Fire Chief Ray Jones stands by his men. On-duty, days-long drinking binge does not result in firings of Sacramento firefighters.
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After two-years of STATter911.com I am ready to declare Sacramento Fire Department Chief Ray Jones as one of the most interesting and fascinating chiefs we have written about. I have never met the guy and all I know about Chief Jones is what I read in the papers and on the web.
I have no doubt, like any fire chief out there, he isn’t perfect. I am sure there are firefighters who work for him who aren’t fans. That just goes with the job of being chief.
But from his responses to two very controversial issues, it seems clear he has a leadership style that is not always in evidence in the fire service or in today’s society in general.
I first highlighted Chief Jones last August and September when his department was faced with rotating closures of fire companies. Chief Jones and his command staff didn’t try to tell the public and city leaders everything was okay. They let everyone know response times would be longer and the exposure greater. It didn’t stop there.
A “Brownout Calendar” on the department’s website let the public know the schedule for these closures. On many of the fires where the closest company was out of service, the PIO and chief officers explained the impact it had on suppression activities.
Now comes the latest story. It was uncovered by KOVR-TV’s investigative reporter Sam Shane. It involves a Sacramento Fire Department crew dispatched to fight a wildland fire in another jurisdiction last June 12.
After the first day, the captain and three firefighters were sent to a nearby motel for some rest and recuperation. The firefighters had other ideas.
Still considered on the clock, two of the group bought vodka and the captain and another firefighter picked up beer. Some of the items were purchased while still in uniform.
Bad enough. But it gets worse. From reporter Shane’s article:
The next morning, the four men jump in a Sacramento City fire vehicle carrying with them an open bottle of vodka and drive back to the fire line.
The four spent the entire day of June 14th at the Humboldt fire. The next day, June 15th, they were sent to Yuba City.
At 6 p.m. on June 15th, Leclaire and Viramontes were back at it in Yuba City, once again drinking vodka in their motel room while on duty. They went to dinner at 7:30. They bought more beer – wearing their uniforms. Captain Mark Ramirez was with them and let them do it. By 9:30 p.m., Leclaire and Viramontes were back in their motel room drinking alcohol while on the clock.
The party ended when they were returned to Sacramento on June 16 after someone reported their actions to fire department officials.
From Shane’s report, and the documents he uncovered, there seems to be little dispute about the facts.
In many departments, maybe even most departments, it is likely the four firefighters would be out of a job. It is not a hard argument to make that these guys should no longer be representing the fire service and the city that employs them.
We have all read many stories just like this one where the result is termination. Most of us just shrug, shake our heads, say how sad for them and move on.
The much harder argument to make in a case like this is that the captain and his crew should keep their jobs. And even harder is to then defend it in public. Chief Jones did just that.
In his on-camera statements the chief in no way made excuses for what the crew did while on the job. The chief made it clear he was disappointed in their poor judgment.
From there Chief Jones told the reporter, “I think the public needs to know that people do make mistakes, people also learn from their mistakes, as an organization we make mistakes, we’ve learned from ours”.
Instead of termination, the four firefighters have been reprimanded. They have also received demotions that range from six-months to 33-months. On top of that, the chief says he intends to reinstate the captain in the near future.
The chief says he is confident that Captain Ramirez and his crew have learned their lesson and that this won’t be a problem again.
Of course, not being naive about city politics and the inner workings of fire departments, it is quite possible there is more to this process than meets the eye. In fact it is likely that is the case. And I also have no doubt there are some of you reading this who believe these guys should find another line of work.
Forget all of that for a moment. Focus instead on what the chief did after the disciplinary decision was made. Chief Jones publicly stuck his neck out, defended his decision and stood behind his people when they were clearly wrong. At the same time he made no excuses for a terrible episode in the department’s history.
And remember, if any of these guys screw up again, who do you think is going to be on the hot seat?
Am I wrong to be impressed by this? Please let me know.
