On Tuesday, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees held a special work-study meeting, mostly in closed session, “To discuss and consider the dismissal, suspension or disciplining of an employee, pursuant to the employee’s request.”
Under the Open Meetings Act, an employee has the choice of having such a disciplinary hearing in open or closed session.
The employee being discussed was Fire Chief Darwin Loyer, who reportedly has been suspended three times over the past year.
This most recent issue has to do with a complaint filed April 23 by Fire Captain Anthony Karver, who was Incident Commander of an April 18 structure fire at 6198 West Adams Street.
Karver also is full-time Fire Inspector for Van Buren Township.
According to the complaint, when Karver arrived at the April 18 fire, he said the single-story, single-family dwelling had heavy smoke and flames coming from the rear of the home. A female resident had been injured.
Karver took command of the fire fighting and gave assignments to those arriving. Four were preparing for an interior attack through the north door. Chief Loyer arrived and was assigned to protect exposures at the south side of the structure.
Karver had set a positive pressure fan at the front door (southeast corner) to assist with pushing the smoke and heat towards the rear and out of the dwelling.
The crew entered the side door to begin extinguishing the fire and shortly thereafter the men were halted in their efforts by what they described as a “rapid rush of heat and steam” while they were inside the structure.
Karver was advised they had pulled back due to the rapidly changing fire conditions. When Karver checked on the south side of the building, he did not find Loyer. He continued to the rear where he found Chief Loyer spraying water into the dwelling pushing the heat and generated steam into the dwelling on the interior attack crew.
“I was in disbelief,” Karver wrote in his complaint. “I asked the Chief what he was doing instead of protecting exposures. I do not recall what he said, but I had told him to stop immediately, that he was frying the crew inside.”
They checked on the interior crew (Danny Wilson, Bruce VanGemert, John Henderson and Marc Abdilla) and no injuries were reported.
The next day Chief Loyer reportedly apologized to everyone involved, telling Karver that he had reasons for why he did what he did, but Karver said none of them made any sense.
At the end of the complaint, Karver asked: “Why is the Fire Chief unable to understand basic firefighting tactics? Is this why the Fire Chief does not show up on major incidents or when he does he just takes pictures? This incident clearly demonstrates the Fire Chief’s lack of experience not only as a firefighter but as the top command officer for the Fire Department.
“The safety of the Fire Department membership should be a top priority and starts at the top. No one has confidence in his ability when he is on scene,” Karver concluded.
He said he would provide statements from the firefighters involved and more information, if needed.
The complaint was sent to Battalion Chief Ron Folks on April 23 and then immediately on to Public Safety Director Carl McClanahan. Karver heard nothing for a month. He asked about it and was told it was being worked on. He sent a dozen emails to those in upper command in the fire department, and received no updates on the status of his complaint.
The complaint was confidential until last Thursday, when Public Safety Committee chairwoman Diane Madigan asked to see it and Karver complied with her request. He said he had been asked to give her information in the past, so he gave her what she asked for.
On Friday, Director McClanahan finally asked for Karver’s side of the complaint.
“I am trying to do the right thing,” Karver said during a telephone interview on Saturday. “I’m trying to keep people safe.”
Madigan shared the complaint with her committee members and she and other members asked township administration why this complaint hasn’t been addressed as yet, since it is a safety issue.
On Sunday, the Independent asked Township Supervisor Paul White about the complaint and he replied: “The complaint is going through the process and should be completed very, very shortly.”
He explained that Director McClanahan was investigating.
Loyer was the fire chief for the City of Belleville’s small, all paid-per-call fire department before joining VBT as chief in 2009.