Fire Officers

The Baltimore City fire exercise that killed a cadet had another potential casualty: the reputation of one of the nation's most highly regarded departments, its heroic image captured in real-life and fictional accounts. Now the department revered for rescue operations such as the 2004 water taxi accident and immortalized in the movie Ladder 49 finds itself in turmoil, its normally insular world vulnerable and exposed. As the investigation into the fatal Feb. 9 fire brings in a review from the outside, the city Fire Department is emerging from two difficult weeks.

The city firefighter unions have rejected an offer that would have given them a contract without a raise, prompting both sides to head for arbitration.Ninety-five percent of the 400 union members who cast votes Friday rejected the city's contract offer, which included a 2 percent Christmas bonus. The unions are seeking a 3.5 percent raise.Capt. Stephen G. Fugate, president of the Baltimore Fire Officers Union Local 964, said yesterday that he thought it was "very cynical" for the city to offer one-time holiday bonuses instead of salary increases.

Frederick C. Byrnes, a retired battalion chief in the Baltimore Fire Department, died Sunday of complications of a stroke at Mariner Health of Glen Burnie. The longtime Pasadena resident was 73.He entered the Fire Department in 1946. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1954, captain in 1959 and battalion chief in 1964. He retired in 1990.James M. Holthaus of Glen Burnie, a captain and 35-year Fire Department veteran, described Mr. Byrnes as "really sharp and the kind of man who really put himself into his job."

City administrators and union officials spent yesterday countering criticism that the city has too many workers.Officials from the city Health Department and fire officers union didn't quarrel with the figures in the report issued Monday by Calvert Institute of Policy Research Inc., but said that the study fails to take the city's special needs into account.The study compared the number of Baltimore government workers with six other industrial cities. It found that Baltimore had 5,500 more workers than the other six cities studied -- Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Richmond, Va., and St. Louis.

For the second year in a row, the city Fire Department has exhausted its overtime budget months before the end of the fiscal year and might be forced to scale back service.Fire officials aren't saying how much service will be curtailed, but deny plans to close a fire station, as they did last year.The lack of information from official sources has fueled a debate between Fire Chief Herman Williams Jr. and the president of the fire officers union, Capt. Stephan G. Fugate, who believes a firehouse will be closed.

Bernard E. Ibex, 76, city firefighterBernard E. Ibex, a former city firefighter who founded the Baltimore City Retired Fire Officers & Firefighters Association, died of a cerebral hemorrhage Friday at Sinai Hospital. He was 76.Mr. Ibex, who lived in Lutherville, joined the Baltimore Fire Department in 1942 and retired in 1965. He then became a safety inspector for the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Board of the state Department of Labor and Industry and retired in 1982.In 1968, he founded the Baltimore City Retired Fire Officers & Firefighters Association and served as its president until 1974.

Three more unions have made endorsements in Baltimore's mayoral election. The city firefighters and fire officers are backing City Council President Mary Pat Clarke, and private health care workers are supporting Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke.The endorsement of Mrs. Clarke by Baltimore Fire Fighters Local 734 and Fire Officers Local 964 gives the two-term council president a sweep of the city's public safety unions. Last week, the police union announced its support of Mrs. Clarke, who is challenging Mr. Schmoke's bid for a third term in the Sept.

Amid continuing complaints and pressure from the Baltimore City Council, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke yesterday stood by a decision to take two fire engines off the streets.Mr. Schmoke supported disbanding the two engines, saying the move would reduce escalating overtime costs and is part of a broader reorganization of the Fire Department.With nearly 1,800 firefighters and fire officers, Baltimore has a greater per capita force than almost any other major city in the nation except Boston, he said.

All eight deputy chiefs in the Baltimore Fire Department have been given layoff notices as part of a "major organizational change" that may bring more internal shake-ups later, a city fire official said yesterday.The eight deputies, who are paid about $60,000 annually, were informed on Friday that they will be laid off effective June 30, said Capt. Hector L. Torres, a spokesman for the department.Four new assistant chief positions will be created in the department and will pay about $65,000, Captain Torres said.

Fire fighters take a message to kidsA great tragedy occurred April 23 when five Baltimore City children were killed in a rowhouse fire.Capt. Hector Torres was correct when he stated, "This latest fire typifies a lot of the wrong things that happen. The kids just don't know what to do."But there is a group that has been taking that message to area elementary schools.The Metropolitan Fire Fighters Burn Center Fund Inc. has purchased a one-of-a-kind robotic character named "Burnie," which visits area elementary schools.

With 25 correctional officers facing termination or already fired, a probe that began last month into whether they beat inmates at two Western Maryland prisons has grown into one of the most extensive investigations in years for the state penal system. Detectives are working with state police and local prosecutors investigating several encounters between inmates and officers in early March at the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown and the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland.

Leaders of the city's two fire unions have counted the paper ballots for another no-confidence vote in the Fire Chief, but they will not announce the results until Tuesday. "I think we had a significant return," said Stephan G. Fugate, the president of the Fire Officers Union. "I can't get into the numbers, and that return was significantly supportive of the unions' position." Fugate represents 325 fire lieutenants, captains and battalion chiefs. Fugate said that the leadership of the International Association of Fire Fighters will participate in Tuesday's announcement, but he would not say who would attend.

In a unanimous voice vote last night, about 50 of the city Fire Department's top brass said they had no confidence in embattled Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. The call by members of the Baltimore Fire Officers' Union, representing 325 lieutenants, captains and battalion chiefs, follows a similar voice vote for the chief to step down by the union for 1,300 rank-and-file firefighters. Goodwin has faced an onslaught of criticism since a live-fire training exercise at a vacant Baltimore rowhouse on Feb. 9 burned out of control and claimed the life of fire cadet Racheal M. Wilson.

The Baltimore City fire exercise that killed a cadet had another potential casualty: the reputation of one of the nation's most highly regarded departments, its heroic image captured in real-life and fictional accounts. Now the department revered for rescue operations such as the 2004 water taxi accident and immortalized in the movie Ladder 49 finds itself in turmoil, its normally insular world vulnerable and exposed. As the investigation into the fatal Feb. 9 fire brings in a review from the outside, the city Fire Department is emerging from two difficult weeks.

Recruits at a training fire that killed a Baltimore cadet were not told how many fires would be lit and were not familiar with the layout of the building - both in violation of national standards, union officials said yesterday. Also, one of the teams assigned to battle a blaze on the third floor of the vacant rowhouse did not have a radio, there was no backup water source to extinguish the fire and the recruits were led by untrained instructors, according to the union leaders. Those details, and others that are emerging, provide new evidence of disorder during virtually every phase of the Feb. 9 exercise on South Calverton Road and reveal a disregard for safety standards the department says it follows.

The Baltimore Fire Department suspended without pay yesterday the head of the training academy and the lead instructor who oversaw a "live burn" exercise in a vacant city rowhouse that ended with a cadet's death and injuries to two other firefighters. In a statement, the department also conceded that the training fire Friday failed to meet standards of the National Fire Protection Association, which city fire officials observe. Officials declined to elaborate on the shortcomings uncovered in the preliminary investigation into the death of Racheal M. Wilson.

Baltimore's Board of Estimates approved a $30,000 settlement yesterday in a long-running age-discrimination lawsuit by a former Fire Department battalion chief. Andrew P. Shows, now retired, sued the city after being forced to leave his position in 1999 because of health reasons. Shows, who was 67 at the time and suffering from congestive heart disease, argued that he was physically able to perform the duties of battalion chief because he would be directing firefighting rather than entering burning buildings.

Baltimore City Council agreed last night to push back the timetable for adding Veterans Day to the calendar of official city government holidays until 2007, a move that provides the mayor more time to try to persuade unions to sacrifice another day off in exchange. The original bill, introduced by Councilman Robert W. Curran, called for adding Veterans Day to the city's list of holidays next year. But Curran amended the bill to start observing the holiday on Nov. 11, 2007, to satisfy Labor Commissioner Sean R. Malone's concerns.

The Union Bridge Volunteer Fire Company has announced its 2004 officers. Administrative officers are Thomas Garber, president; Edgar Wentz, vice president; Linda Bostian, secretary; Mike Kreimer, treasurer; Daniel Cartzendafner, assistant treasurer; Barbara Warehime, recording secretary; and the Rev. Richard Michael, chaplain. Executive board members are Rick Etzler, Jim Harris, Jim Sinnott and David Nelson. Trustees are Richard Gesell, Charles Haines, John Keeney, Rick Wetzel and Jay Anderson.

The Baltimore Fire Department is temporarily closing four units each day for the next five weeks, a move criticized by union officials who say firefighters are already stretched thin in a year of record fire fatalities. Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. said the daily, rotating closings of four of the city's 55 fire engine and truck companies are needed to accommodate training for firefighters. The temporary closures started April 3 and will continue until May 19. Goodwin said that not staffing two daytime engine shifts and two evening shifts will not disrupt fire coverage because neighboring companies provide backup.