By Terrance Vestal
Silver City Sun-News
SILVER CITY, N.M. — Grant County has launched an investigation into allegations against a volunteer fire department chief whose actions during the Quail Ridge Fire earlier this month might have led to the loss of at least one home, Grant County Manager Jon Saari said Wednesday.
The complaint was filed against Whiskey Creek Volunteer Fire Department Chief Justin Toney by the department’s secretary, Matthew G. Robertson, and was sent to the state Fire Marshal’s Office and the Grant County administration.
According to Robertson’s complaint, during the March 7 fire that destroyed 13 homes, “there was at least one residential structure lost as a result of Chief Toney’s failure to allow his crews to follow the incident commander’s instructions.”
The next day, during the mop-up of the fire, Robertson alleges that Toney purposely disabled the pump engine on the department’s main brush engine.
Robertson, who has been with the department since July 2010, according to his complaint, also alleges that Toney conducted a live fire training exercise in February without a safety officer present.
“As a result, one firefighter suffered minor first-degree burns, another firefighter’s gear was damaged to the extent of needing replacement and the chief denies any and all responsibility for the incident,” Robertson states in his complaint.
Saari said he has forwarded the complaint to Gary Benavidez, the Grant County Fire Management officer, to investigate the allegations.
“Because of the nature of the allegations, we obviously are taking this very seriously,” Saari said.
Toney on Wednesday, however, said Robertson, who currently is on suspension for “not following standard operating procedures,” has a personal beef with him and that the allegations are groundless.
“I’m not sure what he means by not following orders,” Toney said of the alleged Quail Ridge Fire incident. “We followed every order we were given.”
Toney said Robertson “has been a problem ever since he started.”
“He is insubordinate, he gets loud with officers and shows rudeness to the public,” Toney said.
Robertson also has alleged that paperwork and reports are missing or were never generated and some equipment, such as hoses and hydrants, hasn’t been tested in 10 years. Robertson claims Toney instructed him to “back date training records, apparatus inspection records and falsify other paperwork” in order to comply with state statutes and Insurance Services Office requirements.
“These problems all add up to a culture of arrogance, apathy and indifference,” Robertson states.
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