By Anne M. Amato
Connecticut Post Online (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
SHELTON, Conn. — Remaining a focus of controversy, the city fire marshal is under fire again for taking his two children to a fire scene late Friday night.
Fire Marshal Jim Tortora admitted taking the children to a car fire on Hull Street around midnight, but said he was not in violation of any city policy.
“They keep bringing this up,” he said. “This is nothing but a personal attack on me and it is utterly ridiculous.”
Tortora said there is nothing wrong with what he did Friday night.
“I wasn’t going to leave my children home alone,” he said.
A city alderman filed a complaint with the Board of Fire Commissioners in March after Tortora brought the children to a fire on Meadow Ridge.
Alderman Jack Finn, D-1, who at the time saw the children in Tortora’s city car with the lights flashing, said he was worried then about potential city liability had the children been hurt.
The board issued an order that nondepartment personnel cannot accompany anyone responding to an emergency with a city vehicle in response mode, meaning with flashing lights and sirens.
When Tortora brought his son to an accident in August, that prompted the board to reaffirm its order. “Obviously, we need to send another memo that flat out says this won’t be tolerated,” Commissioner David Sekelsky said at the time.
The board also decided to review the car use policy for all Fire Department vehicles, saying the existing policy is outdated.
Tortora is not facing any penalty for Friday’s incident.
“I’m really concerned about this,” Commissioner Bruce Kosowsky said about the latest case; he declined to comment further.
“I don’t know the whole story,” he said.
Finn also expressed concern.
“This could be insubordination on the fire marshal’s part,” he said. “He also seems to have a lack of safety for his two children.”
But two fire officials said they understand Tortora’s dilemma.
“There’s been plenty of times that I took my kid or wife or mother to the scene of a fire,” Fire Chief John Millo said. “It was when I was showing up to supervise, so I don’t see any problem with what the fire marshal did Friday night.”
While Commissioner Justin Sabatino said it is not a good practice, he admitted to doing the same thing.
“I’ve taken my own kids to fire scenes and that’s when they were still in car seats,” Sabatino said. But he believes it is not right to take the children “out of a warm bed” to go to a fire scene.
“As a parent, I just wouldn’t do that,” Sabatino said.
But he called the latest allegation against Tortora a witch hunt.
“There are some people who will do anything to discredit him,” he said.
Millo agrees.
“I think it might just be more of a personal matter,” the chief said.
Last week, Tortora did not show up at a commission meeting to help select a fire inspector candidate. The board raised concerns about the declining number of inspections performed by Tortora’s office in the past six years.
“It’s a public safety issue,” Sekelsky said.
The board also recently requested Tortora’s work time sheets, but none were found.
Officials from the State’s Attorney’s Office have also been investigating Tortora.