By Lisa Beisel
The Maryland Gazette
Copyright 2007 Capital Gazette Communications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
RIVIERA BEACH, Md. — More than a year after the 18-foot fire boat Wayne Albrecht donated to the Riviera Beach Fire Company sank while tied to a Pasadena dock, the former head of the company’s marine division is still waiting for an explanation.
In a series of letters to the county Fire Department and the volunteers, Mr. Albrecht said that the boat sank in a marina near volunteer Fire Chief Kenneth Hyde’s home after the chief tried to buy it.
By bringing the long-running dispute to the attention of the county and now the Maryland Gazette, Mr. Albrecht said he wanted to point out questions about management at an organization headed by a troubled leader.
Last month, Chief Hyde was suspended from his position at Riviera Beach after allegations of misconduct. He also has been fired from his job as training chief for the Baltimore fire department after the death of a cadet on Feb. 9.
“I never had any problems with Kenny Hyde... (But) just because Kenny and I were friends doesn’t mean I can’t be outraged at his behavior,” Mr. Albrecht said.
A spokesman for the Riviera Beach firefighters described the dispute differently, and said that Mr. Albrecht is using the current controversy to air old allegations.
Jim List, an attorney for the company’s Board of Directors, said Mr. Albrecht also has feuded with the company over the sale of a van and a boat engine. He said Mr. Albrecht “failed to build consensus” while he headed the Marine Division in 2001.
“For these and other reasons, Mr. Albrecht’s tenure at this company was brief and contentious,” Mr. List said in a prepared statement.
Last month, county Fire Chief David L. Stokes Sr. called on the fire company to change its policies after problems involving harassment, command and the supervision of minors surfaced.
The department began an investigation in July, after Chief Hyde and one of his volunteers accused each other of assault inside the firehouse. The investigation turned up some possibly criminal actions, which were turned over to the police department.
In October 2005, Mr. Albrecht wrote Chief Stokes’ predecessor, Fire Chief Ronald Blackwell, saying he spent $15,000 refurbishing the 1972 Scatcraft and donated it in 2001 with the agreement that if it fell out of use, it would be returned.
Mr. Albrecht wrote that the company decided to return the boat, but couldn’t find the title. After five months, he took the boat back to the station and parked it, notifying a board member that he wanted both the boat and title.
After months of asking for them, Mr. Albrecht said he called Chief Hyde, only to learn that the company had tried to sell it to the firefighter. In his letter to Chief Blackwell, he wrote that the sale price was $3,000.
“When he told me that he bought it, I almost fainted... I had a boat broker look at the boat this past spring. He told me that the book price of the motor alone was worth more than $3,000,” the letter states.
Mr. List, the fire company’s attorney, said that when Mr. Albrecht returned the boat it was put up for sale. Chief Hyde was the highest bidder, but the title was never transferred, the attorney said.
Chief Hyde’s lawyer, Peter O’Neill, said the chief bid $800, not the $3,000 Mr. Albrecht claimed, but agreed with Mr. List that the chief never took the title.
“He doesn’t have the boat, and he’s never taken possession of the boat in individual capacity,” Mr. O’Neill said.
Neither Mr. List nor Mr. O’Neill said why the sale did not go through, or whether it had anything to do with what happened next.
On Dec. 16, 2005, the boat sank while at Bar Harbor Marina. It is the same marina where the volunteers keep other fire boats, and near Chief Hyde’s home.
After meeting with Mr. Albrecht in January 2006, Chief Blackwell agreed to present the information with “appropriate members of our fire department about possible misconduct and other issues involving our members,” according to a letter by the chief.
“At that time, it was determined to be a corporate matter between the fire company and the private owner,” said Battalion Chief Michael Cox, fire department spokesman,
After the boat was salvaged, it remained a commissioned fireboat until July 2006, when it was damaged on Solley Road, according to county records. Today, the boat is still owned the fire company and is being kept at a local auto shop.
Mr. Albrecht no longer wants the boat back, saying he’s tired of fighting for it. But he believes that his letters to Chief Blackwell should have prompted a closer look at the fire company.
“Unfortunately, the county Fire Department sat on their hands and did nothing,” Mr. Albrecht said.