Audit says Prince William County needs more oversight of volunteers. Found unqualified first responders at Gainesville. Chief & family evicted.

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From left to right, Chief Robert Bird, Assistant Chief Wanda Bird and President John McCarty Sr. Photo by The Washington Post’s Dayna Smith.

Read entire auditor’s report and resolution from the Prince William County Board of Supervisors

The day after he took over the leadership of the Prince William County Department of Fire & Rescue, Chief Kevin McGee found a note on his desk from a citizen with a complaint about the Gainesville District Volunteer Fire Department. That was 16-months ago and Chief McGee says it has been that way ever since.

In an email on Friday to career staff, Chief McGee wrote, “I have spent a great deal of time over the past few months dealing with the issues at Gainesville and it has hampered my ability to attend to other matters in the Department”.

That email, obtained by STATter 911, explained the unanimous vote earlier in the day by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors to dissolve the Gainesville department and allow McGee to take over its two stations. The board’s unprecedented move follows a report by a county auditor and Chief McGee’s own recommendation urging this drastic action.

In the email, McGee called the mess in Gainesville a “failure of the system”.

Gainesville District Volunteer EMS Assistant Chief Wanda Bird, who is also the treasurer and the wife of the volunteer chief, sees it quite differently. She told The Washington Post, “This is a railroad”.

Chief Richard Bird, who also has a son and daughter who were volunteers at Gainesville, not only has lost power after decades at the helm, but has been evicted from his family home of many years. For as long as anyone can remember the Birds have lived on fire department property. The audit found an unusual arrangement where the family, including the couple’s 19-year-old autistic daughter, literally called the fire department home.

The audit, while claiming there were no stipulations barring the living arrangement, found the special needs child “presents a liability risk to the county”.

The report, by county auditor Robin Howard, also found that company president John McCarty Sr. stored equipment from his personal business inside a fire department building. Howard wrote about this arrangement, “… again while there is no provision against that, Audit Services questions the ethical implications of personal use of public-funded space which could potentially be used for fire and rescue purposes”.

Robert J. Zelnick, an attorney for the volunteers, told The Washington Post’s Kristen Mack the department “never had an opportunity to respond to shortcomings or wrongdoing. It is unfair, based on one audit, not to allow us to fix the alleged deficiencies.”

Auditor Howard wrote about a consistent lack of cooperation from the volunteer leadership in providing documents needed for the audit in a timely fashion.

The audit was ordered after two volunteer firefighters were suspended by Chief Bird just 30-minutes before a company election in August. One of the volunteers was running for treasurer against Wanda Bird. Richard Bird has been chief for 32-years.

Operational issues

Chief McGee told STATter 911 on Friday that besides “lacking confidence in the volunteer leadership” he was greatly concerned about the safety of the public and the career and volunteer crews under Chief Bird’s command.

The audit discovered volunteers without the proper training. This included a member of a duty crew operating as an emergency medical technician who was not a qualified EMT. The report indicates the fire engine often responded on medical calls without an EMT on board. In the audit Chief Bird claimed it made sense to have people qualified in first aid and CPR on the scene providing help until an EMT arrives. One third of the volunteer officers were not EMTs.

The audit found “55 instances where needed certifications of volunteers were not documented”. This also included a driver of a fire truck who did not have Driver Pump Operator or Firefighter I certifications.

The report says two of the volunteers suffered hearing impairments that presented a potential safety or liability risk. The audit pointed out the hearing issue could limit the volunteer’s ability to properly assess a patient’s medical condition and safely communicate with other firefighters. According to the report, in answering these concerns, “The Assistant Chief said that the impairment can be offset by using such techniques as hand-signals and lip-reading”.

Impact on Prince William’s combined career-volunteer system

Chief McGee said on Friday his plan is to reorganize the volunteer participation at Gainesville under the county department. Previously all volunteers have belonged to one of the 12 (now 11) volunteer fire and rescue departments. In the meantime, McGee has beefed up career staffing at Gainesville.

The audit’s concerns extend beyond Gainesville. The report “concludes that the County has not exercised sufficient authority and oversight over the volunteer system, has not positioned itself to effectively manage the volunteer departments, and has failed to hold them accountable for business and financial decisions”.

STATter 911 has sent an email to the Prince William County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association and will add any response to the report.

Concerned about career-volunteer relations following this development, McGee added in his message to career staff, “I expect each and every one of you to maintain a professional demeanor when discussing this event, treat your volunteer counterparts with respect, and assure them that their participation is both valuable and necessary, especially in these economic times”.