A racially driven battle has erupted within the ranks of the Boston Fire Department, after the firefighters union ordered a boycott of a committee convened to implement changes within the department and one union appointee, a black firefighter, refused to oblige.
Lieutenant Darrell Higginbottom declined to resign from the panel, which was appointed by the mayor and the fire commissioner. As a result, he faces possible expulsion from his union. The three other union members appointed to the committee have already resigned.
The potential expulsion of the committee's lone black member touched off allegations by a group of Higginbottom's fellow minority firefighters that the union's actions are once again thwarting the progress of minority firefighters in the department. They say the union has repeatedly failed, for instance, to eliminate disparate punishment of minority firefighters and to improve race relations within the department.
"This will not be accepted by the Vulcan Society, the black community, and our many supporters," Karen Miller, president of the Boston Society of Vulcans, an organization of black firefighters, wrote in a letter to the union. A copy of the letter was obtained by the Globe.
The controversy points to deep divisions in the department that have surfaced after the deaths of two firefigthers in a blaze in West Roxbury last August.
Union officials say that if Higginbottom attends a committee meeting Jan. 17, he will violate the union's constitution and bylaws and could be expelled.
The union's president, Ed Kelly, said that race is a red herring, adding that Higginbottom would be in the same position if he were white.
"When the union membership takes a position and a member chooses to violate that position, he or she is engaging in conduct detrimental to the best interests of the local and may be subject to union charges, regardless of his or her affiliation with the Society of Vulcans, the Society of St. Florian, the Boston Gaelic Fire Brigade, or any other social organization," he wrote in a letter responding to Miller.
Kelly said punishments for such violations range from reprimands or fines to suspension or expulsion from the union. If he were expelled, he could continue to work as a firefighter.
Other, unofficial consequences could be in store for Higginbottom as well. Fellow firefighters may ostracize him socially or refuse to swap shifts with him. Union officials said Higginbottom's remaining on the committee could be likened to crossing a picket line.
Higginbottom could not be reached at home and did not return a message left with the Fire Department seeking comment. Miller said Higginbottom told her he is determined to remain on the committee to help improve the department regardless of the consequences.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino convened the committee in December to help oversee adoption of changes recommended by an outside panel after autopsy reports indicated one firefighter had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit and the other had cocaine in his system when they died in a West Roxbury restaurant fire in August.
The panel recommended instituting random drug and alcohol testing of firefighters and adopting dozens of other changes suggested by three earlier reviews of the Fire Department but never adopted, including requiring regular physical checkups of firefighters, providing better training, and more discipline. The Globe reported in October that 50 of 82 recommendations from the earlier reviews had not been implemented.
Among the recommendations were forming a race relations committee, investigating allegations of disparate punishment of minority group members, and increasing diversity of firefighter ranks.
Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser has said he appointed Higginbottom to diversify the committee and because of his credentials and attitude. Fraser said last month that Higginbottom, a nine-year veteran firefighter, has a business degree and is passionate about helping to bring about change in the Fire Department.
The committee was supposed to have been led by Fraser and include 13 members, including four firefighters. But within days after its formation Dec. 10, union president Kelly resigned, saying the fire commissioner, by making appointments without union input, was trying to dictate what would be overhauled, instead of partnering with the union to improve the department.
Union officials then contacted the four firefighters appointed to the committee, and three of them - District Chief Dennis Keeley, Captain Jonathan Rodriguez, and Firefighter Kevin Ranahan - were persuaded to step down.
At a union meeting Dec. 20, Local 718 members voted to boycott the committee, and union officials contacted Higginbottom again to try to persuade him not to break ranks with the union.
Kelly said if he shows up at the next committee meeting, any union member could press charges against him, and the case would be referred to the International Association of Firefighters, which would convene a trial board to investigate the charges and decide on the appropriate punishment if Higginbottom is found in violation.
Miller of the Vulcans said Higginbottom will not resign from the committee. The union's efforts to force him off the panel, she said, will hinder improvements on minority issues.
She said the union has repeatedly failed to work on the minority firefighters' issues. "Every time we tried to bring an issue to them - discrimination, racism, sexism, homophobia - they said it wasn't their jurisdiction," Miller said.
In her Dec. 21 letter to Kelly, Miller wrote that Higginbottom's "background gives him a wide perspective on the issues that affect black and Latino firefighters, something that Local 718 historically has not shown the capacity to do."
Kelly called the allegations "disturbingly incorrect."
"This proud union has stood strong together regardless of our ethnic backgrounds to fight for our healthcare, pensions, safety, and a fair paycheck for all," he wrote.
Fire officials declined to comment on the conflict but said the committee and its work will continue.
"The next scheduled meeting is January 17, and we're hopeful that Local 718 will participate in the meeting," said a department spokesman, Steve MacDonald.
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.
