N.C. fire Capt. appeals firing over policy issues

In his termination letter, fire officials said he was leaving the station without permission which violated city and departmental policy

November 20, 2014 08:33 AM

Star-News

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A Wilmington Fire Department captain who was fired from the job is appealing the termination to the city’s Civil Service Commission, which has the authority to reinstate him.

The fired captain, Donald Ragavage, is also the current president of the Wilmington Professional Firefighters Association that represents local firefighters.

A hearing that began Wednesday morning will reconvene after Thanksgiving, when Ragavage is set to speak before the commission.

Fire Chief Buddy Martinette fired Ragavage on Sept. 9. Ragavage later appealed to the Civil Service Commission, which considers appeals from police and firefighters who have been dismissed or demoted.

Attorneys for the city and Ragavage called and questioned witnesses at Wednesday’s hours-long hearing, held in a conference room in Wilmington’s City Hall.

Central to the termination are two separate situations involving Ragavage and Fire Station 15 on Masonboro Loop Road.

On July 8, Ragavage clocked out of his job and left his post at Station 15 for about 15 minutes.

Speaking before the commission, Battalion Chief David Hines said Ragavage told him he left the station to assist his wife at a nearby grocery store. (Another fire official said he understood she had car trouble.)

Hines said Ragavage told him he did not personally call and ask the battalion chief on duty for permission to leave.

In Ragavage’s termination letter, Martinette wrote that Ragavage leaving without permission violated city and departmental policy.

Fire Capt. Chris Miller, who was an acting battalion chief that day, told the commission three firefighters are needed to be assigned to an engine or truck for the apparatus to be in service. Three firefighters were assigned to Station 15 that day, Miller said. While Ragavage was away from the station for roughly 15 minutes, the station’s truck had to go out of service, he said.

During the hearing, there was some discussion about whether Ragavage gave an interview with a reporter with a local television station while he was clocked out. Miller said Ragavage told him that day he had spoken with a reporter. Hines said Ragavage told him he did not speak to a reporter while on duty or on city property.

Regardless, Ragavage was not disciplined for speaking to the media but for leaving the station, Martinette said.

In Ragavage’s termination letter, Martinette said Ragavage also violated city policy in a separate incident on Aug. 1.

Shortly before 1 a.m. that morning, Ragavage sent a text message to the battalion chief on duty, Tom Robinson. In the message, Ragavage said he had allowed a firefighter to leave Station 15 to attend to a family emergency and that their truck was out of service because there were only two firefighters at the station.

Robinson did not read the message until around 3 a.m., when he woke up when he was alerted of a tornado watch. Had Robinson gotten word closer to midnight, he said he would have called an off-duty firefighter in to work so the engine could remain in service that night.

In the hearing, Martinette questioned why Ragavage would not call Robinson to tell him.

In the termination letter, Martinette faulted Ragavage for failing to provide proper notice to his battalion chief. Closing the station endangered the safety of everyone served by the fire station, Martinette wrote.