Every day, ex-Speigletown firefighter Brian Houle stands in front of the firehouse holding signs that blast the department for not taking him back as a volunteer.
The reception from passing drivers can be frosty.
"You can tell when something's coming because the window's down and it's freezing," he said. "One guy went by this morning and said 'Go home (expletive).' Another one said, 'Get a job.' I just wave back at them."
Houle resigned from the department in February when Chief Mike Shanahan suspended him for insubordination and allegedly lying. The suspension stemmed from Houle's possession of a two-way radio, which he used for a side job as a freelance photographer. Houle occasionally takes photos for the Times Union.
After resigning he joined another volunteer department only to return to Speigletown and ask for his post back in August.
In September the fire district's commissioners voted not to accept his application, a first in 46 years and a point Houle disputes, said Commissioner Frank Fiaschetti.
Since Oct. 6, Houle has been protesting the decision by picketing outside the department for three hours a day, usually between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. Thursday he wears a sign that says: "Speigletown Qualified Volunteer Not Wanted?"
He says the department is in no position to turn away an eager volunteer.
"They ask for volunteers in their little letter they passed out with their calendar," he said. "I'm dedicated."
The issue could be resolved Monday when the department's volunteer membership votes on Houle's application.
Houle said the volunteers were supposed to vote on his application but never did. Fiaschetti said commissioners have the final say on applications, but the membership will vote on Houle's bid in a few weeks. But what are Houle's chances of acceptance in a department he's been picketing for weeks? Fiaschetti said not so good, saying he thinks that Houle has angered most of the department's members.
Houle admits he has no chance of getting back into the department. The commissioners vote intimidates the volunteers, he said, and his picketing hasn't helped. Even his best friend, Houle said, probably won't vote for him.
Even before the dispute over the radio, Houle wasn't the most popular guy in the department. Some other firefighters shot paint balls at his car one day just after he waxed it.
Two of three people Houle named as supporters in the department didn't return calls for comment. The third said he'd support him, but wouldn't give his name because if other firefighters knew, "bad things" might happen.
One firefighter, a woman, flips Houle off every day while he protests.
Last week, as Houle stood in the Speigletown Fire Department parking lot picketing, the equipment manager from another department he belonged to pulled up in his pickup and brusquely asked him where the department's equipment was. Houle said he'd bring it back, but he wanted a check for gas he put in a vehicle one night, too.
Houle said he's not a pariah. He went on vacation with several Speigletown firefighters this year, he said. And he's well-liked in the Hoosic Valley Rescue Squad, where he volunteers.
The rescue squad's vice president, Ed Guerin, said in the six months Houle has volunteered in Hoosic Valley he's proved to be a model member.
"He's a very good team player, he shows up for all his shifts. We have no issues with him," Guerin said.
Houle even cleans the station and helped paint, he said. Guerin wouldn't comment on the situation in Speigletown, noting that the rescue squad works in the Speigletown fire district. But Fiaschetti said "team player" is the last thing he'd call Houle and Shanahan said he's uncooperative.
"In dealings with him while he was a member, I'd like to say he has no respect for authority, and I think this is what that's all about," Shanahan said.
Houle said the whole fight is about him not backing down.
"It's not that I'm a jerk, I'm a nice guy, I really am," he said. "I'm just the kind of guy who sticks up for himself."
Houle said he'll keep protesting until the new year.
Perry can be reached at 454-5092 or by e-mail at [email protected].
