Columbia Fire Marshal Dismisses Violations At Benedict College

In a bizarre turn of events Columbia Fire Marshal Carmen Floyd has thrown out the violations against Benedict College. It is rare to see these types of violations dismissed. In an interview with WIS Deputy Chief Aubrey Jenkins stated the violations shouldn't have been written in the first place:

"The fire marshal has the right to null process tickets and the reason why these tickets were dropped, because actually we just felt they should not have been wrote in the first place"

It's unknown if the violations weren't actually violations or if protocol wasn't followed. It does beg the question of whether or not other violations at businesses and other properties may have also been done improperly. It's a question the Fire Marshal will have to answer since the the office has already come under fire for not performing enough inspections.

Benedict has been in the news over the last few months over fire code violations. Former City Manager Charles Austin is now a Dean at the school.

Comments

[Mike]

This comes as no surprise at all. The fire marshals are the most inept group in the fire department but they are protected by the people in the chief's office. Watch them try to throw the inspector under the bus just like they did a division chief and a chaplain. The real problem will skate on by.
These are the people who want to help with EMS. There isn't a single person in the hierarchy of the fire department - the top 5 positions -who can function as the leader of a fire or EMS department. Dysfunction rules the day over there.

[tracks on the back]

how do the bosses keep slipping under the radar while the grunts keep getting the shaft? our guy goes over and does the inspections and finds problems but then is thrown under the train, bus and truck because the city dont want to piss of benedictt. if people only knew how much we run to that campus. it is always a mess and now because someone got pissed our guy gets the shaft. bet they blame it on either race or him being out of control. none of thr brass will take a fall though watch.

[Denise]

Why the surprise? This is the status quo in Columbia. The fire marshals milk the largest salaries but do less than anyone else. My brother has worked for Columbia for 15 years and has talked about this type of stuff for a long time.

[2amwakeupcall]

It's time for a resignation from the chief fire marshall. She didn't oversee her people correctly.

[2amwakeupcall]

According to The State newspaper here are the salaries of some of the fd leaders:

Chief - 104,000
Deputy - 97,000
Ops - 83,000
Fire Marshall - 77,000

That averages out to 90K. Yet they are cutting firefighters!!!!! Someone please wake up finley or benjamin. Why are they making so much when most of us can barely get by.

[Joe]

This is worse.

City Manager 134, 980
Assistant City Manager 128, 870
Assistant City Manager 128,870
Assistant City Manager 110,800
Assistant City Manager 108,280

[BC]

All I can say is that what little bit of respect I had left for our Admin people has gone. I'll never call one of them Chief again, they dont deserve that title, and you will definately never hear me use the word leader to describe them. If I were a business owner in the city I would dare them to come write me a ticket and fine me. If its good for the goose its cood for the gander and if Benedict gets away with crap like that why cant, Lowes, or Target, or Bob's Bait Shop? In addition to this endangering the students lives at those schools, it also puts the guys on the floor at a greater risk, cause now me have to go get the people still inside because the safety systems in place didnt work, and our brass did nothing about it. Its almost to the point to where I am ashamed to be associated with the CFD.

[KO]

BC said what I am feeling this morning. I'm sick of the little pep talks, tired of command staff meetings that offer nothing and don't ever want to see any of the top chiefs in my house again. Yes, that includes Tinsley because he is no different. Give me our battalion chiefs any day of the week because at least they stand with us. Our worst bat chief is better than our best admin chief.
If one of them defends the fire inspectors to me or my guys I'll take my letter of counseling because they get away with more than any firefighter ever could. You all know the inspector who wrote Benedict College those violations is going to get thrown under the bus. It's happened with the two Mikes. The executive staff should be removed and replaced by the Division chiefs.

[Charles]

Watching the situation at Benedict College from a distance I can't help but wonder why any fire department would suddenly dismiss violations when student lives are of the utmost priority. It all sounds very political. The City of Columbia would find itself in a very precarious position should a fire occur on the campus now because they have now gone backwards on trying to enforce the fire code.

[WIS viewer]

The chief on tv contradicted himself several times. As a resident in Columbia I have watched firefighters complain about budget cuts and felt sympathy for them. This story makes me think they are hiding something and young men and women may pay the price for it. How is this possible? Who is in charge of these marshalls? That person should be held accountable for all of this.

[BRUCREW]

TIME FOR MIKE KING TO EARN HIS SALARY.

[uk-fb-buff]

My 2 cemts from California

"Porkfest,'Featherbedding'" at its Finest in the City Managers Office.

I don't think the City of Los Angeles (at over 100 square miles in size) has
four assistant City Managers.

And then the CFD Admin. Salaries.

Cut them all by 15% and no taking City Vehicles Home. To start with.

Still, Accountability is the key word here.

The City becomes liable if the FD Inspectors don't enforce the rules. "Pencil whipping" or Deleteing obvious Code Violations is:

A. Ethically wrong. The Codes are written for a Purpose: Life and Fire Safety, despite the cost.

B. "Tammany Hallism/'Cronyism'" is alive and well in some offices of the City.

Firefighters should not be laid off.

"Efficiency Study"? Here's where you can start;

By getting rid of all four
assistant's to the city manager and let him/her carry their own brief case to work.

What a waste of the Citizens money! If this were my home town, I'd be shouting from the top of City Hall about this mess.

[Miss my Holidays Bob]

And beside dismissing the fines for SAFETY reasons and all.... We need the MONEY!!! Fine em all.....

Bend a arm
Bena Leg
Bend a D**k

[Bond James]

The guys on the floor have pretty much banded together. We all know the mess we are in and we know it will be a long time before we see great progress. City council could speed up the process by eliminating a couple of these positions. Seriously the fire marshals do nothing and then when one does his job look what happens. Mr. Finlay if you want my vote you will get it if you start to force our chiefs to start doing their jobs. Or else like someone else said turn it over to the division chiefs. I would rather work for all three of them than any of the people working upstairs with their overpriced and underworked secretaries.

[M.Solomon]

This whole issue with Benedict is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I'm not sure who applied the pressure to the CFD to make administration drop the fines, but I hope it was worth it. Maybe someone needs to remind them of the Seton Hall University fire. This might be one of the craziest things I've heard of in a long time. Think about it, out of 500 violations, NONE stuck??? Somebody please help me understand this.

[Insider in Columbia]

Mr. Lowry
I am calling on you to ask the hard questions about our command staff. You are an insider and you know what is going on and it is past the time many questions were answered about the role our chiefs have played in the destruction of our department. The problems at Benedict are just the tip of a very large mountain. If you would be willing to write about the issues others would step up and speak out. The executive staff has bargained away everything and they have made huge mistakes. Just ask the tough questions. Many of "us" and I do mean many are ready for the department to change directions so we can get some relief. No one I know outside of the little circle of ass kissers respects any of our admin bosses. They have played a game of spin with our careers. Please write about it.

[Editor]

Insider In Columbia:

I feel as though the hard questions are always asked. Whether you like the answers or not is another matter. Let's put it this way. If you want tough questions asked why not sign your name because you are seeking me out to do something and yet don't want to put your own name up. That's a bit much. If someone is going to step up and speak might as well sign your name, correct?

Jay