Politics & Government

Battles Within A Brotherhood

Full-time firefighters and volunteer firefighters are divided on Mayor Pavia's fire service plan, but it is not the first time there has been disharmony between Stamford's firefighters.

As reported in a , the Board of Representatives expressed, among other concerns with Mayor Michael Pavia's fire service plan, that Stamford's full-time firefighters and volunteer firefighters may be uncooperative with each other due to the changes that Pavia's plan calls for.

For the Board, Whitbread acknowledged that there had been problems in the past between full-time firefighters and volunteers, and featured Patch blogger suggested that harassment from full-time fighters was a .

The unionized firefighters in attendance did not believe Whitbread's account of the events he described for the Board, and among them, some have been firm opposition to Pavia's fire plan for over two years.

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A rivalry between Stamford's firefighters has become so apparent that even the Board of Representatives needed to ask about it.

A series of year-old government memos detail a complaint against Stamford Fire Rescue Captain Michael Terenzio by Turn of River FD Jason Bernstein and Asst. Chief Matt Maounis. One memo, dated Sept. 2, 2010 and written between Police Chief Robert Nivakoff and Mayor Pavia states that Bernstein and Maounis filed the complaint due to Terenzio's "unprofessional behavior" and "insubordination" at 43 Pamlynn Road.

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"I have two statements from Terenzio and from Firefighter (Gerald) O'Brien stating that Bernstein showed on scene and immediately began to question operations. Terenzio then questioned who he was and told him that he was not done with his operations and that Bernstein was not properly dressed to be on the scene. He was asked to leave," Nivakoff writes.  Nivakoff stated that Terenzio had not been insubordinate because Bernstein was not a ranking officer.

Bernstein identified himself to Deputy Fire Chief and Pamlynn incident commander William Smith when he arrived, who stated that Bernstein was wearing "unmarked bunker gear" and "carrying a camera" when he arrived at 43 Pamlynn. According to Conte's letter, Smith gave him permission to work. According to investigation documents written by Deputy Chief Antonio Conte, O'Brien's statements were "in complete corroboration with accounts given by Captain Terenzio."

"I find these charges to be completely unfounded, Maounis claims to have witnesses he can't produce, and Bernstein's statement to Jacobellis varies greatly from both Deputy Chief Smith, Captain Terenzio, and firefighter O'Brien's statements," Conte wrote in undated memo that revealed his official findings. "I might add that this is the second time Maounis has stated that members of this department have been insubordinate and again his accusations are false."

The good news? None of this in-house turmoil has ever stopped a fire from being put out.

Confident in this, Whitbread told the Board to not trouble itself with problems between firefighters, and he was wise to do so.


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