Finally, some good news for Hartford;
The announcement made earlier today
"After thirty-five years of service with the Hartford Fire Department,
I will be retiring as Fire Chief on Wednesday, January 13, 2016.
I have been truly blessed to have worked for an organization with such a proud tradition and outstanding reputation.
I have been humbled to work alongside the men and women of this Department who continuously exhibit bravery, compassion and a commitment to excellence.
God bless and stay safe.
Respectfully submitted,
Carlos M. Huertas
Fire Chief
Emergency Management Director"
Hartford Fire Department
Hartford Public Safety Complex
He's a great man he will be missed sad day indeed this is worse than the cancellation of Knight Rider an the A-Team!!!
ReplyDeleteBye bye u piece of s###
ReplyDeleteRot in hell you incompetent f###
ReplyDeleteParty Time !!Sorry Charlie is gone!!!✌✌
ReplyDeleteCheers!!!������������������ u useless crap
ReplyDeleteTo me this doesn't look like "retiring". Chief Huertas: you got fireD.
ReplyDeleteWish we could say the same,don't let the door hit you in the a## on the way out.
ReplyDeletePlease RSVP early. The party room at the Washington Street McDonald's has been reserved for this event and seating is limited. The Dalton's and the Nolan's have both apparently reserved full tables to attend
ReplyDeleteYo, Carlos, what took you so long?
ReplyDeleteIs Waller gonna be at the party with his wife/fiance/old woman/battered Saundra Kee-Borges
ReplyDeleteWill Waller and SKB attend Carlos party? Question is if Pedro and Charlie will attend the party. Pieces of s#!t sticking to another piece of s#!t
DeleteHis retirement party can be held in a phonebooth...
ReplyDeleteSo long you piece of cr-p....
ReplyDeleteIs there an address we can forward a check to? I want to send something for all the laughs this man has provided to me, when I read about the HFD.
ReplyDeleteSo long you useless garbage. Worst Chief in the history of the dept. Take a one way ticket out of the state.
ReplyDeleteTake that useless carpet bager vinni with you.
You failed in life charlie. Now get lost....
ReplyDeleteYou were way over your head from the beginning Charlie, you should have never been considered for the job and you shouldn't have teamed up with SKB, Waller, Brady,Fusco and the dumbass prior chiefs of Stewart, Teale and Casares. If you were smart you would have teamed up with Freeman, Ocasio, Dalton and Nolan they have brains and balls, so you might have lasted longer but you would still be a useless coward.
ReplyDeleteNolan isn't 1/3 the man or chief Teale would ever be!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, he had Nolan beat in so many categories. Sleeping with hookers at the Mardi Gras strip club in Springfield (I think the photos still exist) accepting bribes from a local eye surgeon (admitted to, under oath, at a Labor Board hearing) and so many other things that set him apart from Nolan
ReplyDeleteUseless
ReplyDelete- and -
Worthless
I'm talking to you Carlos, the idiot of the Segarra Administration. The misery will be over on Wednesday January 13.
God bless and stay safe.
Respectfully submitted.
THIS IS A DISMISSAL, NOT A RESIGNATION.
ReplyDeletePAPA SMURF FOR ASSISTANT CHIEF!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read such beautiful memories of one man since an ex girlfriend of mine once spread the most foul things about me all over town.
ReplyDeleteThe only way Charlie can save his soul is by writing a book, telling everything he knows, and I mean everything. It's going to be a real best seller. This way he'll come out clean and also make a big chunk of money for himself.
ReplyDeleteWhat's Dalton doing in Pennsylvania?
ReplyDeleteWhat's chief h's monthly retirement check gonna be? Does he leave with sick time and vacation time buy-out? AND lifetime health insurance benes???
ReplyDeleteKevin, can we start a new thread that gives Charlie a title for his new book? Curious to see what the folks come up with.
ReplyDelete11:34am
ReplyDeleteProbably looking for a vacation home in the Pocono's when he receives his settlement from the City. I don't think Dan Nolan wanted him next to him on the shore. How did you know he is in Pennsylvania? Did Huertas and Brady put him on a GPS tracking ankle bracelet while on suspension?
Hey, now we can go to Walmart for nutrition. After all it is in our first due area, even though Charlie says it isn't. You f*cking moron Huertas, you don't even know first due areas. District 1 can relax now, no more "anonymous citizen complaints" from Huertas about the nitpick issues that Huertas dwells on.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your 1/3 of a pension, I'm sure your ex's are enjoying their 2/3's. Now you gotta buy a new car too, gonna buy a $70k SUV like the city bought you? I doubt you would pay that much yourself.
Can all the shitbags that you gave your number too still call you when they get there feelings hurt in the firehouse? You chose to protect and cover for some awful, rotten people. You also screwed, transferred and ruined some great firefighters. Moral is at the lowest it has ever been thanks to you. A firefighter was also killed on your watch.
Good riddance, and please leave your address so the people that are, or are going to sue you can find you.
Adios Ah*le!
@4:01 PM. From another person tired of his BS. Thank you. I couldn't have said it better.
ReplyDeleteVery well said @ 4:09 that does sum him up nicely and accurately.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen such dissatisfaction in the fire department. From the comment reads, ya'll are waiting to strangle each other. Yikes. Imagine that.
ReplyDeleteAll the hate. Must be fun to be fireman these days. People who never put themselves in harms way should just shut up. Whatever his failings at least the chief served both in the armed forces and as a fire fighter which is more than some of the haters here.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't retire you were brought in and dismissed. Funny carma is a bitch.I have been bullied by you and threatened, not that I gave it any care. Hows did it feel ehen Bronin sent you packing and it was done "above Your pay grade"? Read the posts, thid is your legacy chuck. Ted Kolosky
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when you have poor morale. There are hundreds of good people that are frustrated beyond belief to see this once great organization dragged through the mud. They are frustrated that we had a Chief that wouldn't stand up for the good people of the HFD or for himself. He let the politicians run the job and we all see the shape that the city is in now. The HFD is no different.
ReplyDeleteThe culmination of the Fire Chief's emasculation by the City Council resulted in an organization that is crippled with disciplanary issues, mechanical breakdowns, and an errosion of standards to accomodate political hires that do absolutely nothing to add value to the organization or its mission. Ultimately, these issues were the root causes and the end result of the death of a firefighter.
Rather than deal with training deficiencies like live fire training, hose line deployment and fireground tactics, which were all identified as issues after KLB died, the job is sending us to diversity training. We are a cash strapped organization which is cannibalizing its fleet of reserve fire apparatus to keep the frontline trucks operating. We are looking more and more like the Detroit Fire Department every day.
The only issues that were resolved after KLB died were those identified in the OSHA citation, the city was forced to resolve these issues under threat of monetary fines. If that citation wasn't issued by OSHA, there is no doubt that we would still be using the same old worn out breathing apparatus and illegal air cylinders.
There is still a major problem with equipment maintenance that goes beyond lack of monetary resources. It seems that it has become acceptable mode of operation to let the firefighters operate equipment that is unsafe. Chief Freeman, I hope that you address this before we suffer more casualties.
The people have spoken, the poor management at City Hall has been flushed by the electorate. Mayor Bronin has made a wise decision to replace the obvious puppets of the failed past city administration. I'm hoping that good things happen for Hartford.
Chief Freeman, many of us are cautiously optimistic that you will come in and restore order and professionalism to the HFD. Please don't leave your balls in a jar on the Mayor's desk as some of your predessors have done.
Thank you Mayor Bronin for speaking at the promotional ceremony last week. We appreciate your words of support and hope for your success in restoring the City of Hartford to the great city that it once was.
Freeman is not going to be able to make positive changes, his only experience is as a chief in an industrial fire brigade which is a corporate job. He has no experience with public sector budgets or politics which he proved his first time here. You can be the smartest guy in the room and he may be, but if you've never ever done the job you can not understand it to the depth that will be needed. As far as the theory of surrounding him with others that can help him, should have selected that person instead.
ReplyDeleteMy prediction is that the next fatality will be due to the safety issues with the apparatus like mentioned in a previous post.
ReplyDeleteThe "Shop" is being run by a moron. Broken things are being ignored, or not fixed properly. Repairs are not done properly, everything is a band-aid temporary fix. No new parts are being used to fix apparatus, whatever engine or ladder is sitting at the shop get stripped of parts to keep front line stuff running. That is not safe. A $400k engine, or $1 million dollar ladder is being kept on the road with 10 year old used parts.
I thought after the Bell tragedy there would be a new regime at the shop. The SCBA problems all fall on one person, the guy running the shop.
I pray none of us ever get hurt or killed when a wheel falls off an apparatus, the brakes fail, a tower ladder tips over, or 30 year old dry rotted hose bursts.
Freeman was in charge of training, maintenance and support services in 2013 with all his worldly experience did he not find shortfalls prior to him quitting the Fire Department.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that his is going to have to explain, why he failed to bring the shortfalls to the City's attention. He will have to explain to the council prior to them approving his appointment. Good luck Chief Freeman.
he was the number two (or three)man and was limited by what the Chief would allow or even respond to the last time. This time he will be number one and the responsibility will fall in his lap. Time will tell the story soon. I think you will see some big changes quite soon. Unlike municipal government, most high level leaders don't survive in the Corporate world if they aren't competent
ReplyDeleteKevin, I wasn't making a competancy comparison on Freeman, my point was that decisions that are going to have to be made are going to be dynamic and based on emergency issues that have a life component to them. He does not have that experience, his background is in a non emergency (industrial fire brigade) type environment in which decision making can be done based on a completely different process. The bottom line is he has no municipal firefighting experience or command experience and that is not a good thing going forward for the fire dept. There are to many excellent candidates around the country for this to be the best choice for HFD. Like I tried to say in the earlier post he's a decent guy and by know means not smart, but the wrong selection for this job. Unfortunately you comment about we'll see soon doesn't bode well for the rank and file who have to still respond and work through this trial and error type situation.
ReplyDelete12:23PM
ReplyDeleteWhat does Hartford need more at this point, a Fire Chief racing to every incident to take charge, or a manager to get things back in order? Isn't that why we have District Chiefs, Deputy Chiefs and hopefully soon permanent Assistant Chiefs? The Assistant Chiefs, specifically Terry Waller , were more focused on chasing incidents to pad their overtime pay more than they ever were to command and make sure things were done properly
Reggie will do just fine, I am optimistic.
Kevin, unfortunately that's exactly my point non emergency people don't understand exactly how the fire service functions. I wasn't talking about responding to or operating at incidents, I was referring to making decisions in his office about response policies effecting operations of the fire dept. These decisions and policy changes he will have to make are going to be based on dynamic (constantly changing on scene)situations that if not handled properly have a life component to both the firefighters and to residents. He will have to know exactly how each one of his changes to a policy or procedure will effect the rest of the policy and how that policy will effect all of the others that will be used at an incident. Ever single change has a long reaching implication as you work farther through the scenario and if not done properly then the life component is there. These are the policies he will hold Deputy Chiefs accountable for. To effectively do that he would have to have significant experience in emergency operations similar to what he will be faced with in Hartford. I do agree with you that HFD does need a Chief that can get things back in order and it doesn't have to be someone who responds to every incident, but it will take someone with a strong background in firefighting operations to make the changes that are needed to turn the Dept around. I know that not all of the HFD problems are response related but I do know that all decisions that are made have implications on the response side too. It's unfortunate that I don't share your optimism that Freeman will be fine.
ReplyDeleteReggie was the person that implemented having to get the citys' ok to fix anything. The reason used parts are being used is that the city won't let the shop buy anything. That idea came with super manager. Before Freeman there were parts on hand and the ability to purchase what was needed to keep front line pieces on the line. So if Freeman is going to fix this issue, he will be fixing a problem that he created.
ReplyDelete1:37PM,
ReplyDeleteI think you are assuming that Chief Freeman will be operating in a vacuum. I hope he will not. The number one rule of management, whether you are a municipal Fire Chief or in the corporate world with McDonnell-Douglas. YOU ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH. And you also need people that will tell you to put the brakes on and rethink something. Under Chief Huertas, we know that those people that disagreed were quickly banished from the Chief's complex.
After watching the last two administrations, we could have done as well with someone that stayed home and watched "Emergency" reruns on Netflix. (remember Squad 51)
as we move ahead,1 of the panels recommendations was a 3rd assistant chief. Does anybody on the line or that has worked the 3rd floor think for 1 minute we need 3 assistant chief's and a Chief. Big waste of money. Would be nice to give someone a 130 K job but other than that it's not fiscally sound or justified.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is Huertas' final day at HFD. Make sure he surrenders the computer password, his badge, any access code and, above all, the keys to his beloved, luxury, $70,000 SUV.
ReplyDeleteThe party is over for Carlos.
45 minutes for the fireworks celebration of an a**holes era!!!
ReplyDeleteCharlie, if your hard up for cash, you can clean my bathroom, I'll give you a couple bucks. Theres also to corner for "Beer Money" those that no me know the saying. HA Ha
ReplyDeleteYou know.... at the end of the day I feel sorry for the little boy inside Charlie. You know that little guy in him always wanted to be Chief. After such an epic fail where does the man go? Honestly, its not completely his fault. He was led astray by that well known genius Pedro. Charlie was falsely pumped up to believe that he actually had the intellectual stuff to effectively manage this organization. Face it, the guy is not the sharpest tool in the shed. This fact, combined with the fact that he tried to bully and intimidate guys with much higher IQs and records of educational achievement, led to a mutiny. Which brings us to Reggie Freeman, the next chief, only qualified due to the fact that he is a black man. A similar white guy with such an obviously lightweight resume and no political contacts would have trouble getting hired as a probie on the HFD. Truth. Reggie will be gone quick.
ReplyDelete8:14am
ReplyDeleteOr if we give Reggie a chance we might see he can be a great Chief
If we gave a new recruit a chance he/she might also become a great chief, but for very obvious reasons we don't
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteHow is it that your Messiah new mayor Bronin left Brady as interim Chief? This is the same guy that was going around to fire houses threatening people not to vote for Bronin are we would lose positions and a contract. Huertas is the jackass that brought him in he should have left with him or before him. Are you telling me Bronin is so detached from the Fire Department that he couldn't have made one of the other 9 Deputy Chief's who are not already collecting a pension from the city as the interim Chief? Between keeping on the slithering snake Brady and hiring the least experienced fire chief in the country Bronin is losing a lot of ground and respect from the fire department.Bronin knew coming into office what a shambles the Hartford fire department was. Any reasonable person would have thought that he would give it the required attention to get it back on track. Instead he has put the least amount of effort into focusing on the problems that have ruined the department with his recent naive decisions. Get off your ass and do your job Bronin.
Well said above, it was interesing to watch Brady twist and turn his position on Bronin as Pedro crumbled and finally quit.All these guys, Brady, Vimny, Shapiro, Bronin are much alike, they will do whatever they need to do to butter their own bread.they will tell you how bad the other guy is then jump into bed with them when it benefits there cause or finances.Rumors are they will be chopping an entire shift watch for the Hitler youth to come around singing the benefits of this and if we don't do it the city will do it any way and we won't get a raise. The same crew who condemmed it in Providence.Real union men don't work "straight time OT" and they definately don't step back 100 yrs and commit to a mini.um 56 hr work week.while vinny is dealing contracts you young guys need to get your future benefits straight in writing, I'm talking about your pensions and more important your meedical plan which the union has been telling you to Let it ride" it will be. Alright. Sure it will they will be long gone when you ho to retire.
ReplyDeleteYou can't nock Brady from being on the job and then he came back. Still has ties to vinney and can't knock him. The thing is every time you've been ask about future captain and liutents wether being at diversity training or stopping by a firehouse you do smoke and mirrors. Just be honest. Also I heard ladder trucks have been the biggest budget killer for the machine shop. Ladder 6 and 5 will be the "swing ladders for the north end" backing up ladder 4 on one engine one truck boxes in north end.
ReplyDeleteWasn't there supposed to be some sort of big announcement regarding the HFD AC job on the 16th? What happened? It appears that someone's pipe dream has fizzled out. Also, Kevin- any idea what is holding up the NIOSH report on the fatal fire that ocurred more than 15 months ago?
ReplyDelete12:02 AM
ReplyDeleteWith a new Chief starting in a couple weeks, I think any announcement of Assistant Chief's or Command Staff should be left to Chief Freeman as he assembles his own team to turn HFD around, He needs people along side him that share his beliefs and philosophies and exhibit loyalty to his mission. I don't think we saw that in a few years, Terry Waller? Scott Brady?
A far as the NIOSH or even the State Police report, I don't think either one is going to be favorable to the City, HFD or the previous "leadership". I have been told by sources that the reports may have already been delivered to the City, but I have been unable to confirm that. It is believed that there will be some very damaging information revealed in those reports. They can't keep it buried forever.
Keeping the reports buried only means that the same type of mistakes will eventually be repeated.
Brady uses people for his advancement only, double dipping is okay for him, something he was totally against when SKB was doing it. Good old Scott once again padding the piggy bank.
ReplyDeletewhen is the city going to wake up???????????????????????
When is the new REGGIEEEMM supposed to take over? hope Reg will get that NIOSH report out so we have transparency. Now that Charles in Charge is gone, does the City have to represent or finance his defense in a legal action brought against him. I know if he is a sitting chief they have to. but how about now?
ReplyDeleteI believe Reginald will be sworn in by February 1st. No word on A/C's, as far as who, and how many. NIOSH report is not completed yet. If you go to the NIOSH firefighter fatality reports, you will see that Brother Bell's report is not completed. Hartford has zero control over NIOSH, or when the report is released. My advice is to check that site every so often to see when it is finally completed. It will then be given to HFD so they can then play their games. No matter what HFD does or says about the NIOSH report, you can always read the correct version on NIOSH's web site. Stay safe everybody, don't let shitty leadership get you killed!
ReplyDeleteKevin get a clue. This new guy couldn't fight a fire in a sprinklered phone booth if his life depended on it. But you wouldn't know that because your a coward and sit back and criticize the hard working people of the city.
ReplyDeleteExplain to me who the coward is "Anonymous"
ReplyDeleteSo tell me Kevin Why is Scott Brady double dipping not an issue?????
ReplyDeleteHow about 1 of your FOI'S on Brady's deal. Inquiring minds want to know?
ReplyDeleteDD not an issue depending who you are and whi it benefits. Loopholes around it for some, they stop pension payments and put you on payroll so technically not DD but very grey almost shaky.meantime pension is held in sort of escrow building every month. When you leave you get your back pension in a lump and go right back on pension.
Pretty good ha. Meantime you are also being paid a salary. That would mean someone with a ?120K pension returning to say a $130K job would potentionally be looking at $250 K a year. Think I might get me another city job when I retire, anybody else want in? Brady is in.