Critics hit chief, mayor over fatal fire

GLOUCESTER -- The death of a Gloucester woman last Sunday in a house fire a mile away from a closed fire station has sparked demands for the Fire Department's longtime chief to resign and for the mayor to be recalled.

It also has prompted a city councilor to request a Proposition 2 1/2 override at a special election to permanently re open the city's two frequently closed stations.

``Our city is falling apart," said Russell Hobbs, a Lanesville resident who co founded Citizens for Public Safety, a group that has been lobbying since last winter to re open the stations. ``This administration is failing us. If we have to put together a petition to recall our mayor, we will."

Firefighters at the downtown headquarters responded to a 911 call at 11:37 p.m. last Sunday, arriving at Bridget Clary's smoke-filled house in the Lanesville neighborhood 11 minutes and 27 seconds later, officials said. The response time was nearly double the 6-minute benchmark set by national fire authorities.

The firefighters had to drive 5.4 miles over rain-slick ed roads. The Bay View station, one of two stations closed often since 2004, is 1.2 miles from Clary's house but was not staffed that day because a firefighter had gone home sick. The 42-year-old woman was found in her bed and pronounced dead shortly afterward. Firefighters later said that had Bay View been open, they could have reached the house in 3 to 4 minutes, giving Clary a better chance of survival.

Hobbs was one of several residents who spoke at a tense City Council meeting Tuesday night, with some speakers calling for the resignation of Fire Chief Barry McKay, who has led the department for 24 years, and for a petition drive to recall Mayor John Bell. Hobbs and others said they were outraged over McKay's staffing policy, which relies on a slim overtime account to keep the Bay View and Magnolia stations open. When a firefighter went home ill last Sunday, McKay opted not to spend $375 to call in a replacement on overtime.

McKay attended the council meeting but did not speak. In an interview later, he defended his decision, saying that he has already spent $70,300 on overtime since July 1 to keep Bay View and Magnolia -- two of the city's four stations -- open on a limited basis. He said that if he continued to spend at the same rate, the account would be exhausted by January or February, four months before the end of the fiscal year. The shortfall potentially could force him to also start closing the West Gloucester station, he said, leaving only the downtown headquarters to cover the city's entire 26 square miles -- a scenario he described as ``unacceptable."

McKay, 55, also said he had no intention of stepping down.

City Councilor Walter Peckham has proposed a Proposition 2 1/2 override to re open the stations. If passed, he said, it would likely cost the average homeowner $67 more each year in property taxes.

The decision to cut firefighters and close stations came after voters in June 2004 rejected an override by a 4-to-1 ratio. Since then, many residents have said they would approve such a measure if guaranteed the funds would be used only to keep the fire stations open, Peckham said. No guarantee was included in the last vote.

``I want to work out the legal language to make sure the funds go strictly to reopening the stations, so people will know exactly where their money is going," Peckham said. ``This leaves it in the hands of the people."

Peckham said the earliest a special election for the override could be held is January.

Meanwhile, Bell and his chief administrative officer, Steve Magoon, are planning a second meeting with firefighters this week to get a better understanding of the staffing shortfall and how to resolve it, Magoon said. Both sides met Wednesday, but Magoon declined to be specific about what was discussed.

Firefighters union president Clinton Carroll said city leaders put no concrete ideas on the table during the session, but did brainstorm about where in the budget more money might be found.

``I am glad the city is stepping up," he said.

Firefighters have criticized Bell and McKay in the past for not providing enough funding to keep the four stations open full time.

Amid the turmoil, however, the department received good news. Most of the problems plaguing two fire engines the department bought last year for nearly $700,000 have been fixed, said Deputy Chief Tom Aiello. But one major issue remains, he said. One of the vehicles, Engine 4, still has a problem with the transmission slipping out of the gear needed to pump adequate water pressure .

The truck and transmission manufacturers ``are all working together to rectify the problem," Aiello said.

Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com