HARTFORD — Hartford Fire Department Deputy Chief of Training Daniel Nolan has been suspended with pay pending an investigation into an incident that occurred during and after a meeting of the task force that is investigating the department.
Fire Chief Carlos Huertas said Nolan was put on paid administrative leave Tuesday pending an investigation into his interactions with interim Assistant Chief Scott Brady.
Following his testimony April 16 before the task force regarding communication problems with Huertas and training issues, Nolan declined to obey an order to go back to work before speaking with the media, Huertas said.
"He basically refused an order from a superior officer," Huertas said Tuesday.
After the task force meeting Nolan questioned whether Brady had the authority to give him an order during an interview with the media.
Asked if Nolan had been ordered to return to work to prevent him from speaking to the media, Huertas said, "That's not the way I see it. I'm the spokesman for the department; he was needed back at work."
Huertas said it was his intention to conduct an investigation as quickly as possible and conclude it within two weeks.
Nolan could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but his Hartford-based attorney, Mario Cerame, confirmed that his client was on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Cerame declined to speak further about the issue.
Nolan and Huertas have clashed in recent months, especially since the death of city firefighter Kevin Bell.
Bell, 48, was a six-year veteran of the department when he died in October fighting a house fire on Blue Hills Avenue, becoming the first Hartford line-of-duty fatality in 40 years.
In the aftermath the department formed a board of inquiry, with Nolan as the chairman. But at the first meeting, according to Nolan, Huertas told the board to "stand down" and discontinue its investigation until other agencies investigating Bell's death completed theirs.
In an email obtained by The Courant through a Freedom of Information Act request, Nolan said that Huertas ordered the board to lead the public to believe that the investigation was moving forward and that he refused to go along.
Huertas removed Nolan as chairman of the board of inquiry as a result.
The board of inquiry went three months between meetings, according to Nolan.
As part of his suspension, Nolan is prohibited from entering the training academy or attending board of inquiry meetings.
At the task force meeting on April 16, Nolan also said that there were serious communication issues between him and Huertas and that they hindered training efforts.
At that meeting Huertas said he wasn't interested in Nolan's interpretation of orders and that he just wanted them followed. "I give out orders," Huertas said. "I don't need them to be interpreted."
Six days before the task force meeting, Conn-OSHA released its report of the investigation into Bell's death and found five serious departmental violations related to testing of firefighting equipment, including masks and air cylinders.
Huertas has disputed some of the agency's findings, and a meeting is scheduled for Thursday.
The task force was formed by Mayor Pedro Segarra to look into a rash of firefighter arrests and alcohol related incidents on and off duty, as well as Bell's death.
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