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The City of Stamford's only female firefighter filed a grievance with the city and fire chief after a volunteer assistant chief allegedly tried to remove her from a station. It reveals the twisted makeup of the Fire Department.
A Stamford, Connecticut firefighter has filed a grievance against the city for harassment. The news story at Courant.com stated that the lone female member of the department, a member of IAFF Local 786, filed the complaint after a volunteer chief under the city's direction made comments about her.
Touted as '...the city that works!" on their website, Stamford apparently has a fire department that doesn't work, or at least is in reoccurring turmoil which makes one wonder how proficiency is effected. Within the city is Stamford Fire and Rescue which is surrounded by private departments, under the direction of the city, owned and staffed by volunteers but funded by the city. We can only guess the battles that must have raged over the years which eventually culminated in a treaty of sorts.
According to the fire department web site, "The areas of Stamford that are not covered by the Stamford Fire & Rescue Department are served by the volunteer departments which have come to be called "The Big Five".
The volunteer departments are functionally independent though they receive City funding and are under the limited purview of the Office of Public Safety, Health & Welfare."
Whoever drew up this plan must have been the only one that didn't see the continued trouble ahead.
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