Two senior fire department officials have been fired by Puslinch Township amidst allegations of financial wrongdoing and “intimidation” of firefighters.
On Monday, Fire Chief Dan Quinnell and his son, Fire Prevention Officer Richard Quinnell, were informed of their termination by Mayor Brad Whitcombe and councillor Dick Visser.
The decision was made by council during a closed session on Dec. 3.
“Dan and Richard are no longer with the department,” Whitcombe said on Tuesday afternoon. But the mayor did not have anything further to say on the matter, other than, “I wish them well in the future.”
When informed of Whitcombe’s comments, Visser said he disagrees with the mayor’s sentiments.
“I think some councillors would like to see this go away, but personally I would like to see it investigated further,” Visser said. “I want the public to know what was going on.”
Clerk and Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Law said the township began receiving letters of complaint about the two fire officials last fall, although she hinted there were problems with the two men going back several years.
“There were a number of discrepancies in the department – both financial and personnel issues,” Law said. “It was a number of different things.”
When asked if the “discrepancies” in the department existed before January of 2006, when Dan Quinnell took over from long-time Fire Chief Doug Smith, Law said no.
Visser said he started noticing the financial discrepancies shortly after Dan Quinnell became chief. He told the Advertiser he asked several times for a needs study to determine how much money part-time fire officials should be making, but only councillor Susan Fielding ever listened.
“I guess it finally couldn’t be ignored any longer,” Visser said.
The same day council decided to fire the Quinnells, the Advertiser received an anonymous letter that was circulating around the township. It alleged Dan Quinnell was making $80,000 per year and Richard Quinnell about $60,000 – as part-time fire officials. Law said she could not confirm those figures without calculating monthly totals for the last three years.
However, she did confirm Dan Quinnell was paid $6,839 in October of this year, and Richard Quinnell $5,630. Township records show Dan Quinnell logged 225 hours and Richard Quinnell 182 hours that month, while the next closest firefighter worked 94 hours.
The anonymous letter also alleged several other complaints about both men, including unfair treatment of firefighters and misuse of time.
Law would not comment on those allegations, but Visser said there is at least some truth in the letter. He referred to certain things that happened in the fire department over the last three years as “horses–t.”
Visser said under the watch of the Quinnells, the department had “a terrible management style,” and there was even “some intimidation [of firefighters] going on.”
Law said council will likely appoint Deputy Chief Robert Gordon as interim chief at its meeting on Dec. 17 and hire a new chief sometime in the new year.
Neither Dan nor Richard Quinnell returned phone calls from the Advertiser.
