Derby firefighters in a contributed photo.
DERBY – The city is under investigation after an anonymous tip to Connecticut safety officials alleged the Derby Fire Department was using expired turnout gear.
Juliet Manalan, a spokeswoman with the Connecticut Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CONN-OSHA) confirmed the agency is involved but could not comment.
“CONN-OSHA is engaged, however, the case is still open so my recommendation is to check back with me in three-to-four weeks and I can give you an update. We should have a sense of when the review will be complete by that time,” Manalan said in an email.
The city’s fire commissioner said Derby will probably face fines from CONN-OSHA.
“Turnout gear” refers to firefighter safety apparel such as protective coats, pants, helmets, boots, gloves and hoods. The equipment used as primary gear should be replaced every 10 years to keep firefighters safe, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The fire department had gear in circulation – possibly as much as 50 sets – that was purchased in 2008, making them 15 years old.
An anonymous person tipped off CONN-OSHA about the expired safety equipment during the first week of October, according to Derby Fire Commissioner Gary Parker.
Parker met with CONN-OSHA employees on Oct. 6.
After CONN-OSHA got involved, the matter was placed on the agenda for the Oct. 12 meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen.
The elected officials voted unanimously to spend up to $500,000 to replace the expired safety equipment; to buy and replace other turnout gear approaching its expiration date; and to buy specialized washers and dryers to decontaminate the gear.
Derby is using federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to pay for the items.
The city previously purchased turnout gear in 2018 and 2014.
Parker said he started making requests to the Derby Capital Planning Commission to buy more turnout gear shortly after being appointed fire commissioner in 2019. The commission is the group that prioritizes the order by which big-ticket projects should be funded in the city.
However, the commission hasn’t met since September 2022, according to the City of Derby website. And no action could be taken at that meeting because not enough members showed up to form a quorum.
Derby Mayor Richard Dziekan said he was not aware that the turnout gear was in need of replacement, or exceeded its useful life, until he was made aware of the OSHA complaint by Parker earlier this month. Dziekan said former Derby Fire Chief David Lenart said that 50 sets of turnout gear were last purchased in 2018.
“I did not see this on the horizon, until it came to the forefront,” Dziekan said. “I had no clue until I was notified by the commissioner that OSHA was coming. We bought new gear in 2018, so it was not on my radar. Once we found out (that there was outdated gear) we put it in front of the board and took care of this. I thank God the Aldermen were there to vote on it. If worse came to worse, we’d have to go to the fund balance, and take out the money as an emergency.”
Lenart pointed The Valley Indy to the September 2022 capital planning meeting Dziekan attended during which the matter was discussed at length.
For that meeting, Derby Fire Commissioner Parker submitted a detailed request for new turnout gear in writing.
The form asked whether the request, if not granted, would impact the health and safety of citizens. Parker answered ‘yes.’
“Aged and out-of-compliance equipment provides less than acceptable protection to our membership. Continued neglect will lead to financial liability with legal exposure,” according to the capital request form on file at Derby City Hall.
Dziekan told The Valley Indy he did not recall the September 2022 discussion.
“It doesn’t ring a bell and I have department heads that need to keep me abreast of a lot of that,” Dziekan said.
“This Is A Failure. This Should Not Have Happened”
The mayor is taking heat on the issue because he has the power to call for a Capital Planning Commission meeting but has not done so.
Dziekan has previously told The Valley Indy city Democrats play games with the meetings by not showing up. Derby Democrats said the administration doesn’t plan meetings when people can attend.
At the Oct. 12 Alders meeting, Alderwoman Sarah Widomski, the board’s president, said the city faces potential fines because of the mayor’s poor leadership. She pointed to the lack of capital planning meetings as proof.
She also said the city was using ARPA money that could have been used for something else had the city not let the turnout gear issue fall through the cracks to the point where CONN-OSHA stepped in.
“This is a failure. This should not have happened,” Widomski said.
Dziekan did not respond directly to Widomski’s accusations during the meeting, but pointed out ARPA money can be used for the purchase.
At that same Oct. 12 meeting, Commissioner Parker said fines are likely coming from CONN-OSHA. He also said the agency could take into consideration the city acted quickly once CONN-OSHA stepped in.
“We made them (OSHA) aware that requests for funding had been made for several years without any action, and OSHA became concerned with that,” Parker said. “This is a City of Derby debacle. The fire department has always abided by the process. We will be fined. We don’t know what the fine will be yet. There’s a process. We remediated it quickly, so it could soften the blow.”
In an interview after the Oct. 12 meeting, the mayor pointed out CONN-OSHA’s look at the issue just started.
“We don’t even know if there’s going to be a fine, nobody knows it for sure,” Dziekan said. “If I have to go up and talk to the governor I will. I hope (OSHA) takes into consideration that we are a distressed municipality and there was nothing malicious done here. We rectified the problem. As a first responder, a police officer myself, I don’t want my firefighters at risk. It came to my attention, and we got it solved.”
The issue comes to light as Derby voters get ready to head to the polls on Nov. 7.
Dziekan, the Republican incumbent, is running as a petitioning candidate because his party opted to endorse Second Ward Alderman Gino DiGiovanni, who has federal charges pending in connection to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The Democrats have nominated Joseph DiMartino, a former Derby public works employee and softball coach.
Derby resident Sharlene McEvoy, a retired law professor, is running as a petitioning candidate.
McEvoy declined comment for this story.
DiMartino said the lack of new turnout gear is the administration’s fault.
“This is just one more example where Rich Dzieken’s failure to have an effective capital equipment replacement program has put the lives of the men and women who risk their lives every day in jeopardy,” said DiMartino. “It is simply disgraceful the way that he has treated the members of a fire department during his time in office. As mayor, I will commit to ensure that our firefighters, who are 100 percent volunteer, have the tools they need to do their job without putting them in harm’s way. They deserve nothing less.”
DiGiovanni, who is a member of the capital planning commission, expressed frustration over the commission’s lack of meetings.
“We met once since I became an alderman and there was no quorum,” DiGiovanni said. “The mayor’s chief of staff (Walt Mayhew) knew about the turnout gear because when the tax board was going over the (last) budget, Mayhew took the $50,000 in the line item for gear out of Gary Parker’s budget and put it in the capital plan. Being a police officer for 25 years the mayor should know that public safety and the safety of his emergency services people and their equipment should be a top priority. This is a problem that the city is going to get fined for because of a lack of competence.”
The Valley Indy asked Mayhew to respond to DiGiovanni’s statement.
“Replacement of equipment is a capital expenditure not an ongoing expense. On-going expenses should be a departmental line item,” Mayhew said. “Equipment should be a capital expenditure. That’s just a good financial practice, something that Gino is largely ignorant of. As for the Capital Planning Commission, the mayor, after a number of attempts, finally got a date where he could get a quorum and at the last minute a person had a work responsibility and could not attend. Elected officials fulfilling their duties by attending meetings has been an ongoing problem with both members of the BOAT and members of the BoAA. Both boards have failed numerous times to garner a quorum for meetings.”
The Derby Fire Department has 125 active interior firefighters, 50 exterior firefighters and a handful of junior (under 18) members on its roster. It is a volunteer fire department.
– Eugene Driscoll contributed to this report.
