Questions remain after fire chief resigns

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

After announcing last week that Fire Chief Perry Howard agreed to a transition plan that would result in him leaving in June of the upcoming year, details remained scarce this week in the City of Burlington.

City staff sent out the press release at about 7 p.m. Dec. 22, saying that Howard’s resignation was pending and an arrangement had been set up to “ensure continuity in the fire department’s leadership structure.”

The press release went on to say that Howard’s anticipated last day would be June 4 of 2016. However, rumors were flying fast and furious over the last week, ranging from Howard having already cleaned out his office at the department to him being told not to respond to fire calls.

Mayor Bob Miller said Monday that Howard had cleaned out some items from his office. The other rumors, he said, were just that.

“We put out the information as we have it,” Miller said. “It’s factual. There’s nothing more to say.”

Howard’s departure wasn’t the only one of note in December. Fire Inspector John Niederer left to become the head of the Bristol Fire Department as well.

According to a fire department source, Niederer is from the Bristol area and was returning to his home department.

That leaves three “career” fire department members, meaning those who are paid. Dan Fallon, Wes Miner and Josh Spencer are all engineers with the department.

The announcement ended what has been a contentious 2-1/2 years under Howard. Shortly before Howard was hired, the city completed a cooperative study with the Burlington Area Rescue Squad and the Town of Burlington Fire Department through McGrath.

That study identified a number of ways the three departments could better work together. However, as the first full-time chief for the City of Burlington, Howard found himself in an at-times contentious situation with some members of the Rescue Squad and the fire department.

The situation with the Rescue Squad became heated – and very public – in the summer of 2014 as the fire department began rolling out first responders to rescue calls in an attempt to improve response times. The relationship eventually cooled with both sides pledging to work with the other.

There were also numerous volunteer firefighters who resigned over that period.

Former volunteer firefighter Bill Milatz fired off a letter to the editor (see page 4) regarding the issue Monday, saying that the city needed to step back and look at what it really needed.

Milatz said he was “very upset” for the volunteer firefighters, and he wished Howard well. However, he added that Howard did not fit in well in Burlington.

“I still know a lot of the older fellows,” Milatz said. “It’s been something that’s been ingrained in my soul for 35 years.”

Milatz confirmed the various conflicts, and said more developed as Howard began requiring more from the volunteer

“I think the city fathers made a huge mistake,” Milatz said. “In my opinion-wise, I’m totally against that. We do not need a full-time chief.”