Hartford deputy chief says fire chief jeopardized safety of media & politicians during Fire Ops 101
Yesterday (Monday) a Fire Ops 101 event was held at the Hartford Fire Department Training Academy. Sponsored by a dozen Connecticut fire departments, the event is used to familiarize politicians and the news media with the work of firefighters. It often brings good news coverage for a fire department. But this time not all of that coverage was flattering.
That’s because Hartford Fire Department Deputy Chief of Training Daniel Nolan filed a complaint that Fire Chief Carlos Huertas, in an effort to save money, jeopardized the safety of all involved in the event. Nolan claims that Chief Huertas would not allow overtime funds to be spent for six members of the Training Academy staff to oversee the event. Nolan’s complaint, according to the Hartford Courant, says National Fire Protection Association guidelines for live burns and other training were violated.
(Note: The video below is WVIT-TV’s coverage of Monday’s event that does not refer to this dispute.)
Steven Goode, Hartford Courant:
“Due to the nature of having untrained personnel participating in this exercise [three legislators and two members of the media suited up and participated in Monday’s event], along with other firefighters who are not familiar with the operation of live burns and structures utilized at this event, the potential for injury is great,” Nolan wrote in the complaint.
In the complaint, Nolan said that he had requested overtime for six members of the training division because the scheduling of the event coincided with their days off, and emails attached to the complaint show that Huertas initially approved the overtime but later rescinded it without explanation.
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Nolan alleged that Huertas’ decision put participants’ safety at risk for financial reasons.
Asked about the complaint Monday, Huertas said that one member of Hartford’s training division was involved and that other needed safety oversight was being handled by certified personnel from other departments.
