An Alaska cruise, hotels, gifts, a trip to a clothing-optional Jamaican resort, diamond rings, and tickets to basketball games are among things North Amityville fire officials enjoyed on taxpayers’ dime.
An investigator with the New York comptroller’s office unveiled lavish personal spending with no oversight, according to CBS New York.
“We had been given this information by people in the department who were very upset by the fact that they were there to save lives. They weren’t there to allow this kind of thing to go on,” Babylon Town Supervisor Richard Schaffer told a reporter.
A former chief and six of his board members allegedly spent more than $500,000.
A criminal probe is ongoing.
When the lavish spending spree came to light, the firehouse was shut down for two months to clean house.
“We enacted procedures that create significant accountability, financial accountability and codes of ethics, so these types of things will never happen again,” said Brad Pinsky, the attorney for the North Amityville Fire Department.
“Number one goal right now is to just make sure that everyone’s safe in the community, make sure that we serve the community properly. No more expenditures for extravagant trips or anything like that,” said Rashada Delany, North Amityville’s new volunteer fire commissioner.
May 9—SABATTUS — Fire Chief Troy Cailler resigned Tuesday from the position he has held since the spring of 2020.
Cailler, who was able to hire the department’s first full-time firefighters in the fall, said his resignation was prompted by a disagreement over current town politics, including a plan to halt growth at the department.
“Due to the recent issues with the town and the drastic change in direction (in which) the town manager and select board would like to see this organization go,” Cailler wrote in his resignation letter posted on Facebook, “I can no longer support the changes they want to see. I took the job to be the best we could be and do the right thing always. I do not want to compromise my morals to save my job. So, with that, I thank you for a hell of a ride and for the support, however it is time for me to move on.”
In his three years as chief, Cailler made ample use of federal and state grants to hire firefighters and to get the department up to snuff with the latest equipment. He also managed to secure $2 million in federal funding to build a new central station and upgraded the department’s badly outdated equipment.
“We have one of the best water rescue boats in the state, maybe even New England,” Cailler wrote, in a personal thanks to the residents of Sabattus. “We were able to have a UTV (utility task vehicle) donated to us. We have added a new engine, command vehicle and EMS fly car to our apparatus fleet. We have been so fortunate with all the new equipment we have been able to obtain through the various grants.
“I could not be more proud of where this organization stands currently,” Cailler wrote. “We have made so many great improvements over the last three years. We have grown exponentially and now have a waiting list of applicants. Our daytime staffing has grown and proven its worth daily … We all learned a lot and taught a lot in the hours of trainings we held. But the biggest thing we all did, we all became family, we loved each other and looked after each other.”
Cailler had become popular among the citizens of Sabattus, who in reaction to the news of his resignation largely blamed town leadership for his departure.
“This is so unfortunate,” one Sabattus woman wrote on Facebook in reaction to Cailler’s post. “I applaud you for your hard work, all of the improvements you made and writing a classy resignation. I am sure there is much more to be said. The town manager should be bending over backwards to have you stay. Such a shame.”
“Why does this town continue to lose quality leaders every few years?” one local man demanded to know. “I have an idea what it might be. We need change.”
“You did a great job,” offered another in reaction to Cailler’s post. “Unfortunately, you’re not a politician.”
Others, though, remarked on social media that the town had to slow the progress of the fire department to keep taxes from spiraling out of control.
“The reality is, we do not have a lot of businesses in Sabattus, like some of the surrounding communities to soften the tax blow,” wrote man, who has lived in the town for 23 years, “so the property tax burden falls on individual home owners.”
Yet some maintain that losing Cailler may cause a snowball effect within the fire department.
A current Sabattus firefighter, who didn’t want to be named for fear of retaliation, said that Cailler’s leadership was so effective that it drew quality firefighters to the department while other departments struggle to maintain their rosters. Impressed by the opportunities presented by Cailler’s management of the department, the firefighter said, firefighters were leaving bigger departments to work in Sabattus.
He also said Cailler’s popularity might have been his undoing, suggesting that the chief was pressured to resign by town heads who were threatened by his success.
“I think that they put their egos and personal agendas ahead of what’s best for the community,” the firefighter said. “I think it’s a catastrophic mistake that puts the safety of the citizens of Sabattus at risk.”
Like others, the firefighter suspects that the department will start losing staff now that Cailler is gone.
“My guess is that they’re going to lose a lot of people,” he said.
Town Manager Timothy Kane said Deputy Fire Chief Rob Gayton has agreed to serve as fire chief on an interim basis until a permanent replacement has been selected.
“We have the utmost confidence in the ability of the Sabattus Fire Department to effectively fulfill its public safety mission during this transition,” Kane said.
Cailler started his career as a firefighter in 2008, when he was hired by the Litchfield Fire Department as a junior firefighter at the age of 16. From there, he went to Southern Maine Community College and was a live-in student in Scarborough.
In 2013, during his last year at SMCC, he was hired by the city of Lewiston as a full-time firefighter the same week arson fires destroyed nine downtown buildings. At the same time, Cailler, a native of Litchfield, volunteered with the Litchfield and Scarborough fire departments and has continued to do so over the past seven years.
Once he was hired as the Sabattus chief — at the age of 27 — Cailler hit the ground running, working through the travails of a pandemic to get town business done. Among them was the purchase of a new firetruck to replace the aging 1991 E-One Ford they had been using, and a new command vehicle.
After taking over as chief, Cailler also got busy applying for grants and before the year was done, four of them had come through — Stephen King’s foundation provided $10,000 for rope and ice-water rescue, and the department got another boost from an FM Global grant that allowed them to buy a drone, expected to be used during water rescues, wildfires and similar emergencies. Through the grants, Cailler also brought in money to pay for a harness system, bailout kit and gas meters, among other things.
The Sabattus annual Town Meeting is slated for May 24 and will include a proposed $368,000 budget for the Fire Department and EMS services combined. Cailler on Tuesday said he had no problem with the budget — it was internal pressures that prompted him to resign, he said.
Cailler continues to fight fires with the Lewiston Fire Department. He said he intends to focus on that work and to spend more time with his family before deciding his next professional move.
The fire at Hawthorne Country Club, was once a popular wedding venue in the Dartmouth area, is being investigated as a possible arson.
The state fire marshal’s office is investigating the fire at the vacant club, according to WJAR.
“…There’s no reason for it to go off. There’s no electrical running. There’s no gas running. Nobody’s in the building, so it is where you lead to at first,” Dartmouth Fire Chief Erick Turcotte said.
The property has sat vacant for about eight years. However, the Toll Brothers decided last week to buy it.
Since the agreement hadn’t gone through, they don’t own it, a spokesperson said of the $3 million property.
May 9—Five people were injured early Tuesday morning when flames engulfed a portion of a high-rise in San Francisco’s Sunset District near Mount Sutro, the SF Fire Department said.
The blaze was caused by a lithium-ion battery for an electric bicycle that caught fire, fire department spokesperson Capt. Jonathan Baxter told SFGATE.
The fire department said it was dispatched to Avalon Sunset Towers just after 1 a.m. for a report of a fire. Multiple people were rescued; firefighters reached one man standing on a balcony with a ladder, Baxter said.
Baxter said that two people jumped out of windows on the second floor to escape flames. Three of the five injured people were taken to a local hospital and are expected to survive, SFFD said.
“Unfortunately, there was one deceased dog,” Baxter said.
Seven people were displaced by the blaze and are receiving assistance for the American Red Cross.
Two floors of the 11-story building were impacted by the fire; two and a half units were severely damaged, and 11 units were infused with smoke, Baxter said.
Lithium-ion batteries contain highly flammable materials and are found in consumer tech products such as smartphones, laptops and electric bikes, scooters and cars. Baxter said the batteries can catch fire when they are overcharged, used after being damaged or used after being exposed to extreme heat or extreme cold.
“What we’re seeing is the need to follow the manufacturer’s recommendation on storing them, using them and charging them,” he said.
May 8—The widow of a Buffalo firefighter says her husband was killed when allowed to enter a burning vacant Theater District building, despite “unreasonably dangerous conditions.”
Sarah Tierney, in a notice of claim against the City of Buffalo and the Fire Department, said her husband, Jason Arno, 37, and other firefighters entered the building at 745 Main St., despite department officials knowing the building was vacant.
Tierney also cited other issues:
—Failure of the city to sufficiently train and supervise Arno and his supervisors.
—Failure to adequately inspect firefighting equipment.
—Failure to follow proper mayday, evacuation and man-down procedures.
—Failure to provide Arno and other firefighters with proper and adequate equipment, including gloves, turnout gear, panic buttons, mayday equipment, helmets, hoses and radios.
She is represented by attorney Charles S. Desmond II of the Gibson, McAskill & Crosby law firm.
Destroyed in the blaze was DC Theatricks, a costume shop, which listed its address as 747 Main St.
The notice cites conscious pain and suffering and wrongful death, among other claims, which the notice states were caused by the “negligence, recklessness and carelessness” of the city and the Fire Department.
The department did not comply with the “two in/two out” policy, failing to ensure that at least two firefighters remained in visual or voice contact with one another at all times, according to the notice of claim.
As the first fire crew arrived at the March 1 fire, according to radio dispatches, firefighters reported heavy smoke pouring out of the first floor of the three-story building on a part of Main Street filled with commercial storefronts.
“At this time, let’s start a second alarm,” a fire official told dispatch.
As more crews were called to the scene, several firefighters went inside to investigate the source of the fire.
They quickly reported to dispatch that there was “heavy fire” in the back of the building, and later reported it was about halfway into the building.
Within minutes, the commander on the scene reported “heavy, heavy fire,” and told dispatch to raise the fire to a third alarm.
Then, the commander can be heard saying: “Everyone out. Dispatcher, pull everybody out of here. The fire has too much of a head start. … We’re going to go defensive on this.”
It is believed debris fell on Arno as a blast blew a fellow crew member away from him.
A frantic exchange of dispatches followed.
“Engine 2, are you all accounted for?” a voice asked.
“We do have a confirmed missing member,” a voice can be heard telling dispatch.
A city spokesman said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
A Brooklyn woman died early Tuesday in a suspected arson fire that also badly hurt four children, all believed to be part of the same family.
An accelerant was found in a hall doorway of the three-family home on Fountain Ave. near Liberty Ave. in East New York, the NYPD told PIX11 News.
The cause of the fire has not been immediately determined, but FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Chuck Downey suggested the fire may have been intentionally set.
‘’We had very heavy fire at the front door, which extended up the staircase to the third floor, entered the second floor apartment and came out those front windows,” Downey told reporters.
The woman died at the scene.
The children, girls ages 10, 14 and 17, and a 9-year-old boy, were rushed by medics to Brookdale University Hospital, several of them in critical condition. A man was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in stable condition.
One firefighter suffered minor injuries battling the intense blaze.
Downey, his voice choked with emotion, said firefighters responding to a 2:14 a.m. 911 call encountered a car blocking a fire hydrant but were still able to quickly run two hoses into the home and up the stairs and search “aggressively’’ for the victims.
“Anytime you see a whole family like this together, this time of the night, and the amount of fire and the emotion outside…neighbors, family members.” he said. “It’s very emotional.”
Two members of the Leona Volunteer Fire Department were severely injured when their vehicles hit a downed tree while responding to another accident during Wednesday night’s stormy weather.
FOX 44 reported that the crash occurred on US Highway 75 at Fort Boggy State Park, north of Leona, around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Department of Public Safety Sgt Justin Ruiz said the two men were in separate pickups driving to the Leona Volunteer Fire Department station to respond to the earlier crash when they struck the downed tree.
Ruiz said both men were transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan.
A prayer vigil for the firefighters, identified as Jacob McCurry and Danny Milliken, was held at the Leon County Courthouse Square in Centerville.
A mother and her two daughters were killed early Friday when a fast-moving fire tore through their Brooklyn apartment, police and FDNY officials said.
The fire broke out inside the third-floor apartment of a Gates Ave. building near Throop Ave. in Bedford Stuyvesant just after 5 a.m.
Firefighters responding to the blaze found a 40-year-old woman and her two daughters, ages 8 and 10, inside.
EMS rushed the three to Woodhull Hospital, but none of them could be saved, police said. The names of the victims were not immediately disclosed as cops track down family members.
The fire was put out within an hour and did not progress past the victim’s apartment, officials said.
Fire Marshals were trying to determine the cause of the fire Friday.
Daily, people see Chicago fire engines racing through the streets responding to emergencies — blazes, motor vehicle crashes, industrial mishaps, medical issues.
But, another call is dominating firefighters’ day — assisting or lifting people, WGN reported.
They’re getting calls to help citizens in and out of their homes as well as into vehicles. Last year, crews responded to 41,539 calls to help, up 69 percent since 2019.
Records also show there were 1,094 structure fires last year.
Investigative reporters found people at 14 locations called for lift assistance more than 200 last times year. Of those, six called more than 300 times.
While firefighters take seriously their slogan: “We’re there when you need us,” there’s a new pilot program now that will involve folks at other city agencies answering the ‘lift assistance’ calls.
“We’re like problem solvers for everything, If you have a problem and don’t have a solution – call the fire department,” Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 spokesman Patrick Quane told a reporter.
No firefighters were injured Friday morning when this engine was hit along I-95.
A Prince William County fire engine was hit along I-95 early Friday as it was stopped for another crash.
The firefighters were about to get out when it was struck, according to IAFF Local 2598.
“Luckily, there were no injuries. But this is a very real reminder of the dangers our members face while operating on emergency scenes,” officials wrote.
The driver who failed to obey the Move Over law was cited.
Last February, an engine was struck on Prince WIlliam Parkway. No firefighters were injured. However, the civilian was transported to a local trauma center after the collision.
