By Allison Wichie
The Dayton Daily News
NEW CARLISLE, Ohio — The investigation into serious allegations against New Carlisle Fire Chief Bradley Phillips uncovered no wrongdoing on his part but did expose ways the department could save money.
The city spent just shy of $10,000 to bring in two experts for an external investigation -- but the men found ways to save the fire department $13,000.
“To be honest I was a little upset because the city had to expend resources that we wouldn’t have to expend, but it was a blessing in disguise,” said Randy Bridge, New Carlisle’s city manager.
Attorney Larry Bennett, who specializes in cases of fire science, and Bill Kramer, an ex-fire chief who now heads the Fire Science Department at the University of Cincinnati, conducted their investigation in June.
Their goal was to review the list of allegations against Phillips and the way he ran the department, Bridge said.
Kramer and Bennett offered to interview any firefighter in the department that wanted to be part of the investigation and over the course of two days they talked to 19 people, the report states.
But some members of the fire department are unhappy about Bennett and Kramer’s work and conclusions, said Assistant Fire Chief Ward Moeller.
He said the outcome was not an investigation, but rather a “consultation” that didn’t dig into the serious misconduct alleged against Phillips.
“It was not an investigation at all,” Ward said. “The city hired two consultants who had no intention to look for wrongdoing.”
A letter believed to be written by a group of anonymous New Carlisle firefighters back in April sparked the investigation.
The letter, simply signed “The volunteers and part-time staff of the New Carlisle Fire and EMS Division,” expressed concerns about safety and morale in the department. It also alleged inadequate leadership and misuse of department money by Phillips.
The experts concluded Phillips did nothing wrong, but did make suggestions for ways the division could improve its operations.
Phillips said he is happy he can move forward in his work, although he knows some people aren’t happy with the outcome of the probe.
“I think there may be some that aren’t satisfied, but we (the city) spent money to get the answers we needed to get,” Phillips said.
The answers included suggestions to save the department money, which could then be used to staff more positions.
Two assistant fire chief stipends will be eliminated into one battalion chief position, Bridge said, which will save the city $13,000.
The experts also suggested the city fire department form a safety committee and recruitment strategy to address concerns of staffing and emergency response times originally brought up in the anonymous complaints against Phillips.
Phillips has assigned employees to both work groups, and Bridge said he will meet with the chief within the next week to discuss their progress.
Staffing and the need to hire more firefighters and medics is now a priority of the city, Bridge said.
“We do need to hire additional staff and that will put us in a better place to utilize our other fire department resources -- namely our second medic,” he said.
The firehouse is currently staffed by two people around the clock, Phillips said. But money saved by the elimination of the assistant chief’s stipend will go towards the department’s goal of more staffing.
That would better prepare the firehouse to respond to emergencies and ensure that the city would not miss out on the money billed to fire departments when a medic call in the city has to be filled by a mutual aid from another neighboring department, he added.
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