Ex-firefighter says he feels 'betrayed'

Former Boston firefighter Albert Arroyo, who has failed to convince Fire Department officials that he is disabled despite his body-building prowess, said yesterday that he feels betrayed by fellow firefighters who have not come to his defense.

"These are people that I thought were partners - that we go in fires and come out together - and [I] trust these people going in and out on the job," Arroyo said during an hour-long interview with WTKK-FM radio host Jimmy Myers, a friend of the firefighter. "It's a very difficult time for me right now. . . . I feel betrayed, in a way, after all these years."

Efforts yesterday to reach a representative of the Boston firefighters union for reaction to the comments were unsuccessful.

Joined by his Boston-based attorney Neil Osborne, Arroyo used the radio show to make his first public comments since video of him performing in a body-building competition - in which he placed eighth - imperiled his petition for a disability pension.

The disability application came after the Roslindale man reported falling on a staircase in a Jamaica Plain firehouse on March 21. A Boston neurologist, whose role in this and other firefighter disability claims has come under scrutiny, concluded Arroyo was "totally and permanently disabled." While his disability petition was pending before the Boston Retirement Board, Arroyo received his full salary tax-free. He was videotaped in the body-building competition on May 3.

Arroyo said that people who have seen the video - in which he flexes his back muscles for judges - and concluded that he is capable of working as a fire inspector are mistaken.

Arroyo said his health issues began on July 18, 2000, when he strained his back while carrying heavy equipment in response to a Beacon Street alarm. He was later shifted to inspector duties because of his back pain.

"They don't know my pain since 2000, that's for sure. They don't know who I am and how I have been dealing with this all my career on the Fire Department, and how I have worked around it."

Arroyo did not discuss the March 21 incident, instead focusing on years of back pain he said began in 2000. "I was injured in the line of duty," he said.

A firefighter since January 1986, Arroyo said he began body-building as part of a physical therapy regimen in 2003. He described the pain he says he feels daily.

"If I stand too long, I need to sit down for a little while to just relieve some of the pain, and when I do that, the pain comes back, and I have to stand up," he said. "During half the day, I experience some really extreme pain in my back."

About 45 minutes into yesterday's interview, Arroyo stood up and took a few steps, before sitting back down to resume the program. Five television cameras and reporters were present in the studio at the time. Myers assured Arroyo he could continue the interview standing if he wanted to.

"If it hurts you that bad, go ahead and stand up," Myers told Arroyo during a break in the program.

The Globe first reported on Arroyo's body-building on July 14, and fire officials ordered him back to work. When he failed to report, Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser Jr. ruled that Arroyo's failure to show for work was a voluntary separation from the Fire Department. On Tuesday, Arroyo appealed the commissioner's ruling, and Fraser gave him two days to supply additional medical proof of his disability.

Osborne said they provided the results of a 3 1/2-hour physical exam in which a Worcester physical therapist determined Arroyo could not withstand an eight-hour work day. But the department declined on Thursday to reinstate the firefighter.

Fire officials told the Globe the exam relied too heavily on Arroyo's own statements to constitute an objective assessment.

Osborne said the firefighter is weighing his options, including appealing the ruling to the Civil Service Commission or getting the firefighters union to file a grievance on Arroyo's behalf.

Arroyo said he wants to eventually return to the Fire Department as an inspector if his condition improves, though he does not believe he will ever be in a condition to go back to fighting fires.

"I signed up to be a fireman, and that's what I always wanted to do," he said. "I was born in the city of Boston, and what better way to serve the city than to be a firefighter? It's a very good, high-honor job to do, firefighting."

Myers took only a handful of calls, telling reporters he had devoted two hours of his program to the issue about three weeks ago, and received numerous calls from people criticizing Arroyo.

"I already know the opinions of the audience," said Myers, who later told listeners there may have been a rush to judgment in Arroyo's case. "I think it is more important that we hear what he has to say."

Most of the callers put on air were sympathetic to Arroyo, but one challenged the firefighter's statements. Arroyo smiled as the caller - Bill, a former competitive body-builder - said he did not believe Arroyo could have achieved his muscular condition with the injury he claims.

"He doesn't know my background," Arroyo replied.

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.