Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Safford Fire Chief Clark Bingham, left, will receive a letter of reprimand and Safford Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Anderson, right, will be demoted and will not be allowed to hold office for two years due to the July 4 incident involving the Safford Fire Department.
Safford Fire Chief issued a letter of reprimand; firefighter suspended for one month
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Anderson will be demoted and will be barred from holding elected office in the Safford Fire Department for two years, following the fallout of a July 4 incident where firefighters allegedly responded to two fire calls while intoxicated.
In a press release from the city of Safford, Mayor Jason Kouts stated that he hopes this action from the city will educate the members of the department and close the chapter on the incident.
Safford Fire Chief Clark Bingham will be issued a letter of reprimand for being complacent in the incident, according to the release, and firefighter James Holguin will be suspended from active firefighting duties for one month. Additionally, day-to-day operations of the fire department will now be supervised by the city manager’s office.
The city investigated a claim that firefighters used obscene language during a response to two fire calls late into the evening around the time of the annual July 4 fireworks show and that some firefighters had been drinking at the station earlier in the day.
In response to the investigation, Bingham issued a letter publicly apologizing for the incident and said he was going to institute mandatory training on proper radio protocol and “sensitivity training to ensure that behavior in public and private meets the level of professionalism expected of us when responding to an emergency call.”
Following is the entire press release from the mayor.
“Firefighting is an international brotherhood of people both paid and volunteers who have dedicated their lives to helping to prevent loss of life and the protection of property – sometimes at great risk to themselves. Worldwide, firefighters place themselves in harm’s way rushing to the aide of total strangers every single day.
Our department is made up of a group of very dedicated volunteers (who) respond to a variety of calls for assistance in the Safford/Graham County Fire District service area. We have 32 volunteers who respond from their own homes to provide the necessary manpower at any time of the day or night. Often, our department must rely on other agencies, like the Thatcher Volunteer Fire Department, the Safford Police Department, Graham County Sheriff’s (Office), and firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), for which we are grateful and appreciative.
I say all this to you, to explain why the unfortunate incident on the fourth of July is being taken so seriously by the (Safford) City Council. Acting on the recommendation of the city manager, following a thorough investigation by the team comprising of the police chief, the human resource officer and himself, three members of the fire department (are) being disciplined. The chief will be issued a letter of reprimand for being complacent in allowing firefighters who have been drinking earlier that day to respond to one of the two fire calls that evening. Assistant Fire Chief (Patrick Anderson) will be demoted and barred from holding elected office for two years. Firefighter James Holguin will be suspended from active firefighting duties for one month.
Additionally, the chief, working with the city manager will develop a code of conduct for the department that should remove any ambiguity by the firefighters for the minimum expected behavior. We will provide additional leadership training to the leadership of the department among other things. We also instructed the city manager to initiate a city code modification redirecting the day-to-day operations of the fire department to be supervised by the city manager’s office.
It is the mission of the Safford City Council to provide a safe and healthy environment for every member of the community we serve and to honor the long and rich traditions of the Safford Volunteer Fire Department. We look forward to closing this unfortunate chapter, mending any broken fences with our trusted neighbors and rebuilding the confidence and public trust in our department.”
Related Posts
