By Cynthia Daniels and John Ghirardini
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just one day after the city of Sandy Springs hired its first fire chief, a report found problems with disorganization, short-staffing and a lack of oversight in the Gwinnett County department he used to run.
On Wednesday night, Jack McElfish, who will build Sandy Springs’ 91-person Fire Department from the ground up, called the opportunity a “neat challenge.”
“Very few fire chiefs get to go into a new city and a new place and be able to start from scratch,” he said.
But Thursday, McElfish found himself defending his work in Gwinnett. In February, he was forced to resign after an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that as many as 30 public and private schools hadn’t undergone routine fire inspections.
An audit of the Gwinnett County fire marshal’s office, which was released Thursday, listed 59 recommendations for improving that operation — ranging from better communications to technological upgrades to adding personnel.
The city of Sandy Springs was fully aware of what happened in Gwinnett when it chose McElfish for the $100,000-a-year position from 53 applicants, said John McDonough, Sandy Springs’ city manager.
“It was one of the first things we talked about,” McDonough said Thursday. “We weighed that against his experience, his commitment, where he has worked. This guy’s got 40-plus years’ experience.”
McElfish started firefighting at 16 and boasts experience with the Air Force and several fire departments along the East Coast.
In 1990, he joined the Clayton County Fire Department. Five years later, he became fire chief in Richmond, where he installed innovative equipment that saved the city an estimated $13 million over 15 years and implemented a fire education program that gave away 8,000 smoke detectors.
McElfish said he wasn’t to blame for the problems in Gwinnett.
The audit, according to Jock Connell, the Gwinnett County administrator who forced McElfish to resign, didn’t focus on the former chief.
“It was strictly [examining] strengths, deficiencies and ways we can improve the fire marshal’s office,” Connell said. “I’m glad Jack found something he’s happy with. I think Jack’s a great guy ... his management style and my management style weren’t the same, and we were going in a different direction.”
McElfish looks forward to building a new department. “My philosophy is we see people on the worst day of their lives a lot of times,” he said. “How can we help these people? What do we have to do to make their lives easier?”
Staff writers Doug Nurse, Duane Stanford and Lateef Mungin contributed to this article.