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SOUTH WEBER, Davis County — A day after promising the mass resignation of firefighters, South Weber Fire Capt. Derek Tolman said he's hopeful that talks with city administrators will result in safer equipment and protocols for the department.
Tolman announced during a City Council meeting Tuesday that all South Weber firefighters "will no longer be members of this fire department."
Also in that meeting, residents blasted the City Council and mayor for firing Assistant Fire Chief Frank Patrick and asking Fire Chief Thomas Graydon to step down.
Patrick was accused of falsifying work records, and Graydon says he was pressured to step down over disagreements about how to discipline the assistant chief.
But Tolman, who was named interim chief Wednesday afternoon, says safety concerns are the true impetus of the threatened resignation.
"Currently, we have a ladder truck that is 40 years old, and we have our engine that we operate out of that's 20 years old," he said.
Firefighting data show that outdated and faulty equipment typically lead to a "higher rate of injuries," Tolman said. He also takes issue with fire safety protocol within South Weber.
"The way it's currently structured, there is no guarantee that at any time there will be somebody in the city covering the city from a fire standpoint," he said, noting that assistance from nearby fire jurisdictions is helpful but sometimes not close enough for an immediate response.
Tolman said he believes that discussions with City Manager Tom Smith are going in the right direction and could result in current fire crews staying with the city.
Smith said late Tuesday night he had a "positive" meeting with firefighters and plans to recommend a rebuild of the department. He did not elaborate on the plan, noting that it's ultimately up to the mayor and City Council.
"We hope to reach a resolution by early November," Smith said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Smith said Graydon decided not to fire Patrick shortly before he was asked to step down.
Graydon said he was told he had wide discretion over how to handle the discipline of Patrick. The chief said Patrick was allegedly discovered to have included the name of his wife, who was also with the fire department, on records of fire calls so she would be compensated even though she hadn't responded to those incidents.
After Graydon decided he would demote Patrick and make him a probationary firefighter with the department, he said, Smith changed course and demanded that he fire Patrick.
Graydon said he conferred a second time with his agency's administrators and decided Patrick would be fired. Despite that decision, Graydon said Smith organized a meeting with him and Mayor Tamara Long on Monday and asked him to step down.
Graydon was one of several people to criticize city officials Tuesday, saying they "let me down completely."
Smith said city administrators have been worried about the leadership of the South Weber Fire Department.
"We were concerned about the judgment and the direction of the department," he said. "The mayor oversees the affairs with employing and discipline of those individuals as executives."
Contributing: Mike Anderson, Andrew Adams
