By Andrea F. Siegel and Annie Linskey
The Baltimore Sun
Copyright 2007 The Baltimore Sun Company
All Rights Reserved
BALTIMORE — He is a man whose life has been defined by racing from one emergency to the next during a two-decade career with the Baltimore City Fire Department and with his community volunteer fire company.
His gung-ho style — both as a paid firefighter and advocate for the volunteers — helped him move up the ladder in both organizations, to acting division chief in charge of training in the city and as chief of the Riviera Beach Volunteer Fire Company. He became a local hero when he recovered the first of three missing bodies after a water taxi capsized in the Baltimore Harbor in 2004.
But in the past 10 days, Kenneth B. Hyde Sr. has been suspended from both positions, and is in the midst of probes into a cadet’s death in the city and into allegations of problems at his volunteer firehouse.
It’s an unfamiliar situation for the third-generation firefighter, whose heroics have earned him commendations -- one from the floor of Congress.
“He is a strong man. It is very difficult for him to deal with these allegations,” said his lawyer, Peter S. O’Neill. “He believes he will prevail.”
O’Neill said Hyde would not comment for this article.
Hyde, 41, is a man with detractors and defenders. He is variously described as a person who is unselfishly devoted to saving lives or who takes too many risks, a hotheaded boss or a cool-headed manager.
“The consensus of my membership is that he’s like a cowboy. He’s goes off half-cocked, a loose cannon,” said Rick Schluderberg, the president of Baltimore Firefighters Local 734.
The sentiment is echoed privately by some current and former Riviera Beach volunteers and current and former city firefighters, who say he can be belligerent with subordinates.
Hyde is one of two Baltimore City fire officers suspended without pay Tuesday in the death of cadet Racheal M. Wilson during a training exercise. The department acknowledged that it failed to meet standards of the National Fire Protection Association during that exercise.
Hyde has also been suspended from his role as chief of the Riviera Beach volunteers, first in January when he did not provide documentation of repaying the fire company for use of its credit card several years ago and again a week ago Monday.
An Anne Arundel County probe into the firehouse has turned up reports of sexual activity, firefighters watching pornography on station computers and volunteers going out on calls after drinking alcohol, though he is not suspected of participating directly in those infractions. His 60-day suspension Feb. 5 stems from that.
In addition, the Anne Arundel County Police Department has two investigations of the firehouse under way: one into allegations of a sexual offense there, the other into allegations of financial irregularities.
Another investigation, this begun by the Riviera Beach Volunteer Fire Company’s board, was into his use of its credit card, which Hyde characterized as rehashing a matter that was resolved in 2004. He reportedly said that after his 1996 bankruptcy, he was unable to get credit and had permission to use a Riviera Beach credit card for work and then reimburse the fire company.
O’Neill said his client is not at fault in the city’s fatal fire Friday. He was not responsible for the safety supervision of Wilson, O’Neill said, though the city department said he was designated as the safety officer for the exercise. In that role, his entire job is supposed to be ensuring that risks are minimized.
Capt. Brian Edwards, who worked in the Baltimore City Fire department’s training academy for six years, described Hyde as a “conscientious” individual and a man who is easy to work with. However, Edwards said that Hyde was “overwhelmed by his position” as the head of the academy.
Baltimore City Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. appointed Hyde to be the director of the training academy in 2005, a move criticized by some.
“They put him position where he was doomed to fail,” said Edwards, who was assigned away from the academy shortly after Hyde arrived. “He was not familiar enough with the training at the academy to take a class out to an outside burn, and he did not know the requirements. He did not know the procedures.”
Rick Binetti, communications director for the Fire Department noted that Hyde rose through the ranks for 19 years before he was appointed to lead the training academy.
“Anything that he was challenged to do in the Fire Department, he just did a stellar job at,” Binetti said.
But not all of Hyde’s subordinates shared a rosy view of his leadership style. A dispute between him and a volunteer last summer landed in District Court in Annapolis — each accused the other of assault — but ended with each agreeing not to pursue it and the state’s attorney’s office deciding not to prosecute.
Ray Smallwood, chief of the Maryland City Volunteer Fire Company, who has known Hyde for 20 years, describes Hyde as “forward-thinking” and an exceptional advocate for volunteers.
The Riviera Beach firehouse has a reputation for sending volunteers out the door to help other companies -- back-ups, fill-ins, transfers -- in part because it is a large company, Smallwood noted. It has about 70 members trained to respond to emergencies.
But there is a flip side to that, Smallwood said: “Sometimes when you have a large contingency, you need more supervision.”
John Long, former chief of the Lake Shore Volunteer Fire Company, recalled working a 2005 fire in Annapolis’ Historic District with Hyde, and he credited his quick thinking with stopping the fire from spreading.
“He cut through the roof,” Long said. Then Hyde directed the men to cut a hole from one building into the next to attack the fire at the second floor.
Hyde grew up in the fire service, He met his wife, Sherry, when he was a teen volunteer at the station in Orchard Beach, which, like Riviera Beach, is in Pasadena.
“His resume notes that he graduated No. 1 in his fire academy class on Aug. 25, 1986. He has been a member of six specialized units, including the urban rescue and high-rise aerial teams.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 2000, hazardous materials coordinator in 2002, captain in 2004 and battalion commander in 2005. Most recently, he assumed the job of acting division chief and director of training.
He has been decorated many times over in Baltimore and Anne Arundel County, commended for rescuing an elderly woman from a fire as well as a firefighter.
In 2005, he was hailed by Baltimore magazine as one of its Baltimoreans of the Year for his actions after the water taxi capsized in 2004. He also received his department’s Heroic Service Award medal. and Rep. C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger lauded him in November 2005 for his efforts after the accident and with helping with the cleanup after Hurricane Katrina.