WILMINGTON -- Serious and catastrophic -- that's how an attorney for some Wilmington firefighters describes the problems inside the department.
The group took their case to City leaders Tuesday night, saying something must be done before public safety is affected.
Attorney Mike McGuinness went in front of City Council with the results of an internal survey. He says the results show dangerous problems within the department and for citizens' safety.
Wilmington firefighters say conditions in the department, from the top down, are bringing morale down.
Wilmington firefighter Chuck Bower said, "Everyone will tell you that they love their job as a firefighter in the City of Wilmington. They enjoy serving the citizens of Wilmington and what they do day to day. They are generally not proud of who they work for."
Elizabethtown attorney Mike McGuinness is representing the firefighters. He told council members there are problems with the top administration of the department, along with issues in the way firefighters are treated by the City's human resources department.
He shared results of a survey sent to Wilmington firefighters.
McGuinness said, "The data is very scary when you see such a tremendous number of the active firefighters identify, not just significant safety hazards, but safety hazards in the category of very severe. That's a danger."
Results from the survey show almost 97 percent of firefighters know about shortages in manpower that keep some equipment off the streets.
Eighty-one percent think the safety of citizens is at risk because of conditions within the department and what they call improper treatment by the City's human resources director Al McKenzie.
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said, "I believe there are issues there, there's no doubt about it. I've been hearing about issues since I've been on council, back in 2003."
Saffo said, "I want to wait to hear what the assessment has to say. Just the same way we did with the police department."
McKenzie did not attend Tuesday's meeting and was not available to answer the allegations raised against him and his department. We also did not see any top administrators from the fire department.
The report Mayor Saffo spoke about is being done by an outside consultant. Leaders hope to have it in hand by next Friday. Council members say they want to see that report before making any major decisions.
Reprinted with permission from WWAY
