UPDATE: PGFD union president speaks out about gear tampering, pot use & vehicles stolen

IAFF Local 1619 president Andrew Pantelis talked to a reporter yesterday (Thursday) about the gear tampering and other allegations we first told you about Tuesday. The charges Pantelis wrote about in a letter to Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Marc Bashoor (see below) center around Station 842, the Oxon Hill VFD firehouse in Glassmanor.

Brad Bell, WJLA-TV/ABC7:

“Our turnout gear is our lifeline,” firefighters union president Andrew Pantelis says. “The frequency and severity of the escalation is very alarming to our members and we feel that it’s an unsafe working condition for our members to continue operating in that environment.”

Click here if the video above fails to play

See previous coverage & video from Chief Marc Bashoor

The incidents started last November when a crew returned from a call and found what they believed to be a marijuana haze in the firehouse. After that, firefighters’ cars were stolen and there have been several instances where firefighters’ protective gear was intentionally burned.

The damage to the safety gear was so bad it had to be thrown out.

Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor is now reacting in a video distributed to the department, blasting the notion that a firefighter would damage the gear of another.

“However unfathomable it may be, it has occurred multiple times and I assure you it will not be tolerated,” Bashoor says in the video.

A full investigation by both police and the fire department is now underway. And while there is a long history in the department of rivalry, even fights between volunteers and paid career firefighters, no suspect has yet been named.

Letter from IAFF Local 1619 President Andrew Pantelis:

March 12, 2016
Marc S. Bashoor, Fire Chief
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department
9201 Basil Court, Suite 452
Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20774
Dear Chief Bashoor:

Over the last several months there have been a number of incidents at Fire/EMS Station 842 that have resulted in bargaining unit members being concerned for their safety. A brief description of the events are described as follows:

• On November 5th, 2015 the crew of Paramedic Engine 842 returned from a call at 0500
  hours to find a heavy odor and haze of CDS in the apparatus bay of Station 842. Battalion
  Chief 885 and the Duty Chief were notified.
• On December 20th, 2015, a bargaining unit employee had two personal vehicles stolen
  from his home. When the vehicles were subsequently recovered, documents associated
  with the Oxon Hill Volunteer Fire Department and an Application for Volunteer
  Membership were found in one of the recovered vehicles. The Office of the Fire Chief
  was notified.
• On January 2nd, 2016, the uniform shirt of a bargaining unit employee was found in the
  apparatus bay of Station 842 vandalized with spray paint, cigarette ashes, and burns.
  Battalion Chief 885 and the Duty Chief were notified.
• On March 5th, 2016, the Personal Protective Equipment of a bargaining unit employee
  was found to have thermal contact burn marks from an apparent manual source. Such
  burns were not present after the Personal Protective Equipment was last utilized.
  Battalion Chief 885 and the Duty Chief were notified.
• On March 11th, 2016, the Personal Protective Equipment of a bargaining unit employee
  was found to have multiple thermal contact burn marks similar to the type found on the
  incident of March 5th, 2016. Battalion Chief 885 was notified.
• On March 12th, 2016, the Personal Protective Equipment of a bargaining unit employee
  was found to have multiple thermal contact burn marks similar to the type found on the
  incidents of March 5th and 11th, 2016. Battalion Chief 885, the Duty Chief, and the Fire
  Chief were notified.

These cumulative incidents have created a dangerous and hostile working environment for the employees assigned to Fire/EMS Station 842. This situation cannot be tolerated. While we are aware that the Department is investigating each of the aforementioned instances, the Department has thus far failed to rectify the situation and ensure the safety of its employees.

Therefore, in accordance with Article 16.5, Paragraph C of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Union is alleging that an unsafe working condition exists at Fire/EMS Station 842. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 14.4, Paragraph C, this situation arises from the action(s) higher than the immediate career supervisor or Departmental Safety Officer. As a 2 result, the IAFF is appealing this matter directly to the Fire Chief. In accordance with the procedures that are outlined within the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Department has twenty-five (25) working days to notify the Union in writing of the action the Department proposes to take to correct the alleged unsafe conditions.

It is our hope that you will exercise all means within your power as County Fire Chief to protect our employees from this ongoing and escalating dangerous situation. If you feel that you cannot correct these actions and provide for a safe working environment at Fire/EMS Station 842, the IAFF requests immediate removal and relocation of our personnel from that station until such time that this situation can be corrected.
Thank you for your attention to this important issue. Please feel free to contact me with any
questions or concerns.

Respectfully,
Andrew K. Pantelis
President
Prince George’s County Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics Association
International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1619