By Michael Gartland
The Record

DUMONT, N.J. — Borough officials announced the suspension of Fire Chief Jason Dalton on Monday as the state's Fire Safety Division investigates a training exercise that went awry in September.

Five Dumont firefighters — two of them teenagers — had to be hospitalized after an exercise at a Wyandotte Avenue residence that was later demolished, Borough Administrator John Perkins said.

Instead of using the borough's smoke machine to simulate the conditions of a blaze, supervisors employed smoke bombs, he said.

"Five firefighters were hurt because they were exposed to the smoke," he said. "They weren't wearing masks."

Perkins suspended Dalton late last week after learning that the state Division of Fire Safety had begun an investigation into the matter. He said he does not know how long the investigation or Dalton's suspension would last.

Eric Bernstein, Dumont's labor attorney, said the borough is considering whether it should conduct its own investigation and expects to make that determination this week.

Criminal charges have not been brought, he said.

Dalton could not be reached for comment Monday.

Dumont firefighters don't normally conduct practice drills in borough residences and they usually don't use smoke bombs, Perkins said. But the house on Wyandotte Avenue was to be destroyed, and the borough's smoke machine was not working, he said.

So the firefighters used smoke bombs. The instructions that accompany them warn firefighters to wear masks and respirators when conducting an exercise.

"It's my understanding that everyone at the scene was told they were supposed to wear respirators and masks," Perkins said.

It is unclear whether the teenagers should have participated in the exercise.

"I know they have to be supervised at a drill," Perkins said. "I don't know what the status of that was. That's what the state is investigating."

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