By Jonathan D. Silver
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. — In light of charges that a North Versailles volunteer firefighter drove a fire engine while drunk, police Chief James Comunale said he will ask commissioners to review training procedures and background checks.
“They should not be coming to fires if they’re intoxicated,” Chief Comunale said yesterday. “You know what kills me? Why are we having this conversation?”
The chief plans to make his recommendations Monday to the township’s commissioners at the swearing-in ceremony welcoming newly elected members of the board.
Prompting the chief’s comments was an incident Sunday involving Shawn Dixon, 27, of North Versailles, a firefighter with the West Wilmerding volunteer department.
Police charged Mr. Dixon with driving under the influence, cocaine possession and not having the commercial driver’s license needed to operate a fire truck.
Mr. Dixon recently left another local department and was taken on at West Wilmerding on a probationary status, West Wilmerding fire Chief Daniel Duncan said.
Chief Duncan said he suspended Mr. Dixon and planned to dismiss him.
Mr. Dixon was taken into custody around 2:15 a.m. Sunday after he drove a fire engine to a routine call in North Versailles.
At the scene, he was approached by North Versailles police Detective Scott Kucic, who intended to inform the firefighter that the call was for a minor kitchen fire.
Detective Kucic said he noticed Mr. Dixon’s eyes were glassy, his speech was slurred and he was making furtive movements before he exited the fire rig.
Mr. Dixon failed field sobriety tests, and he stated that he had consumed as much as a six-pack of beer before the call, he said.
Mr. Dixon had a small amount of cocaine wrapped inside a dollar bill, police said. About two grams more of the drug were found in the suspect’s wallet in the fire truck, police said.
Mr. Dixon could not be reached for comment. Chief Duncan said Mr. Dixon took it upon himself to drive the fire engine to the scene even though he was not cleared to do so.
Chief Duncan said engine drivers in his department need to take courses through the state fire academy — he was unaware whether Mr. Dixon had done so for other fire companies — and then need to meet his own qualifications. That did not occur.
“The guy was only a firefighter for about a month at our station. He was never qualified to drive the truck, never told he was allowed to drive the truck,” Chief Duncan said. “He took the truck on his own.”
Chief Duncan, 28, said his department has a “zero tolerance” policy toward showing up at fire scenes after drinking alcohol.
He drew a distinction between Mr. Dixon’s case and an incident involving himself.
East McKeesport police charged Chief Duncan in November with driving under the influence, careless driving and driving at an unsafe speed. He has a court date scheduled for Jan. 31.
“I had a couple of drinks. I hit a curb. It’s none of your business. He was driving a fire truck. I was driving my vehicle,” Chief Duncan said.
Individual local fire departments are on their own when it comes to background checks and job qualifications. No federal or state rules apply.
North Versailles commissioners Dennis and Bryan Dull, a father-and-son team, would like the township to exert more influence over its three fire companies, because residents pay them about $180,000 a year through a “fire tax.”
“We need to have some more control as a township with these volunteer firemen since tax dollars are being handed to them,” Dennis Dull said.
The Dulls said the fire departments squabble over their portion of the fire tax, argue over who is called first to fire scenes and have poor communication with one another.
“We do have several small problems we have to get ironed out,” Dennis Dull said.
Dennis Dull recalled an incident about six years ago when a North Versailles firefighter driving a fire truck was drunk. He was relieved of duty but not arrested.
He said most fire companies have policies dealing with alcohol and the situation is hardly out of control.
“Every time they show up at a fire we’re not going to have police officers doing Breathalyzers,” he said. “It’s not like they’re stumbling all over the place and guys are falling over the trucks.”
However, he also noted that stations are often affiliated with social halls where alcohol is served.
“When a fire whistle blows, they feel like they haven’t drank that much and can handle things, but they don’t realize they are impaired a little bit and it creates some problems.”
Copyright 2008 P.G. Publishing Co.