed under the table,” said the male firefighter who declined to be identified.
A fire department spokesperson declined comment about the status of the latest alleged harassment investigation. He did say the department provided additional training for staff to address concerns regarding inappropriate conduct toward colleagues. And a female instructor has been placed at the academy to train cadets as well.
It seems the DC Fire & EMS Department has been in the news almost constantly for the last three weeks and little of it has been good news. It has gotten to the point that today reporter WTTG-TV/ Fox5 reporter Paul Wagner confronted Mayor Vincent Gray about he leadership of Chief Kenneth Ellerbe:
Wagner: Do you still have confidence in Kenneth Ellerbe?
Mayor Gray: Yes.
Wagner: You do?
Mayor Gray: Yes
Wagner: Unequivocally?
Mayor Gray: I have confidence in our fire chief, is that your answer?
Wagner: Yes.
As for Chief Ellerbe, he has not been making any statements about the latest incident to put the spotlight on the department, the delayed transport for a seriously injured DC police officer. The chief is letting his boss Deputy Mayor Paul Quander talk with the press about this incident. Just two weeks ago Chief Ellerbe was more vocal, putting out three statements within 24 hours that addressed what the chief saw as inaccurate reporting on different stories about the department.
But Chief Ellerbe did talk with DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier about her officer being struck Tuesday night. Lanier, whose late dad was a chief officer with Maryland’s PGFD, talked with reporters today saying, “The last thing I want to think about it, you know is, a police officer who is injured that seriously to have to wait to get transported.”
The investigation into the delayed ambulance response for an injured D.C. police officer is focusing on 10 ambulance units that were out of service at the time of the call. The man in charge of the investigation told News4 he’s trying to find out why the units were unavailable and why they were all out of service so close to the end of their shifts.
The initial calls for a pedestrian down came about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night — just 30 minutes before the shift change.
“I want to make sure that in fact no one took themselves out of service without the proper authorization and especially when it came time to ending their shift early,” Deputy Mayor Paul Quander said. “That’s unacceptable.”
Thirty-nine ambulance units were on duty at the time of the accident, Quander said, and some of the 10 that were out of service had legitimate reasons for not being able to respond to the call.
“One of the things I need to find out from this internal review is what happened to 10 of the units that were not available at that critical time,” Quander said. “Some of them may have been on runs to hospitals. Some of them may have been being cleaned. There are others I need to focus on to see whether or not they took themselves out of service without authorization.”
The officer was eventually transported by a Prince George’s County ambulance with life-threatening injuries. He suffered multiple fractures to his left leg and has had two surgeries so far.
His recovery will be long, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
But it’s what happened after the collision that is now the subject of an ongoing investigation involving D.C. Fire and EMS.
The Sixth District officer, who has now been identified as Sean Hickman, broke his pelvis and one of his legs and was on the ground waiting for help for as long as eight minutes before paramedics on an engine arrived to render first aid.
The officer then waited at least 15 minutes more for an ambulance that had to come from Prince George’s County because there were no ambulances available in the District.
The long wait for an ambulance is now the subject of an investigation by the deputy mayor for public safety who says some of the ambulance crews on duty that night may have left the streets before the end of their shift.
“We had 10 medical units that were not available for service and I need to know why,” said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Paul Quander. “Some of them were on runs, some were in for cleanup after you do a run, but I’m also looking to see if some went out of service inappropriately without authorization. They may have left their shift before it was over, but these are some of the things we have to sort out.”
Officer Hickman was riding a scooter when he was hit in the intersection of 46th and A Streets in Southeast D.C.
The long wait for medical help has infuriated the police union, which is now pointing fingers at the fire chief.
“Here in the nation’s capital that we would not have an ambulance available is inexcusable and who’s to blame? The Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe is to blame,” said Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Kristopher Baumann. “This is his department and this is not the first time we have seen mismanagement with story after story of how he has been unable to make this a working department.”
Chief Ellerbe declined a request for an interview and said all questions would be answered by the deputy mayor.
“We had paramedics that arrived within eight minutes, which is well within the standard that we want,” said Deputy Mayor Quander. “What I also said is that the review will take a look at everything to see if we can improve, whether there was any impact to the officer’s care.”
On Thursday afternoon, FOX 5 asked D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray if he is concerned with the current state of emergency medical care in the city.
“With respect to the current situation, I’ve asked Paul Quander to take a look at it and he will have information and anything that will be broader than that, so let’s wait and see what he comes up with,” said Gray.
When asked if he still had confidence in the fire chief, the mayor replied “yes.”
The head of the police union in DC says his members will join IAFF Local 36 members in not attending Mayor Vincent Gray’s luncheon to honor city workers who helped safeguard the Inauguration. The FOP is taken this action because of DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe. Kristopher Baumann told Washington Examiner City Hall reporter Alan Blinder, ”We’re not going to participate until this administration starts behaving like it’s run by adults and starts treating fellow workers with respect.”
IAFF Local 36 president Ed Smith also talked to reporter Blinder:
But Edward Smith, the president of the firefighters’ union, said taking part in the celebratory luncheon amid an ongoing review would have sent “a mixed message.”
“It definitely seemed inappropriate,” said Smith, who added that it “remains to be seen” whether the review will lead to discipline.
The White House flap is one of the news stories that prompted Chief Ellerbe to issue three statements within 24 hours last week (and here) claiming reporter accounts in each were inaccurate. One of the other stories was about sexual harassment claims made by cadets at the Training Academy against two instructors. The differences between the story reported by WJLA-TV/ABC 7 and information in Chief Ellerbe’s statement has Council member Tommy Wells asking for an inspector general’s investigation of the matter.
In a letter dated Feb. 26, 2013, Wells asks the inspector general to investigate the allegations. He states that there is wide difference between what fire officials say and what’s being reported by the media.
The story, which was an exclusive ABC7 I-Team Investigation, discovered looming sex scandal in the D.C. Fire Department involving female trainees. Multiple sources told ABC7 that two female cadets recently accused two training academy instructors of sexual harassment.
“We took immediate action to remove those members from the presence of our cadets and continued class,” says D.C. Fire & EMS Chief Kenneth Ellerbe. “The ladies have asked that we keep this matter confidential and we’ve done our best to do that until this matter is completely resolved.”
WRC-TV/NBC 4 reporter Mark Segraves is as least the third reporter this week who has had the accuracy of his reporting questioned in statements released by DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe. Segraves had reported late Friday afternoon that three firefighters, including a lieutenant who had done battle before with the chief, face possible disciplinary action for appearing in uniform at an event with President Barack Obama. A few hours later this statement from Chief Ellerbe was posted on the TV station’s website:
Contrary to reports in local media, the DC Fire and EMS Department is not considering any disciplinary action against uniformed personnel for appearing alongside President Obama. At the request of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, DC FEMS is simply reviewing its internal protocols for such appearances to ensure that both the Department and its employees are fully informed.
We fully support the efforts of President to highlight the essential and life saving work that our first-responders do every single day, and welcome his invitation for our members to participate. We’re exceedingly proud of the men and women that wear the DC FEMS uniform, and thank the President for his support.
If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because just 24 hours earlier Chief Ellerbe called into question the actions of reporters on two other stories. On Thursday evening, communications director Lon Walls sent out a pair of statements from Chief Ellerbe saying news reports on sexual harassment allegations at the Training Academy and on the death of a man on New Years at the time of an ambulance shortage were both inaccurate.
Also interesting, is a public Twitter conversation Chief Ellerbe had Friday evening with another reporter who covers the department, Andrea Noble of The Washington Times. Here it is:
This conversation ended with this Tweet from Chief Ellerbe to reporter Noble:
maybe you should schedule some time in our office to establish a foundation for accurate information as some others have done?
Yesterday evening Lon Walls, communications director for the DC Fire & EMS Department, sent out press releases on behalf of Chief Kenneth Ellerbe that described two recent news stories about the department as inaccurate. One is Chief Ellerbe’s detailed response to a story broadcast by WRC-TV/NBC 4 way back on February 8 about a bill for services to the family of a man who died on New Year’s Day. There was a lengthy wait for an ambulance in that case because of staffing shortages. For the first time since the incident occurred, the department has issued a detailed timeline. Click here for the release.
The second story is the one we brought you yesterday from WJLA-TV/ ABC 7 about claims by female cadets about sexual harassment at the Training Academy. Here is that release.
On this page are the two follow-up stories the TV stations did in reaction to the press releases from Chief Ellerbe. Above is the video from the Training Academy story and below is what was published on WRC-TV/NBC 4‘s website about the ambulace issue:
D.C. Fire and EMS released a statement Thursday explain what happened early New Year’s Day, when a man died after waiting for an ambulance.
Durand Ford Sr. waited 30 minutes for an ambulance as he was having trouble breathing and that ambulance came from Maryland, according to his family. While fire officials acknowledge a delay in getting an ambulance to the scene, they said a paramedic was on scene providing appropriate care in 10 minutes.
According to D.C. fire, after the call was dispatched at 1:26 a.m., a fire truck responded at 1:35 a.m. and a second truck – one with the paramedic – arrived at 1:37 a.m. A call for additional assistance was placed at 1:40 a.m., and because no D.C. ambulances were available, Prince George’s County responded to a mutual aid request, D.C. fire officials said. However, a D.C. ambulance became available at 1:42 a.m., and D.C. fire said the D.C. ambulance reached the scene at 1:55 a.m. – before a Prince George’s County ambulance got there.
The ambulance that did transport Ford was from D.C., not Maryland, according to D.C. fire. The ambulance from Prince George’s County was not used and returned to Maryland.
D.C. fire also cited a high volume of calls at the time as well as a high number of personnel out sick as the reason why an ambulance wasn’t available before 1:42 a.m.
Furthermore, what Ford’s family believes was a bill for $700 was a notice from the billing contractor requesting insurance information and permission to file an insurance claim, according to D.C. fire.
D.C. Fire and EMS does not generally comment on specific patient cases due to privacy issues, officials said, but they commented Thursday due to “inaccurate” information in newspapers, broadcasts and on social media.
An exclusive ABC7 I-Team Investigation has learned that there is a looming sex scandal in the D.C. Fire Department involving female trainees.
Sources tell ABC7 numerous women are part of a formal complaint targeting the department. Two training academy instructors have been accused of harassing female cadets and sources say that harassment was sexual in nature.
Young cadets are trained by mentors who shepherd the recent high school graduates into the field of fire fighting.
But multiple sources tell ABC7 that two female cadets recently accused two training academy instructors of sexual harassment.
“A young lady was touched and told to by the official to call them daddy,” says the mother of a female cadet, who asked to not be identified for fear of retaliation. She says while her daughter was “not” harassed, other young women told her daughter about various sexual advances directed at them.
“It was alleged that they mentioned about shaking their behind, mentioning of their breasts to some of the young cadets,” she says. “These young girls, they are in a position where they have to look up to these people and they should be setting some kind of example and not preying on them.”
“There have been some allegations that have been brought forward,” Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe says to ABC7. “We have referred them to our Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor, which means that we can’t discuss it any further
Ellerbe says he takes the allegations very seriously, but believes the alleged inappropriate conduct was not sexual in nature.
“The matter made the young ladies uncomfortable and we’ve done everything we can to remove those members from the process in training them and we’ll take additional action if necessary,” Ellerbe says.
D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells, as the chairman of the public safety committee, says he’s concerned that this is the first he’s hearing about these allegations.
“This is not something that I want to hear and it’s something that’s completely unacceptable, but I realize also they are allegations and there will be an investigation,” Wells says. “But in the event that it’s true it’s absolutely not acceptable. Not in our city.”
The chief says the reason his department didn’t release information about this investigation was the female cadets who brought these allegations forward asked the chief to keep the matter confidential.
But one parent told ABC7 that if these allegations prove true, some very public policy changes need to be made to make sure this never happens again.
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