It's highly unusual for a fire department to be the focus of a criminal investigation. But that's the position the Brooklyn Park Fire Department is in tonight. That new investigation follows one by the FOX 9 Investigators.
The Brooklyn Park fire chief admits to taking part in a scheme. A scheme which is now being investigated by the Hennepin County Sheriff's office.
"Part of that process will be to determine whether or not there were any criminal violations, and we'll be working closely with the county attorney in that process too."
What did Chief Steve Schmidt do? Well, as the FOX 9 Investigators first reported, the fire department pulled a fast one.
Two years ago an inspector from ISO, the Insurance Services Office, paid a visit to Brooklyn Park. The job was to evaluate the city's fire fighting capabilities. Everything from training records to the type of equipment that's carried on the trucks is factored into the inspector's report.
You get more points if you have the "right" equipment. The more points you get, the better the ISO rating. Insurance companies use that rating to help figure out what premiums to charge homeowners and businesses in the city.
After its last inspection, Brooklyn Park ended up with a better rating. Firefighter Scott Mannstedt and others confirm the department fooled the inspector. Equipment, like nozzles and cutting torches, was borrowed from other fire departments, then put into Brooklyn Park's fire stations to get more points for the inspection.
But Chief Schmidt told us it's not uncommon. He says other fire departments have used borrowed equipment to get better inspection ratings.
"I know for a fact of at least three that have. Which ones: I'm not going to name them. Why would I want to put somebody else through the same hassle that I'm going through?"
In addition to the criminal investigation by the sheriff's department, Brooklyn Park fire now faces another inspection. In response to our report, ISO says it will revisit and review the department to see if its rating score should change, which could have an effect on insurance rates in the city.
The sheriff's investigation is expected to take a couple weeks.
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