Tag Archives: DCFEMS

DCFEMS Dismissed from L’Enfant Plaza Suit

A US District Court judge today dismissed the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department from the mass tort suit involving the L’Enfant Plaza smoke incident. The incident occurred in 2015 when an electrical problem caused power cables to begin emitting large quantities of smoke inside a metro tunnel.

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DC Chief Acknowledges Mistake on Discipline

Here is a followup on the story from Monday about the DC fire lieutenant who retired and escaped discipline. Lt. Guy Valentine was accused of a delaying his response to the choking death of 18-month-old Martin Cuesta on March 18, 2015. Despite being three blocks from the scene, it took crews nearly 11 minutes to arrive on scene. Lt. Valentine reportedly retired over the holidays as he awaited a trial board on disciplinary charges.

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Retirement of DC Lieutenant Raises Question of Pension Following Dishonorable Service

Today’s burning question: Can a firefighter who is facing disciplinary action, avoid facing any punishment for his misconduct by quickly retiring before he can be terminated? Answer: An employee can resign at any time and there is nothing an employer can do to stop a separation of service from occurring. However, the employee’s entitlement to a pension is another story. A pension can be conditioned on honorable service.

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DC Finally Settles Decades Old Overtime Suit for $45 million

A contentious overtime battle in the Nation’s Capital that goes back to the 1990s has finally been settled… this time for real!!! Last January DC agreed to settle a suit brought by firefighters over the payment of overtime for $47 million. However, it wasn’t until yesterday that the parties finally worked out all the details and signed the agreement bringing the matter to an end.

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Fire Law Podcast: DC Battalion Chief’s Demotion Reversed

In this podcast District of Columbia Battalion Chief Richard Sterne explains the circumstances surrounding his demotion by Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe for not finding two officers guilty of charges at a disciplinary hearing. Curt Varone and DC Attorney Jim Pressler review the facts, the law and the politics behind the scene in the Nation’s Capitol.

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DC Settles Overtime Suit for $47 Million

The District of Columbia has agreed to settle a decades-old dispute with firefighters over the payment of overtime. The case dates back to the 1990s when the District increased the firefighters hours from 42 to 53. Congress had appointed a special board and granted it broad powers to address the city’s financial instability ...

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DC Failure to Act Update

The family of the man who died last January across the street from a DC firehouse had a chance to confront Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe last night at a neighborhood meeting. Cecil Mills had a heart attack across the street ...

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12th DC Firefighter Arrested… Make that 13

Its been a tough few years for the DC Fire Department/DCFEMS. And its been tough on the DC area news stations trying to keep up with the latest breaking scandals.DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG In the Fire Department Administrative ...

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DCFEMS’ Failed Cadet Program

In the aftermath of the death of Cecil Mills, the Washington Post has done an excellent job of uncovering truly scandalous details about the DCFEMS cadet program, and Dave Statter has done even a better job of putting it all ...

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