Bridgeport's new fire chief may have to put out some fires in his department as he settles into the job.

Mayor John Fabrizi chose longtime Bridgeport fireman Brian Rooney to be the chief, announcing the appointment at a press conference at the City Hall Annex last Thursday.

Fabrizi said Rooney "has extensive experience, a strong commitment to public fire education, and he is passionate about the work he does."

Rooney said the Bridgeport Fire Department "really needs strong leadership, and I intend to provide that."

However, some department members say they don't want Rooney's leadership.

Both the Bridgeport Hispanic Firefighters Association (BHFA) and the Firebird Society of Bridgeport, an organization for African-American firefighters, have spoken against Rooney's appointment.

In a recent letter to Fabrizi, Ronald Mackey, president of the Firebirds, called for Rooney to resign from the department and remove his name from consideration for the chief's post.

Mackey called Rooney, "the most divisive provisional chief we've ever had in the department. He was a terrible choice."

The letter accused Rooney of incompetence and malfeasance.

Mackey cited the closing of Engine Company 5 as a direct cause of minority deaths in the city related to fires.

He also alleged that Rooney has made no effort to reach out to the minority communities in Bridgeport to discuss fire education.

He concluded that Rooney "has shown by his...refusal to meet with [minority groups] that he doesn't value the lives, the homes and the hopes of people of color that are being destroyed by fire."

People of color are dying in Bridgeport, Mackey said.

Firefighter Ismael Hernandez, treasurer of the BHFA, wrote a similar, if less inflammatory, letter, citing Rooney's membership in Bridgeport Firefighters for Merit Employment (BFME) as evidence of his alleged bias against minorities.

In the letter, Hernandez said the BFME is an organization of white male firefighters who attempt to restrict advancement opportunities for Hispanic, African-American and female firefighters.

Rooney denied all the allegations of racism or discrimination, citing his history as deputy chief of operations as proof that they are not valid.

He said he was instrumental in promoting many minorities to supervisory positions, including acting and deputy chiefs.

"Diversity is part of my job," Rooney said. "I have been diligent."

He acknowledged being a member of the BFME, but he painted a different picture of the organization than Hernandez's depiction. Rooney said the organization formed to enforce fair hiring practices. "It is not a racist organization," he said.

Rooney dropped out of the BFME at the same time he left the firefighters union, after becoming acting chief. He said he did so because he did not want to show favoritism to any one group within the department.

Rooney offered to talk with any group that feels it has been wronged, whether by him or other officials in the department. "My door is open," he said.

The time for meetings may have passed, however. Both the Firebirds and the BHFA protested Rooney's promotion at his swearing-in ceremony Tuesday evening.

The department's future

Outside the controversy, Rooney identified his first priority: full implementation of the "Safe Asleep" program.

The program provides and installs smoke alarms in private homes for free. It's run in partnership with the local American Red Cross chapter and the RYASAP Safe Neighborhoods AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP).

Fabrizi called it "an amazing program that saves lives."

The program is funded in large part by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which the city received last March, according to Rooney.

Since then, more than 3,000 detectors have been distributed, Rooney said, and he intends to put one in every Bridgeport home by 2011.

Rooney attributes the high number of recent fire-related deaths to a lack of smoke detectors and fire safety education in the city.

"These numbers tell us we have to do something," Rooney said.

Bridgeport saw 1,162 structure fires between 2000 and 2004, and only 23 percent of the structures had working smoke alarms. Rooney believes bringing the number closer to 100 percent will greatly decrease the fatality rate.

"We are going to make it so there are very low numbers of deaths, if any, in the coming years," he promised.

Rooney also plans to increase education with the Safe Asleep program, send out bilingual mailings, and enhance the fire safety curriculum in the public schools.

"The alarms are 50 percent," Rooney said. "The rest is education."

He said he also intends to get out into the community. "We are the busiest fire department in the state," said Rooney. "We want to be the busiest fire prevention department."

As for Rooney's critics, they are resigned to wait and see.

"He doesn't care," Mackey said of Rooney. "My concern now is his relationship to the community."

Bridgeport residents wishing to participate in Safe Asleep and receive free smoke detectors may call SNAP at 335-8835. Fire prevention programming can be scheduled and further information obtained by calling the American Red Cross Community Education Department at 576-1010.

©Hometown Publications 2006