Jan. 18, 2023 The official upheld the firing of New Britain Lt. Michael Yagmin amid a fire department drug scandal last year.

By Don Stacom Source Hartford Courant (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

In a sharply worded report, an arbitrator has ruled against the New Britain firefighter who claimed he was wrongly fired in connection with the secretive fire department drug ring that led to a major scandal last year.

Former Lt. Michael Yagmin lied to city leaders when he claimed he didn’t sell drugs to Firefighter Matt Dizney, according to the report issued last week by Arbitrator Dennis Murphy.

Dizney, 36, died suddenly at his home last January, and a medical examiner concluded part of the cause was “acute intoxication” from a mix of horse tranquilizers, fentanyl and other drugs.

Yagmin’s “core behavior of drug use and his facilitation of such use with another firefighter, leading to his death, is obviously absolutely unacceptable in a public safety officer, especially one in a supervisory role,” Arbitrator Dennis Murphy wrote.

Murphy’s decision relied heavily on pages of text messages between Yagmin and Dizney that police recovered after Dizney’s death.

Murphy described them as “the sad and repulsive details of desperately seeking drugs, using them, and discussing the severe results of such use,” and rejected Yagmin’s contention that they referred to marijuana, not stronger drugs.

Yagmin’s “sworn testimony depicting all of that painfully sordid activity as simply describing marijuana use is so staggeringly false it is instantly dismissed as an insult to any rational, mature mind,” Murphy wrote.

Yagmin could not be contacted Tuesday, and messages to union President Ken Keough were not returned.

Yagmin was the only firefighter to lose his job over the drug use scandal that surfaced after Dizney was found dead at his Southington home on Jan. 26, 2022.

Even though Dizney had been off duty that day, the city began an extensive investigation that ultimately reached into all of its firehouses.

The city invoked Garrity rules when it questioned firefighters; that protects public workers against having their answers used against them for criminal prosecution. But Garrity provisions also require employees to answer and to answer truthfully, all under penalty of dismissal.

The investigation determined that nine firefighters — mostly veterans — had used Adderall, cocaine, heroin or fentanyl, with at least three of those instances happening while they were on duty. Yagmin and Dizney were among the nine.

A medical examiner concluded that Dizney’s death was accidental, attributing it to coronary artery thrombosis and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease as well as the effects of “acute intoxication.” Tests showed fentanyl, the veterinary tranquilizer Xylazine and the sedative Zolpidem were in his system at the time.

Southington police filed no criminal charges in his death, and New Britain police said they didn’t have enough evidence to pursue charges for the drug transactions.

But fire commanders ordered a large-scale staff transfer between the city’s eight firehouses to break up cliques of troubled employees.

The city suspended seven firefighters, each for 30 days. To keep their jobs, they acknowledged violating the city’s code of conduct.

They were either drivers, an upper-seniority assignment, or supervisors, and were all demoted to private. They are serving three-year probation periods when they cannot seek promotion.

They agreed to drug counseling or rehabilitation, and signed agreements to accept random drug testing at any time during that probation.

Yagmin, however, consistently denied wrongdoing. Mayor Erin Stewart fired the 17-year veteran, saying he had violated the city’s code of conduct by lying to investigators. Yagmin took his case to arbitration, saying he had been unfairly punished.

On Tuesday, Stewart called the arbitration award a win for the city.

“It made very clear the reason he was terminated wasn’t for doing drugs on the job, it was because he lied to us about all of this,” she said. “Hopefully now we can close this chapter and move on.”

In his report, Murphy dismissed the New Britain Firefighters Local 992′s contention that the city never conclusively proved Yagmin used drugs at work. The union also argued that he was singled out for excessive termination.

“The union is correct in all of its observations that the grievant was never found under the influence of drugs on the job, that he never was asked to be tested due to a suspicion of being such, and he was never arrested or convicted of possessing unlawful drugs,” Murphy wrote.

“However he was not terminated for any of those events. His untruthfulness and conduct unbecoming a city employee and firefighter caused the end to his career,” Murphy wrote. “His untruthfulness in facing up to such behavior, the reason the city fired him, piled self-inflicted tragedy upon an already tragic situation.”

Jan. 18, 2023 In addition to receiving a ‘no confidence’ vote, the ex-EMS chief in Allegany County was charged with deer poaching in West Virginia.

By Teresa McMinn Source Cumberland Times-News, Md. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 16—CUMBERLAND — A former Allegany County emergency medical services chief, who received a vote of no confidence from a local union and was later sentenced to home incarceration for deer poaching in West Virginia, has been hired as an advanced life support training coordinator for the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute.

MFRI offered Christopher Biggs the position on Dec. 9, and he began working for the organization Jan. 3.

Biggs refused a Cumberland Times-News request for an interview.

MFRI of the University of Maryland is the state’s training and education system for all-hazard responses.

The institute develops and delivers programs to prepare agencies and individuals “to protect life, property and the environment,” according to the organization’s website.

MFRI is one of five state entities supported by the Maryland Emergency Medical System Operations Fund.

Biggs is one of two MFRI -assigned ALS coordinators based in College Park.

“The two ALS training coordinators have statewide positions,” MFRI officials said via email. “Both coordinators could be called to teach throughout Maryland based on requests for training. At this time, our other ALS coordinator will maintain his role and continue to manage training requests in Allegany county.”

Under his new job, Biggs “coordinates all aspects of the ALS program to include course assignments and materials, location, equipment and facilities,” MFRI officials said. “He represents ALS at local and state emergency meetings and promotes MFRI’s services. He also maintains ALS credentials.”

His salary is $80,000 annually.

‘No confidence’

IAFF Local 1715 represents Fire and EMS providers from the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services and the city of Cumberland Fire Department.

In a statement from Local 1715’s president Ken McKenzie, the union said it is disappointed in MFRI for the appointment of Biggs, and talked of “major concern” for all Maryland ALS providers.

“On November 15, 2021, Local 1715 voted ‘no confidence’ in Chris Biggs, who at the time was the EMS Chief of Allegany County Department of Emergency Services,” McKenzie said.

“The vote was brought about after numerous attempts by the union to address issues with Biggs through ( Allegany County) officials,” he said.

“During Chief Biggs’ tenure, he fostered an atmosphere of hostility, nepotism, retaliation, and unethical behavior,” McKenzie said. “Concerns regarding Biggs’ competence and integrity for the job went unresolved for too long. This made the department’s culture toxic and Biggs’ performance negatively impacted employees’ health, daily operations, and the quality of service provided in Allegany County.”

The county launched an investigation into the complaints but never completed it, McKenzie said.

Following the union’s 2021 vote, Allegany County officials and DES Director James Pyles supported Biggs and said he would not be disciplined.

” The Department of Human Resources based upon their investigation believes that these issues have been adequately investigated and addressed and that the concerns raised have been rectified,” Pyles said at the time.

McKenzie in the recent statement said MFRI’s hiring of Biggs “calls to question the amount of background checks they perform on potential new hires and as a state funded agency hiring someone who is, at the minimum guilty of violating the public trust in his former position, makes us question the future of many of our members’ ALS careers.”

According to MFRI, Biggs has more than 25 years’ experience as an emergency services provider.

He has held numerous positions, including firefighter, paramedic and longtime MFRI instructor.

Additionally, Biggs completed coursework at George Washington University’s Medical School Virginia Campus, Allegany College of Maryland and the Community College of Philadelphia.

Biggs’ interview process “followed the standard University of Maryland competitive search and selection process through which a panel of personnel review credentials, interview candidates, evaluate applicants and make a hiring recommendation,” MFRI officials said.

They would not disclose details regarding any pre-employment investigation of Biggs.

“We cannot comment on any specifics related to an individual employee’s background check as this information is confidential,” MFRI officials said.

“In general, background checks are conducted for all staff positions at UMD,” they said.

“University Human Resources conducts an individualized assessment of information reported on background checks consistent with ( U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidelines and with our policy,” MFRI officials said.

“According to the policy, consideration of criminal background check information should be guided by an assessment of the duties of the position and the totality of the circumstances,” they said.

Under the policy, individuals required to undergo a criminal background check include “finalists” meaning candidates who meet minimum qualifications for a specific position at the university and have been extended a conditional offer of employment.

Sentence, license

In January 2022, 223 charges involving at least 27 antlered bucks taken illegally in Mineral, Grant and Hampshire counties in West Virginia from mid-September to late December 2021 were filed against Biggs and seven other residents, all of Keyser, West Virginia.

On Dec. 2, Biggs received a suspended 20-day jail sentence as part of a plea deal in West Virginia’s largest known deer poaching case that allowed him to serve the time on house arrest while wearing an ankle monitor.

Following the West Virginia charges, Biggs, who was appointed EMS chief of the Allegany County DES in 2019, was suspended from his job, county officials said at the time.

Two felony charges against Biggs — forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery — were dismissed April 8.

“I’m feeling like today is a small victory,” Biggs said outside the Keyser courtroom at the time. “I think the judicial system got it right.”

He was later charged with four misdemeanor counts.

A charge for having a loaded gun in a vehicle was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Biggs was ordered to pay roughly $900 in fines and court costs.

On Thursday, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources records obtained by the Times-News showed Biggs’ hunting license was revoked beginning Dec. 2, 2022 through Dec. 2, 2024 for spotlighting, and he has “no active privileges.”

Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.

Jan. 17, 2023 In Buffalo, five children perished on New Year’s Eve and a fire on July 4 claimed three people.

By Stephen T. Watson Source The Buffalo News, N.Y. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 17—Twice in six months, early morning fires that ripped through homes in Buffalo left those families and the larger community mourning a terrible loss of life.

The first, on the Fourth of July, killed a widely admired local physician and two of his daughters. The second, on New Year’s Eve, left five children, all 10 years old or younger, dead.

In both cases, Buffalo fire investigators have determined the fires were accidental.

But they have not determined precisely why the fires began.

“Investigators put in a lot of hours, a lot of time,” Fire Commissioner William Renaldo said in a recent interview about the July 4 fire. “It’s a very tragic event and we want to get some closure. We want to get closure for his family, want to get closure for the public.”

It’s often more straightforward to confirm, or rule out, whether a fire was intentionally set, experts said.

But it can be more difficult to pin down the specific cause of an accidental fire, particularly one so damaging.

This leaves those who knew and cared about the fire victims searching for answers.

“A lot of people were hurting,” Kathy Diina, who lived across the street from the family of Dr. Jonathan Daniels for about 25 years, said of their neighborhood.

The two devastating fires struck homes located about 1 1/2 miles apart.

The July 4, 2022, fire was reported just after 3:30 a.m. at 194 Huntington Ave., between Parker and Voorhees avenues, in the Central Park neighborhood.

Dr. Jonathan Daniels, one of three Black male pediatricians practicing in Buffalo, died along with his daughters Jordan, 27, and Jensen, 23.

His wife, Janessa Givens Daniels, was able to get out of the home on her own and was taken to Erie County Medical Center for treatment of smoke inhalation.

Another daughter, Jillian, wasn’t home at the time. A dog also died in the fire.

News of the deaths of Daniels and his daughters brought an outpouring of grief from the local medical community.

Daniels, 53, practiced at Main Pediatrics for 19 years before he was recruited in 2021 to start the pediatric clinic at Urban Family Practice on Jefferson Avenue.

He also served as associate dean of admissions at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where he recruited students from underrepresented backgrounds.

A tribute to Daniels, published in November by UB, highlighted his dedication to diversifying the medical field and to supporting students of color.

“This is my 42nd year in pastoral ministries, and I’m telling you I don’t meet a lot of Jonathan Danielses. They just don’t exist,” the Rev. Kinzer M. Pointer, pastor of Liberty Missionary Baptist Church and a leader of the African American Health Equity Task Force, told UB. “And that is not an indictment of us as much as it is an acknowledgement of who Dr. Daniels was.”

Initially, officials said they believed the blaze started on the second floor of the Daniels’ home before spreading to the attic.

At one point or another, the homeowners’ insurance company, the city and the Daniels family all had their own investigators looking into the cause.

Buffalo fire investigators were able to rule out arson, Renaldo said recently. Investigators are looking at malfunctioning electrical, mechanical or heating and cooling systems as a potential cause, he said, including window air-conditioning units in use in the home.

There were smoke detectors and they were in working order, Renaldo said.

He was asked whether, given the amount of time that’s passed, it’s possible the precise cause won’t ever be known.

“We’re hoping that’s not the case here,” Renaldo said. “But there are fires like this, similar to this, that are very difficult to determine.”

The intensity of the fire is one reason, the fire commissioner said.

“A lot of physical evidence was destroyed, which made it even more difficult to come to the exact cause,” he said.

The investigation into the fire on Dartmouth Avenue, off Bailey Avenue in the University Heights neighborhood, is at an earlier stage.

Clarence and Lisa Liggans lived in the home with two of their adult children and six grandchildren, all siblings.

The fire was reported around 7:30 a.m. Dec. 31, when Clarence Liggans was delivering newspapers for The Buffalo News. The two adult children were able to escape and Lisa Liggans managed to carry out her youngest grandchild, 8-month-old Ziyah Robinson.

The baby suffered minor smoke inhalation while Lisa Liggans was seriously burned and, as of late last week, remained at ECMC’s burn unit.

Firefighters got to the other children. Three of them died at the scene: Aniyah Green, 10; Joelle Liggans, 8; and Jalissa Liggans, 7.

Two others were taken to Oishei Children’s Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries: Denise Keith, 4, and Nehemiah Robinson, 2.

“There are no words,” Patricia Montgomery, great aunt to the five children, recently told The News.

The probe into the fire continues as officials wait to interview other witnesses, Renaldo said at a news conference last week.

“We’re not 100% (sure) what caused the fire. We know it’s accidental because we ruled out all the other causes,” he said. “But we don’t know actually what was ignited at this time yet.”

Over the course of investigating fires like these, officials will examine evidence and conduct interviews with neighbors and fire survivors to rule out as many potential causes as they can, said Sal Colangelo, former chief of the city’s fire marshal’s office, who now performs this work in the private sector.

Cigarettes, burning candles, malfunctioning hot water tanks or furnaces, lightning strikes and electrical failures all can spark a house fire, he said, and all leave telltale signs.

“So you start eliminating all that stuff. And then you narrow it down to the area of origin. Where you determine, ‘The fire started here,’ and then you see what’s in that area that would cause it,” Colangelo said.

Unfortunately, he said, sometimes investigations do reach the point where the fire’s cause must be listed as “undetermined.”

Givens Daniels, a UB administrator, and her surviving daughter, Jillian Daniels, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Their attorney, John Elmore, declined comment on their behalf.

The Daniels’ fire-damaged home was torn down around October. Neighbors had expressed safety concerns about its continued presence, but Renaldo said Buffalo fire investigators wanted to collect as much evidence as possible before it was demolished.

The empty lot where the home once stood is now covered with straw. On a recent visit, a small, solar-powered cross stood along the sidewalk and bouquets of flowers rested at the base of a tree.

“They were wonderful neighbors,” said Diina, the Daniels’ neighbor.

“All summer long, my porch was open for counseling,” she said of the informal gatherings that replaced typical neighborhood parties. “Nobody celebrated the whole summer. It was that disturbing.”

Jan. 17, 2023 One of the Edmore Ambulance Service providers suffered serious injuries when the unit was rear-ended by a vehicle.

Source Grand Forks Herald (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 16—EDMORE, N.D. — Six people were injured after an ambulance was rear ended in northeast North Dakota on Monday, Jan. 16.

The crash happened about 4 miles north of Edmore around 11:16 a.m. on icy roads and foggy weather conditions, the North Dakota Highway Patrol said in a news release.

Edmore Ambulance Service was on scene attending to an injured driver from a previous rollover crash off of State Highway 1. The ambulance was partially in the northbound lane of State Highway 1 while the ambulance crew attended to the injured driver.

A Jeep, driven by 89-year-old Leonard Klein, was northbound shortly after the ambulance had been attending to the injured driver from the previous crash. The release said Klein struck the ambulance from behind and suffered serious injuries due to the crash.

Ambulance crew members were also injured:

* Ambulance driver: Doug Loff, 62 of Edmore, minor injuries

* Bruce Berg; 67 of Edmore. Minor injuries, assisting in treating patient

* Taylor Trontvet, 32 of Edmore, serious injuries, treating patient

* Megan Diseth; 35 of Edmore, minor injuries, treating patient

* Kathy Borgen; 63 of St. Cloud, Florida, minor injuries. She was being treated in the ambulance.

Langdon Ambulance Service was paged and brought Klein to Langdon Prairie Health for treatment. Trontvet and Diseth also were transported to Langdon Prairie Health to be treated for their injuries. Borgen was transported to First Care Hospital to be treated for her injuries.

The crash remains under investigation. The release noted no charges have been filed in the crash.

Edmore is about 93 miles northwest of Grand Forks.

Jan. 16, 2023 Over a three-year period, more than 120 Niagara Falls Air Reserve fire department employees received credit for trainings they did not attend.

By Matt Glynn Source The Buffalo News, N.Y. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 14—A federal investigation found officials with the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station’s fire department filed falsified firefighting and safety training records, crediting employees for training they never received over a three-year period.

The investigation was prompted nearly three years ago by an unidentified former member of the fire department who became a whistleblower, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

“These trainings are intended to instruct first responders on procedures and protocols to handle life-threatening emergency situations,” said Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner. “It is unconscionable that so many employees and instructors whose job is to save lives would be complicit in this type of fraud.”

The investigation found that from 2017 to 2019, over 120 fire department employees received credit for trainings they did not attend, 41 instructors submitted false training documents for validation, and six fire department employees improperly verified false training documents.

“The evidence showed many (Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station Fire Department) employees — both students and instructors — on leave during the reported training courses, which they could not have reasonably taken or taught,” the Office of Special Counsel said. “Students also received credit for multiple training courses that overlapped, including courses taught by different instructors that occurred on the same date and time.”

The fire department provides fire protection and emergency services to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, responding to medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, rescue calls and incidents involving hazardous materials.

The Office of Special Counsel released its findings this month. The investigation was launched in March 2020 and completed in 2021. The Office of Special Counsel said the Air Force’s report largely substantiated the claims. The Air Force’s report said the investigation “did not reveal a criminal violation.” Employees’ names in that report were redacted.

The Air Force’s report said the conduct of three fire department officials, who were not named, constituted “gross mismanagement,” because untrained emergency personnel had responded to incidents that could have put first responders at risk and compromised public safety.

“These officials failed to ensure proper internal controls to monitor and verify training compliance,” the Office of Special Counsel said. “The agency indicated it would consider disciplinary action for these individuals.”

A spokesman for the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station did not respond to a request to comment on Saturday.

Under a change made in 2021, the fire department now reports directly to the 914th Air Reserve Wing mission support commander, “to improve oversight and provide clear, concise communication through a direct chain of command,” the Office of Special Counsel said.

The Air Reserve Wing also put into place a revised training schedule to complete makeup training and has implemented audits to verify training attendance and record keeping.