Petal firefighter dismissal order rescinded

[pEtAl mIsFiT]

Just saw this on the front page of Hattiesburg American...

Petal firefighter dismissal order rescinded

The termination of five part-time Petal firefighters has been rescinded, Mayor Carl Scott said in a prepared statement this morning.

“After in-depth consultation with the gentlemen involved, namely Michael Palmer, Michael Guy, Don Snyder, Curtis Howell and Joseph Barker, it has become apparent that the so-called performance expectation violations cited as cause for termination are erroneous,” Scott said in the statement.

“Certainly, the expectation should have been one of recognizing these individuals for volunteering their time to the needs of the City of Petal Fire Department out of the goodness of their hearts and to the unselfish commitment to serving our community,” he continued. “Each of these men is both a credit to the fire service and to our City as a whole.”

The mayor, on behalf of himself and the Board of Aldermen, extended “our sincere apologies for any embarrassment they may have suffered based on this decision and will rescind the dismissal order in their regard.”

See details on this Web site as they become available.

[virgo]

What a royal mess. I feel bad for the five men who were made to believe that they were bad part-time firefighters. If I were them, I'd tell Scott to shove it.

[IGID]

Me too. Especially after Scott got on tv and made a blind statement without even knowing the facts. Sounded like a Gene Taylor wanna-be to me.

[dalo knight]

I have a question for the mayor and aldermen. Why are there two fire stations closed? If they are being remodeled then temp. housing should have been provided for close to these stations. The people on South George might as well call Hattiesburg. The only Station open is near the High School. What kind of respose time would there be when you have school traffic. The life safety of Petal residents is diminished. What would this do to the fire rating for the City of Petal if the ratings board finds out. It is already a Seven. That is like a good volunteer dept. I imagine insurance premiums would go thru the roof. Does the Mayor have any concept of what a good Fire Dept can do for the city?

[daisy]

My father-in-law was a Petal fireman for over 30 years.
He feels the whole dept. is going to hell in a hand basket.
He says the dept. was started by volunteers and part-timers now they're not good enough to be fireman.WTF?

I heard the 5 part-timers were being let go to free up the $$$$ to employ a full-time one. Also, I heard one of the part-time firefighters had just started a new job and his new employer heard he got fired from the Petal fire-fighter (part-time job) and this cast doubt on the part-time fireman 's new employer. I lost respect for this board on the way they handled this. At least they rescinded it and Carl Scott was in his suit. :smt119

TACKY,TACKY, TACKY!!! This Petal Board and city government could benefit from slowing down and being more open.

[virgo]

Geez, the Hattiesburg Police Department and the Petal Fire Department appear to be going to hell in a handbasket. What is this world coming to?

[carsalesguy]

you can look at it this way..............at least he got back and said that he was sorry and that they made a mistake. hattiesburg would have said no comment

[Maggie-Doodle]

The city admin of the Burg NEVER appologizes or says they are at fault for anything!

[pEtAl mIsFiT]

nope they don't say nothing at all..

I just hate something else negative on the friendly city nobody is going to want to move around here not hatt or petal with all that is going on.

[Tully Mars]

nope they don't say nothing at all..

I just hate something else negative on the friendly city nobody is going to want to move around here not hatt or petal with all that is going on.

The issue appears to be resolved and folks will move on. The administration did the right thing by admitting a mistake.

As for Stations 1 & 2, they were both damaged during Katrina, FEMA didn't give the city enough money to properly repair them so they are having to use city money to do the work. An attempt was made to get a FEMA trailer for temporary use and that was denied as well. Work is progressing on both and they should both be at 100% very soon.

[dalo knight]

The stations were damaged more than a year and 1/2 ago. The city should have paid for temp housing out of it's budget. The citizens pay for fire protection not excuses. They apparently did not think this situation thru. If someone is injured because of a slow respose the city would lose any lawsuit that followed. what would that cost the city? What is the proposed date the stations wil be ready? Define soon.