KIRKLAND – A rift among members of the Kirkland Community Fire Department has become so divisive that fire district Trustee Ed Peterson says it threatens the volunteer organization's survival.
Firefighters are divided over what some describe as serious procedural violations, but others are dismissing as nit-picking. Letters sent by at least five firefighters to the district's board of trustees – which includes Peterson, Steve Hintzsche and Gene Lane – allege not wearing appropriate gear during fires and misuse of equipment, prompting the board to ask the fire chief to investigate the claims.
"The thing that's gone by the wayside the last year and a half is mutual respect for one another," Peterson said during a special meeting of the trustees Thursday at the Kirkland Fire Station. "If the department is going to survive, that's going to have to come back."
About 25 firefighters showed up at Thursday's meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes before the trustees went into an hourlong closed session to meet with Fire Chief Chad Connell. Trustees cited the personnel exemption of the Illinois Open Meetings Act as the reason for going into executive session, trustee Steven Hintzsche said.
The letters allege instances in which firefighters, including Connell, responded to calls without wearing appropriate gear as outlined by the National Fire Protection Association. The letters accuse Connell of allowing a firefighter to use a department breathing apparatus to go in-line skating. They also say that an injured firefighter was told to drive himself to the hospital and that a captain responded to a car fire with equipment he didn't know how to use, and a neighboring department had to put out the fire.
The letters also are critical of the department's training procedures and the credentials held by department officers. They say the department's safety officer does not meet NFPA standards to hold that position.
There also are claims that the chief, assistant chief, fire captain and training officer do not meet the required call percentages as outlined in the department's bylaws to classify them as active members of the department. Those are the percentage of calls and training sessions a firefighter responds to or attends.
The trustees removed Mike Stott as fire chief a year ago and named Connell, who was the assistant chief, to that post. Connell then named Stott as his assistant chief. Some firefighters say that Connell is frequently absent because of another job, so Stott often serves as acting chief.
"I'm tired of this silliness, and I think residents need to know their fire department is not working in their best interest," said Richard Wilson, a full-time fire lieutenant in Bartlett who has volunteered with the Kirkland department for the past two years. "We have a bunch of diamonds in the rough here. There's a lot of passion, and they want to do the right thing, but they're being led by a bunch of individuals who want to keep it small-town."
Wilson, who has worked in fire service for 19 years, said he was named a fire lieutenant and training officer at Kirkland, but was removed from that rank after pointing out incidents of procedural misconduct. Department members who have not been certified as firefighters are still allowed to respond to incidents and hold rank, Wilson added.
Vince Kilcullen, an eight-year veteran of the Kirkland Fire Department, wrote that he believes that safety procedures are not followed because the people running the department do not know them, and that firefighters are being asked to take unnecessary risks because the people running the department "are making poor management and training decisions."
Before going into executive session, several officers spoke favorably of the department and questioned why a few decided to take their concerns to trustees rather than follow a chain of command.
"All these problems stem from little nit-picky things," firefighter Nick Vowells said. "Nobody's perfect. These little nit-picky things need to stop. It's got to be a brotherhood."
Wilson said that the chain of command was broken, and that he and a few others went to the trustees because their concerns were not being addressed.
Peterson said the trustees asked Connell to investigate the allegations made in the letters and to report back to them within the next two or three weeks. He said the issue will not be on the agenda for the board's April 9 meeting and they likely would not discuss it until the May 14 meeting.
Connell declined to comment on the allegations until after he has investigated them.