ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. --
WFTV uncovered documents on Monday that showed how an Orange County fire battalion chief was late to a wildfire call because he was making firefighters help him run personal errands.
WFTV learned that the chief wasn't fired.
Orange County Battalion Chief Kevin Wiltz's supervisors said they believed a pay decrease and demotion was enough. His supervisors didn't think it was necessary to fire him.
Wiltz was demoted to lieutenant because his supervisors said he was trying to get his personal car serviced at Tires 4 U and used another firefighter to help him last month.
"He had driving transmission issues that he thought it was very important to get fixed," said Assistant Fire Chief Brian Morrow.
The fire station is seven miles away from the tire store. According to county records, Wiltz told another firefighter to follow him to the tire store three different times.
Morrow said Wiltz did not have permission to run his errands on county time. To make matters worse, during one of the trips, Wiltz got a call to a brush fire.
According to reports, Wiltz ended up being a couple of minutes late to the call. After the call, he went back to the repair shop again with a firefighter.
Morrow said Wiltz admitted he knew he should have gotten permission from his supervisor, but he didn't. Morrow said Wiltz used bad judgment and got the demotion.
Wiltz was making $75,600 a year; as of Monday, he is making $69,400.
WFTV asked why he wasn't fired.
"We looked at his history there was nothing to fire him this was a thought process issue," said Morrow.
Officials said Wiltz will have to complete a course on ethical decision making. He will also have to wait two years and go through more training before he can become a battalion chief again.
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