By Peter Currier
The Sun
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — The Chelmsford Firefighters IAFF Local 1839 announced in a letter Monday morning to the Select Board and acting Town Manager John Sousa that the union members gave a vote of no-confidence in the leadership of Fire Chief Gary Ryan in a recent union meeting.
In a statement given to The Sun Monday in conjunction with the letter, union President Robert Albon said the vote of the union members was unanimous, and followed “years of unresolved staffing deficiencies, failed communication, and lack of advocacy affecting the health and safety of its members and the community at large.”
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“The members of Local 1839 remain fully committed to this department and this community. The operational capability, institutional knowledge, and professional dedication built within this department are not in question. What is in question is whether Fire Chief Gary Ryan is capable of leading it,” said Albon. “An internal survey of department personnel indicated that respondents overwhelmingly believe Chief Ryan is not the appropriate individual to lead the department.”
Albon listed multiple concerns raised by Chelmsford firefighters in their responses to the survey, which included “ongoing staffing shortages, a lack of clear direction from the Chief’s office, the absence of established standard operating procedures, and a prevailing sentiment that the department continues to function in spite of, rather than because of, what the union views as a failure of leadership.”
Albon also cited “voluntary budget reductions” made by the department and the return of more than $2.5 million in personnel funds to the town between fiscal 2015 and 2025, despite the staffing shortages the department has faced.
“Chelmsford apparatus are generally staffed with two firefighters and no company officer, well below the minimum recommended national standards outlines in National Fire Protection Association 1710. Over a ten-year period, the department recorded six civilian deaths across 307 fire incidents,” said Albon. “An arbitration award secured through contract negotiations now requires at least one apparatus staffed with three firefighters at all times. The Fire Station Study Committee independently concluded that additional staffing was necessary. Despite both findings, Local 1839 believes Chief Ryan has neither advanced the recommended improvements nor effectively advocated for any path to accomplish them.”
On April 7, Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale was working his second job as a part-time training instructor at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy in Stow when he fell 40 feet off the facility’s burn building onto the concrete below, sustaining life-threatening injuries. Spinale survived, and has since been released from the hospital to continue his rehabilitation at home, but the incident also sparked tensions between the union and Ryan.
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Because Spinale had been working a different job, town leadership took the position that the town could not provide Spinale with the injury benefits he would get if he had been injured while actively working as a Chelmsford firefighter. Gov. Maura Healey has since stepped in by filing legislation to grant Spinale with full injury benefits while he recovers, and the town placed Spinale on paid administrative leave in the meantime, which will later be compensated by the state.
“Following a member injury at the Massachusetts Fire Academy in April 2026, Chief Ryan issued no response to the Local’s request for a temporary coverage solution and, more notably, never once addressed his own department regarding the injury of one of its members,” said Albon. “A public records request confirmed the absence of any direct communication from the Chief’s office to Local Union leaders. The only response came from former Town Manager Paul Cohen, who stated that Chief Ryan’s efforts would remain confidential.”
“The residents of Chelmsford pay for a fire department. They are entitled to a Fire Chief who converts that investment into effective emergency response. Local 1839 does not believe Chief Ryan is doing so in an effective manner,” Albon’s letter concluded.
In a phone call with The Sun Monday afternoon, Sousa came to Ryan’s defense, and said he disagrees “with several statements in the five-page letter.”
“Gary Ryan is one of the finest people I have ever met, and the town of Chelmsford is fortunate to have him,” said Sousa.
Sousa highlighted Ryan’s efforts over the years to keep the department’s equipment and fire apparatus upgraded, the effort to provide PFAS-free turnout gear to the department’s firefighters, and Ryan’s advocacy for the replacement of two of the department’s aging fire stations.
Sousa also pushed back against the union’s claim of poor communication from Ryan to the Fire Department staff, citing monthly command staff meetings and an open door policy Ryan maintains.
Sousa disputed multiple claims made by the union in the letter, including the claim that the union created the “Get Alarmed Chelmsford” program in the wake of a double fatal fire in October of last year, which Sousa said was “a joint effort” between Fire Department leadership and the union.
On the claims by the union of inadequate staffing, Sousa said one part of the problem has been high sick time usage among firefighters, which has downstream effects on the cost of overtime.
“The issue is that you have people calling out sick, and then you have to bring in firefighters to fill those shifts,” said Sousa.
Between November and mid-May, Sousa said there were 63 “callback shifts” where a firefighter took sick leave or other forms of leave, and their shift had to be filled by another firefighter working overtime. Of those 63 callback shifts, Sousa said, 25 were not filled at all, and four were only partially filled. Sousa noted that the issue of balanced sick leave usage in fire departments is not unique to Chelmsford.
“I don’t think it is a coincidence that this vote is taking place at a time when the union is at a collective bargaining impasse with the town,” said Sousa.
The Sun reached out to Ryan for comment Monday morning, but he said in a response that The Sun’s message was the first he had heard of the union’s vote, and that he would issue a formal response after he had time to review the union’s letter.
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