Chris Trainor, Sydney Dunlap
The State
(TNS)
Tensions between a firefighters’ group and Columbia leadership appeared to publicly boil over Thursday, as firefighters and top city brass held dueling news conferences alternately criticizing conditions in the department and defending the longtime leadership of the city’s fire chief, who has drawn recent jabs from a state firefighters’ association.
Thursday’s statements fell in the shadow of a recent apartment fire that led to the death of Irmo firefighter James Muller last month, an event that has sparked questions and anger from the Professional Fire Fighters Association of South Carolina.
City leaders stood together to give full-throated support for longtime Columbia-Richland Fire Department Chief Aubrey Jenkins, while the Professional Fire Fighters Association of South Carolina called Jenkins’ leadership into question, alleging, among other things, that the department has staff shortages and outdated equipment, that it lacks an effective recruiting and retention program, and that rank-and-file firefighters don’t have a relationship with the veteran chief.
Just this week, Columbia City Council approved raising the fire department’s starting salary from roughly $34,000 to $43,800, at Jenkins’ request. But some firefighters said they have received harassment and threats about speaking out, including an allegation of being told that they would not receive those raises.
‘The arrogance, the disrespect’
On Monday, June 19, the Professional Firefighters group issued a statement questioning the timeline of the investigation into the fire that killed Muller, as well as the agencies involved in the probe, and who triggered those agencies to become involved in the case. The group also said in the statement that the fatal incident “exposes years of a chief’s neglect and deficiencies.”
Muller, 25, died May 26 after becoming trapped when a structure collapsed while he battled a fire at the Tropical Ridge Apartments in the St. Andrews area. Six other firefighters were injured in the collapse but survived. The Irmo Fire Department was assisting the Columbia Fire Department in battling the blaze.
In the wake of the criticism from the firefighters’ group, on Thursday city and county leaders put on a show of force at Columbia City Hall, with a number of officials expressing support for Jenkins, who has been with the Columbia department for 44 years and has been the chief for 12 years.
Among those who backed Jenkins Thursday were Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook, City Manager Teresa Wilson, City Councilmen Ed McDowell, Will Brennan and Howard Duvall, Richland County Councilmen Overture Walker and Derrek Pugh, Richland 1 school board member Aaron Bishop, and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.
“We are gathered here as a collective group of city and county leadership to show our support for Chief Aubrey Jenkins and also the hard-working leadership of our fire department,” McDowell said. “The last few weeks (since the deadly fire) have been very, very difficult in the life of this city.”
One specific criticism by the Professional Fire Fighters Association was a June 6 release from the Columbia Fire Department as to the cause and origin of the fatal Tropical Ridge fire. The fire department said it had determined the fire started “around a stove in the kitchen area of one of the apartments.”
“The fire was caused by unattended cooking materials and it has been ruled an accident,” the Columbia Fire Department release said.
The association questioned Jenkins releasing that information, noting the incident is still under investigation by other agencies.
Holbrook, Columbia’s police chief for nearly a decade, said local, state and federal authorities have been involved with the investigation of the fire at Tropical Ridge. He said Jenkins approached him at the scene of the fire and expressed his desire for a multi-agency investigation of the incident.
The police chief noted that the report issued by the fire department announcing the cause of the fire was a preliminary report. Both Holbrook and Wilson said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ National Response Team continues to investigate the apartment blaze and will issue a final report, likely in coming weeks. The National Response Team program was founded in the late 1970s to investigate large fires and explosions.
Holbrook added that he was shocked by the Professional Fire Fighters Association’s June 19 statement, particularly its criticism directly of Jenkins.
“I’ve never experienced an attack on a decorated colleague like I witnessed a couple days ago with this (statement) talking about a tragedy that occurred in our city a few weeks ago,” Holbrook said.
Jenkins declined comment when approached by a reporter during Thursday’s news conference.
Wilson also took issue with the firefighters’ group’s lambasting of Jenkins.
“The arrogance, the disrespect, the attempt to agitate the community and misinform people is one of the reasons why we are standing here,” Wilson said Thursday. “But the overarching reason is to show support for a man who has given over 44 years to serve this community.”
The Professional Fire Fighters Association also alleged in its June 19 statement that a fire hydrant near the Tropical Ridge apartment fire was out of service during the raging fire, but was repaired days later.
When asked about the fire hydrant situation on Thursday, Wilson said she did not know whether it was operational during the incident, but noted the fire is still under investigation and information about that hydrant could come out as part that investigation.
The State directly asked Wilson whether Jenkins’ job was in jeopardy amid the current controversy, and she said that it was not.
‘A seat at the table’
Meanwhile, the Professional Fire Fighters Association of SC held its own media gathering Thursday morning, outside the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The association’s briefing largely did not center on the deadly May fire at Tropical Ridge, but rather on broader criticism of Jenkins’ leadership and alleged departmental shortcomings.
For instance, Roger Odachowski, the president of the Professional Fire Fighters Association of South Carolina, said that inadequate staffing and outdated equipment have been putting firefighters and community members at risk.
Odachowski said that he believes, using National Fire Protection Association standards for firefighting staffing, that the Columbia- Richland department should have as many as 226 more firefighters than it currently has on staff.
He also alleged that firefighters have been working significant overtime just to staff firehouses. According to data provided by Odachowski, 459 Columbia firefighters were needed to work overtime in April and 441 firefighters were needed for overtime in May to meet staffing minimums. That forced individuals to work 24 hour shifts, and then work another 24 hours without notice, he claimed.
Odachowski also preached on the need for an effective recruiting and retention program at the Columbia department. He asked that city officials work with the state and local firefighters associations to create a program and apply for grants that could provide financial support.
“I would ask to have a seat at the table along with a few firefighters from Columbia, sit down and let’s throw it all on the table,” Odachowski said. “But until this time, the door’s been closed.”
Odachowski said he hopes to see representatives from the Professional Fire Fighters Association of South Carolina and the local Columbia Firefighters Association, along with Jenkins and other staff, come together for a monthly meeting to discuss plans for improvement.
Wilson said the city is working to try to address any staffing and equipment issues in the fire department.
“I think, all across this country, fire services, law enforcement, water and sewer workers, utility workers, the numbers are down,” Wilson said. “Our (total, citywide) employee base is still down. We’ve always hovered around 2,300, and now we only have 2,100 across the city. Chief Jenkins is no different from any other fire chief, trying to think creatively and trying to address things.”
Prior to the association’s press conference, Odachowski said multiple firefighters have received harassment and threats about speaking out, including being told that they would not receive the raises that were recently approved by the Columbia City Council.
Wilson said Thursday that she did not directly threaten to take away anyone’s raises away. She said she had a conversation with department leaders, on the day City Council was considering this year’s budget which included increases for the fire department, about not doing anything that might affect Council’s decision on that extra funding.
“Yes, we have staffing challenges, we have facilities needs,” Wilson said. “That, again, is why I was having conversations with the command staff and the battalion chiefs to get that message to trickle down to the guys in the field that this particular budget has things in it that will help address this. Don’t mess this up. We need to see this through.”
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