Demotion, suspension for Ohio fire chief in sex-case coverup

Battalion Chief Gerald C. Birkhimer did not follow the division’s chain of command and ignored division policy, allowing a firefighter to have an affair with a young woman while on duty

February 25, 2014 03:07 AM

The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus fire battalion chief will likely be suspended for six weeks and demoted for his role in the coverup of a sex scandal at a West Side fire station.

Battalion Chief Gerald C. Birkhimer did not follow the division’s chain of command and ignored division policy, allowing Firefighter Marc Cain to have an affair with a young woman while on duty, Fire Chief Gregory A. Paxton determined in departmental charges he signed on Friday. Paxton found Birkhimer guilty of 21 violations, including dishonesty, insubordination and neglect of duty.

Paxton recommended suspending Birkhimer without pay for 240 hours demoting him to captain. The final decision rests with Mitchell J. Brown, the city’s public safety director.

Paxton recommended firing Cain weeks ago for violating more than a dozen division policies related to the affair. Brown is expected to decide Cain’s fate in the next few weeks.

Cain, 48, admitted to sending the woman pictures of his genitals while on duty and that they engaged in oral sex while on city property.

He denied ever having sex with the woman inside Station 17 on the Hilltop or during the times he let her ride on fire equipment during emergency runs.

Birkhimer, 48, was transferred from Station 17 more than a year ago after he and firefighter Katelyn Neil admitted they put chicken underneath the seat of Cain’s car. The chicken was there for weeks and rotted.

Neil was also transferred to another station.

That incident happened before Cain’s co-workers became aware of his affair.

Firefighters told investigators the move was meant as message not to be a snitch about things that happened at the station.

One firefighter told investigators that many at the station believed Neil and Birkhimer were having an affair.

Neil and Birkhimer told investigators the rotting chicken was an innocent prank. They both said they did not have an affair when questioned by investigators.

Neil, Birkhimer and Cain have declined comment.