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Firefighters threaten to quit if chief not replaced in MN town
33 of the 36 firefighters signed a vote of no confidence after what they describe as safety issues and communication issues
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Wear and tear on firefighter gear can be dangerous.
“If that fails, it’ll be fatal,” said Princeton Fire and Rescue Department assistant chief Josh Vaccari while showing a mask damaged in a training exercise. “It’s the only thing that protects a firefighter from 600 degrees of fire and hot gases.”
From compromised gear to trucks with broken safety features that they claim have not been repaired, firefighters in Princeton are fed up with it.
“When the chief was told we had to make those repairs, he said it was not in the budget to make those repairs,” Vaccari said.
Those issues, combined with what they claim is a lack of communication and billing issues with the townships they serve, have Vaccari and many others publicly criticizing their chief.
“It’s very awkward,” he said.
The Princeton Fire Department is a paid-on-call volunteer department made up of 36 firefighters. Of that group, 33 recently presented a signed vote of no confidence in their Chief Ron Lawrence to the city council.
Now, the firefighters have given city leaders an ultimatum. If they don’t get the response they want from the city by Feb. 8 — termination of the fire chief — Vaccari claims two-thirds of the department say they’ll quit.
“The firefighters don’t trust the chief. They don’t feel safe working for him anymore. And that’s why we’re putting our foot down,” Vaccari said. “If all those repairs are made and we had a different chief, we would stay.”
Blue Hill Township ended its contract with Princeton Fire last summer, and Vaccari claims two others are threatening to leave as well.
Viccari said they don’t want to quit.
“We’re a family. It’s like leaving a family,” he said.
But he says the problems have reached a critical point.
“If we can’t do our jobs effectively, the citizens are at risk.”
City response
Princeton City Administrator Michele McPherson issued a long, detailed statement in response to the threat of quitting and accusations made — stating that accusations made about Chief Lawrence do not meet the legal standard appropriate for termination of employment.
“The City of Princeton is still in the process of attempting to determine how many of the members actually agree with this threat,” McPherson wrote.
The city has hired an outside firm to conduct a workplace assessment including detailed, confidential interviews with each member of Princeton Fire and Rescue. That process has not been completed.
“The current dynamics within the PFRD go well beyond dissatisfaction with the Fire Chief, and the workplace assessment is specifically designed to address this situation in a comprehensive fashion. However, rather than allow the workplace assessment process to proceed, certain members of the PFRD leadership decided to threaten the City with a walk-out unless their unilateral demand to terminate the Fire Chief is met, regardless of propriety or legality,” McPherson wrote. “The members of the PFRD are heroes; each and every one. This includes Chief Lawrence, who has spent 30 years serving and protecting the residents of the City of Princeton.”
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Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
