Sex Probe Widens at Columbus' Fire Station 17

Nov. 25, 2013
Fire administrators now are trying to determine whether there is a culture of sex, lies and fear that went unreported for years.

Nov. 24--When a Columbus firefighter found chicken that had been rotting in his hot car for a week in the summer of 2012, the rest of his unit got the message: Don't be a snitch.

Those details have emerged as part of a growing fire-station sex scandal that has roiled the Columbus Division of Fire for months and sparked accusations by firefighters of a cover-up and attempts to intimidate witnesses.

Fire administrators now are trying to determine whether there is a culture of sex, lies and fear that went unreported for years.

A new investigation was launched this month after allegations that Battalion Chief Gerald C. Birkhimer had a relationship with a female firefighter under his command while they were on duty at Station 17 on the Hilltop, according to division documents obtained through a public-records request.

Fire administrators determined two weeks ago that another firefighter at Station 17, Marc Cain, engaged in a sexual affair with a family friend starting when she was 18 and continuing for two years while he was on duty at the same station. Firefighters have compared Birkhimer's actions to Cain's.

"You cannot go after Firefighter Cain without discussing this Chief Birkhimer situation because they are identical," a firefighter told investigators last month.

The scandal resulted in the removal of Battalion Chief Dwayne White last week as head of the division's professional-standards unit, Fire Chief Gregory A. Paxton said. White was removed after firefighters alleged that he compromised the investigation. He has been assigned to a fire station.

Birkhimer is the focus of the latest investigation involving allegations that he had an affair with Firefighter Katelyn Neil while the two were assigned to Station 17.

Neil confessed to putting the chicken in a firefighter's car at Birkhimer's urging. Both have since been removed from Station 17 to separate assignments in the division. The Dispatch is naming them because the division took action to transfer them as a result of the investigation.

Birkhimer and Neil are not allowed to talk to reporters during the investigation, the division's spokesman said.

Firefighters told investigators that Birkhimer, 48, often retaliated against them when they complained internally about his relationship with Neil, 30, according to division records.

Firefighters said Birkhimer would temporarily transfer them to other areas of the division that were short-handed when it was not their turn to be transferred. They have told investigators that the chicken incident was meant as a message.

Firefighters said they saw Neil in Birkhimer's bedroom at all hours of the day. At times Birkhimer's bedroom door was closed while Neil was inside.

Firefighters made the same complaints about Cain and his mistress.

At one point, firefighters said, Neil's husband came to the fire station and was walking around bedrooms looking for someone.

Cain's wife came to the fire station and confronted firefighters after Cain's affair became public.

The Cain investigation took months and more than 85 interviews because some firefighters did not immediately come forward with information. Firefighters alleged that high-ranking officers once stationed at 17 tried to cover up Cain's affair and compromised the investigation.

Paxton still is reviewing the Cain investigation and will determine guilt and any punishment. The Birkhimer investigation is expected to take a few more months, officials said.

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Copyright 2013 - The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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