MORE ON THE DUELING HFD LIEUTENANTS

HFD Fire Lieutenant Tyson , left, LT Cunningham, Right, in the basement of 16 Chatham St. Hartford

 

 

Let's recap the incident first, here is the official HPD version:

On December 6, 2014 at 11:56am, the Hartford Fire Department was dispatched to 16 Chatham Street for a working fire. Following the fire, at 1:40pm a Hartford Police Officer was dispatched to the Fire House at 25 Blue Hills Ave. on a report of a disturbance between two Hartford Fire Department Lieutenants. 

The incident involves a reported altercation between the two lieutenants at the 16 Chatham Street fire scene. Both the involved Lieutenants and a witness (HFD employee) were interviewed.  Neither of the parties involved wished to press charges. The incident was not in public view.  There were no reported injuries.  The HPD officer documented the incident and his actions. This report will be available through the FOI process. HPD Case# 14-39394.

HFD Chief Carlos Huertas offered the following comment:

“We are a Fire Department as well as a family. The women and men of this department are performing a very technical and dangerous job during the most difficult and stressful of times. Today’s incident only proves that our brave firefighters are human. Rest assure, we will examine this incident and take appropriate action to ensure public safety"

 

I already wrote some of my initial thoughts on the incident immediately after it happened, but the more I thought about it overnight, the more aggravated I was by these so called "professionals" and their behavior. More importantly though was my disappointment and disgust with the explanation given by Hartford Fire Chief Carlos Huertas.

 

According to HPD's Deputy Chief Brian Foley's release:

 

HFD Chief Carlos Huertas offered the following comment:

“We are a Fire Department as well as a family. The women and men of this department are performing a very technical and dangerous job during the most difficult and stressful of times. Today’s incident only proves that our brave firefighters are human. Rest assure, we will examine this incident and take appropriate action to ensure public safety"

 

There doesn't seem to be any upset, it doesn't seem to bother Huertas that two ranking members of his Department were fighting at a Fire scene. That two of his "officers" have just embarrassed all other members of His department who have had more than their share of embarrassing news coverage recently, but I guess it is no big deal to Huertas ( Most likely they will have plenty more as things unfold over the next weeks and possibly months)

 

To seem to explain this as a minor family type squabble is insensitive and offensive to every victim of domestic violence. Chief, when family members punch another family member in the head and then put them in a headlock trying to choke them out, that is called Domestic Violence and the aggressor gets arrested and protective orders are issued whether they are having a "stressful" time or not. They aren't defined as minor firehouse wrestling matches, they are dealt with by the Police and the Courts as the serious incidents they are.

 

It is no wonder why your Department members that have been making the news  who seem to think they are above the law. You are setting the tone for them.  They probably feel that professionally  there will be no repercussions for their bad behavior . Whether it is shooting a friend in the head while intoxicated  or driving drunk at almost 3 times over the limit and causing and then fleeing  from an accident, Don't Worry, Chief  Huertas has your back.

We deserve far better when we dial 911 for help. Not the basement version of human "Rock em  Sock em Robots"

 

Oh and lets not forget who is really running HFD, their Union. The fact that two of the Unions Executive Board members are now on administrative  suspension over their bad acts should not escape the attention of anyone. Lt. Tyson , who from all sources I spoke to about the fighting incident was the aggressor in yesterdays fight , and has been while on the job with similar incidents in the past and Firefighter Vendetti was the alleged drunk driver that caused the Farmington accident and was arrested . They both serve on the HFD Union Executive Board.

 

And lets not forget that the Union President apparently ran interference for the firefighter, Douglas Caldwell who eventually resigned after his drunken scandals while on duty.That was another proud moment for the Department and should have been dealt with immediately if the Department had a strong leader. Instead the Union protected Caldwell and ran interference for him, until their hand was forced when the behavior was exposed here on this blog. You can read that initial posting here. You can read much more about Caldwell by entering "Caldwell" in the search box at the top of the blog.

I know that there are some great firefighters that aren't thrilled  about having their dirty laundry exposed here  and in the media, but they aren't the problem causing this.  The self respecting members of HFD who do their jobs day in and day out deserve our respect and appreciation. But you also have the power to set the tone for your Department. You should be calling for the Chief  to stand up and run your Department, not the puppetmaster at City Hall .

You should be loud and clear about calling for the appointment of an Assistant Chief who is deserving of the position.You should also demand that your Union Executive Board represents you and your professional standards. Insist that they stop supporting  bad firefighters and bad behavior, and if they are part of that bad behavior that is embarrassing the rest of you force a recall or resignations . Set the tone, please . The residents of Hartford are counting on you.

In the mean time Chief Huertas stop condoning this reprehensible behavior. Stop supporting those that are embarrassing you and start supporting those that are willing to work with you and clean things up, they aren't your enemies. There are people that have a long and proud  tradition with HFD and aren't there for just ego's and paychecks. I think you know that SKB or Mayor Segarra don't have your best interests  and success at heart and the sooner you stand up to that the better you and all the good members of the Hartford Fire Department  that are counting on you and your leadership to remain safe and succeed. And maybe an apology to victims of Domestic Violence that you seemed to trivialize might be in order

Let me use the words you use at the end of your e-mails Chief, "Be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, Don't make assumptions. Always do your best".  Chief, can you say you are doing that or does it just look good on your e-mails?