By Alexander MacInnes
The Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)
PATERSON, N.J. — A Paterson fire captain is serving a one-year prison term in Pennsylvania for his third drunken driving offense, yet continues to pull a 24-hour shift at a firehouse almost 70 miles away.
Capt. Thomas Alala, 42, reported to Northampton County Prison in Easton, Pa., on Friday. But on Monday, he was back at work in Paterson. Under the terms of a work release program, he is allowed to leave prison for 72 hours each week so he can continue working.
, who lives in Oak Ridge, in Morris County, was arrested in Pennsylvania in 2006 for driving under the influence. Because it was his third offense in 10 years, he was sentenced to a mandatory one-year prison term.
Paterson’s acting Fire Director Glenn Brown said Tuesday he was unaware of Alala’s arrest, much less that the captain remained on active duty while serving time in prison almost 70 miles away. Alala, sentenced on April 29, is the third city fire official either arrested or sentenced for alcohol-related driving incidents in as many months.
A deputy chief was arrested in March for allegedly driving while intoxicated and last week, a firefighter was arrested in Passaic for suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
“That’s unbelievable,” said a frustrated Brown of the Alala sentencing.
“It’s just a rash of these incidents,” he added.
Paterson fire Chief Michael Postorino did not return a telephone call seeking comment, but Brown said the department would investigate and take administrative action against Alala for not reporting his 2006 arrest to his supervisors — a violation of department regulations, Brown said.
“The Fire Department had no information concerning this incident,” Brown said.
On Aug. 6, 2006, Alala was driving home on his motorcycle from a music festival in Bethlehem when he lost control on an Interstate 78 onramp. He apparently took the turn too quickly and was slightly injured in his fall. He was transported to a local hospital, Blake said.
Alala’s blood-alcohol level, measured at .18, exceeded the state’s highest threshold of .16, according to court papers.
Alala could not be reached for comment, and his Pennsylvania-based attorney did not return calls. But, William Blake, assistant district attorney for Northampton County said that because Alala was convicted twice before in New Jersey, Pennsylvania law required the judge to sentence him to a mandatory one-year prison term.
It is unclear how Alala gets to and from work in Paterson, because his driver’s license is suspended in Pennsylvania.
He was convicted in 2002 and 2004 in New Jersey, Blake said. There is no record that he was suspended from the Fire Department for those cases, according to Maryann Jemison, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
Alala, who made close to $100,000 last year, was hired by the Fire Department in 1986. He was honored in 2000 by a Passaic County civic organization for his work to rescue people trapped in an attic during a fire that year. He received a valor award and was one of hundreds of firefighters who helped dig two men from the tons of twisted steel and concrete rubble after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.
As for the current charge, Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres said there is a “strong likelihood” that Alala will be dismissed from his job, but that the department will first bring administrative charges against him.
Asked if there was an alcohol abuse problem within the Fire Department, Torres said he recognizes there could be one, or a perception of one. He said the new five-year contracts covering the city’s fire personnel, which was ratified by the unions last year, has a new drug and alcohol program, which includes more testing and a clearer definition of penalties for failing those tests.
That contract has not been approved by the City Council, but Brian Burns, the union president for captains, said the new policy would be good for the city and his members.
“There is no test right now,” Burns said. “The (new) policy protects the city. It also gives members a chance to come forward if they have a dependency problem, whereas now if someone has a problem it’s so gray, they wouldn’t know what their penalty would be.”
Copyright 2008, Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)