Norwalk's fire chief lied about his qualifications, mismanaged taxpayer money and put property and lives at risk, say city officials who fired him after a lengthy investigation.
Tom Fleming was head of the suburb's mostly volunteer department for three years before questions arose and rumors spread in the town of about 7,000. The city fired him late last month without public comment.
"The whole thing is unfortunate, but we spent 150 hours on this, and we found justification for all the allegations," Police Chief Eddie Kuhl said this week.
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Fleming claims he needed to discipline several volunteer firefighters shortly after he arrived in Norwalk because they refused to follow orders. Fleming said he sought approval from City Manager Mark Miller, and that Miller refused because he didn't want to alienate the volunteer staff.
Fleming said the matter came to a head this year when Assistant Chief Mike Wenger, the only other full-time person in the department of 36 volunteers, directed a firetruck to go against traffic on the interstate. Fleming said that incident was among several in which Wenger put public safety at risk.
Fleming said he sought approval to suspend Wenger last summer. A few days later, Fleming was suspended and told by Miller that the investigation was forthcoming. Wenger was reinstated.
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Tom Fleming is a victim of the Norwalk Old-Boy Network... plain and simple. No, Fleming's not a perfect person. But to railroad him out of town because he's trying to clean house and won't play ball with the Boys? Mmm-hmmm. I see how this is.
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