RI State Assoc of Firefighters President calls on Middletown Leadership “to regain their moral compass”

Submitted by Joseph A. Andriole

Monday’s Town Council meeting in Middletown had well over a hundred members of the public looking for answers from the Town Council regarding the inadequate staffing of the Fire Department and the events of a recent house fire that left an 11-year-old girl and her father burned and hospitalized.

It was a surreal and unnerving experience to see the Council’s reaction toward the community who came out to get answers. The Town Council made it abundantly clear that they didn’t want to deal with this crisis; they limited the amount of time and the number of people who could even speak on this important issue.

The Council should have allowed and facilitated a forum for an open an honest discussion of this matter. Instead they had the Town Manager make an embellished bizarre presentation as to why the Middletown Fire Department couldn’t initially respond to that horrific fire. He attempted to allege that the Department’s only Engine and Rescue were at a non-emergency call. This allegation was not factual and blatantly untrue. The truth is that the complete staff of the Fire Department was handling ONE emergency incident. It appeared that Town leaders were uncomfortable with the fact that the current staffing allotment can only handle ONE serious medical call at any given time.

The call that the Town Manager disrespectfully tried to characterize as a non-emergency, was in fact a true emergency that required crews on scene to perform advanced life support treatment and then transport of that patient to the hospital for additional medical care. In my opinion, the manager was trying to create a smokescreen to divert attention from the failure of Town leadership regarding public safety.

The Fire Chief remained silent while the Town Manager and the Town Council threw the entire Fire Department under the bus; they have desperately tried to blame the members of this Department for their failure to provide proper public safety.

The Fire Chief should pause and self-reflect upon his abilities to continue at the helm of this Department, it appears he is inept to lead this Department forward. Lastly, let there be no mistake as to why the Union and the Town is in arbitration; it’s not over wanting unrealistic pay or benefits. It’s about not wanting to continue with unrealistic staffing. 

We want more staffing for only two reasons, for our safety and for safety of the PEOPLE in Middletown.

It appears the Town leaders have lost their moral compass. I am hoping they can set politics aside and regain their moral compass and do the right thing and protect the community properly. The Union remains 100% committed to working with the Town as a partner, not an adversary, and to resolve this matter and provide a level of public safety that the people deserve. 

Joseph A. Andriole, President

RI State Association of Fire Fighters

1/8/2019