NY Firefighters Quit After Making Prank Calls

Nov. 9, 2004
The village board voted unanimously Monday to accept the resignations.
BALLSTON SPA -- The village board voted unanimously Monday to accept the resignations of three volunteer firefighters who made prank 911 calls from the Eagle-Matt Lee firehouse.

Mayor John Romano had demanded resignations from all three -- Dan Jurcsak, Matt Wilski and Charles Travis -- in lieu of prosecuting.

A letter from Eagle-Matt Lee members recommended that the village not accept Wilski's resignation.

'Matt Wilski was a leader, a trainer and a person young firefighters could go to for advice,' Fire Lt. Kevin Krogh said at the meeting. He also praised the other two men for their efforts.

Wilski is a state trooper. The state police have said internal affairs investigators are looking into the incident. The outcome would likely be considered a personnel matter and not disclosed to the public.

Jurcsak also resigned from his job as a part-time 911 dispatcher for village police.

Krogh sharply criticized me-dia reporting of the incident and declined to answer questions after the meeting. He promised to identify and pun<>ish the person who leaked it to the media.

Jurcsak, Wilski and Travis said they'd been drinking after setting up for a Halloween party Oct. 17 at the Eagle-Matt Lee firehouse when the prank calls were made.

Village Fire Chief Dick Duffy has said he wanted to reconsider policies concerning alcohol at the villages two firehouses.

Krogh pointed out Monday that no one who has had an alcoholic drink is allowed to do anything fire-related, including drills. Whether to allow alcohol in the buildings shouldn't be up to the public, he said.

Firefighters in the all-volunteer company have to deal with disturbing events, Krogh said. 'Sometimes you need a beer to get on with the rest of your day.'

Most 911 calls to the village are not recorded. Romano said recording equipment is part of a larger upgrade he wants to make to the system in the near future. He said work might wait until after the county upgrades its emergency radio system, which could be two years away.

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