The head of the Boston firefighters union is under fire after he hooked up a department-owned hose to a hydrant outside his Hyde Park home to fill his neighbor's pool, the Herald has learned.
"I was just trying to help out a neighbor that was putting a pool up," Richard Paris, president of the Boston Firefighters Union Local 718, told the Herald yesterday. "Now that I look at it, it was wrong. I messed up and I apologize."
Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser said he was made aware of the allegations in an anonymous letter he received, which he forwarded to the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and Mayor Thomas M. Menino on June 25.
According to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald, Paris "was seen hooking a hose to the fire hydrant near his home and filling up his neighbor's pool."
Paris said he and his neighbor, whose back yards abut each other, normally fill the swimming pool using water from their homes, but that can take up to three days. This year, Paris said he decided to get a department hose and use water from the hydrant to speed up the process because of a heat wave.
"I admit it," Paris said. "It was hot. It was 80 degrees and it was going to be 90 degrees the next day. This was a quick way to fill it up."
Water department spokeswoman Jeanne Richardson said the agency has sent a bill for $116 to Paris' neighbor to reimburse the city for the water used to fill the pool. The bill has yet to be paid, she said. The department is continuing to investigate the incident and could take further action, she said.
"It is a violation to use hydrants unlawfully without the proper permits," Richardson said. "If we get further details, then we would take the appropriate action."
State ethics laws bar public officials from abusing their authority or using their position to obtain items of value.
Paris has not been disciplined by the fire department in connection with the incident. A Menino spokeswoman declined to comment. Paris' neighbor did not return a call seeking comment.
Copyright 2012 - Boston Herald
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
