Fire board to receive update on investigation into chief

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

The North Lyon County Fire Protection District Board of Directors has provided a list of allegations against fire chief Scott Huntley to its independent investigators and will receive an update during its meeting Thursday evening.

The board on June 14 voted to hire the firm Gladding & Michel to investigate allegations and rumors leveled against Huntley by the firefighters association, members of the board and the public.

Many of the complaints against Huntley come from a Vote of No Confidence letter submitted by the Firefighters Association against Huntley, that listed several complaints that the union charges have resulted in stagnation of the district, failure to provide optimal service to the community and substandard safety for staff.

Among the complaints in the union’s No Confidence letter are that Huntley has failed to capture additional revenue sources for the district, provide a direction or future plan for the district, develop and maintain positive working relationships with the city of Fernley and surrounding agencies, demonstrate knowledge of the district’s budget, demonstrate appropriate fireground safety and maintain a positive working relationship with the union.

The list of items to be the focus of the investigation by Gladding & Michel is:

• Investigate the items listed in the Vote of No Confidence Letter from the firefighters association
• Investigate the time cards and calendar of the chief from July 31, 2017, through Aug. 1, 2018.
• Investigate whether Huntley has been doing contract work for the State Fire Marshal’s Office while on District time and using the District vehicle.
• Investigate the fire inspection of director Dan McCassie’s business by Albert Ruiz from the State Fire Marshal’s Office. McCassie believes the inspection was unethically conducted cue to a conversatin between Huntley and the inspector prior to the inspection.
• Investigate the denial of a fire permit for the Lantern Festival as requested by McCassie.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Main Street fire station.