Crowd Gathers to Support, Question Colo. Fire Chief
Source The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Jan. 25--An overflow crowd packed the Beulah Ambulance and Fire District board meeting Thursday night, many coming to support Fire Chief Bryan Ware but some to question his arrest record in Ohio.
Steve Douglas, board chairman, defended hiring Ware in 2009 to head the Beulah's EMS service and then hiring him as fire chief late last year, as first reported in The Pueblo Chieftain. He said the board held a community meeting in July 2011 where the chief's arrest record in Huron, Ohio, was discussed.
"I'd like to put this behind us," Douglas said to loud applause. In a bluntly candid defense of the chief, Douglas said, "He's not a pedophile. If there's new information out there, I'd like to hear it."
Ware acknowledged he was convicted of sending an explicit cellphone photo to a minor in 2009.
"I don't want this perception to continue," he said. "Where the town is looking over its shoulder and saying, 'What's Bryan up to now?' " Dave Pettinari, a former Pueblo County sheriff's investigator trained in catching Internet pedophiles, was sharp in questioning
the board. He said Ohio court records showed Ware had built a relationship with the high school soccer player who received the text, calling it a "classic grooming" tactic used by pedophiles.
Pettinari said he wouldn't trust Ware to watch his grandchildren, but was rebuffed by a Ware supporter who said he'd be happy to have Ware coach his grandchildren. That reply got applause, too.
Ware told the crowd his arrest had turned his life inside out. As for a 2006 arrest for serving alcohol to minors, he said three young men older than 18 but younger than 21 were drinking beer at a barbecue party he hosted. It did cost him a three-day suspension from the Huron Fire Department.
There were a half dozen firefighters in the room who resigned from the department since Ware became chief Jan. 1.
Karl Potestio, who was "fired" from the volunteer force, told the crowd he questioned Ware's decision to remove wildfire equipment from pumper trucks and other decisions.
"Those are small issues. You didn't need to go to the media," one woman responded, referring to news reports this week quoting Potestio challenging Ware's background.
Copyright 2013 - The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
