From the Suburban Life October 26, 1974

Fornell training tactics blasted

By DAVE MASTERSON

Westchester firemen are up in arms again concerning the competency of their chief, David Fornell.  Most of the men on the force have opposed Fornell and his fire fighting techniques ever since he was appointed chief in February, but the issue had died down considerable.

(To use proper grammar, the previous sentence should end with "considerably".)

However, as a result of a number of occurrences as recently as Wednesday, the men on the force are once again in the mood for vocally displaying their displeasure with the chief.

One of the firemen on the force, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of possibly losing his job, told The LIFE that Fornell's training methods at the Elmhurst training tower have cost firefighting two trainees unnecessary injuries and the Fornell was directly responsible for these injuries.

IN ONE OF the instances the man related that new fireman Richard Altman was on top of the fire department's new ladder with Chief Fornell at the controls, and the chief decided to raise the ladder Altman still standing on it.  Altman allegedly got his foot stuck between two of the rungs of the ladder, and had he not been wearing protective boots, his foot would have been crushed.  As it is, Altman allegedly received some very badly bruised toes.

In another incident the same day, Fornell allegedly had trainee Ralph Scalise raise a 35 foot ladder by himself.  According to the anonymous fireman, this chore is a three man job, and as a result of the strenuous effort required and performed by Scalise he suffered a wrenched back and was taken to Loyola Memorial Hospital in Maywood for treatment.

"After our original complaints concerning the chief's lack of experience, we were more or less put in the position of sitting back and waiting to see what would happen, but now we feel that our lives and those of the trainees, are being endangered by this man and it's time to come out and talk about it," the fireman stated.

Chief Fornell, because of this training responsibilities at the Elmhurst tower, was unavailable for comment on the two injuries Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, but Westchester village manager Charles Danek did have something to say about the issue.

"IT USED to be that when Westchester got a new man on the force that he would come into the firehouse and just sit in, waiting for the first fire, and then he would go out with the rest of the men.  Danek said, "Now, for the first time in the history of the village, the department, because of Chief Fornell, has a good training program in which the men get a taste of going into smoke filled rooms wearing smoke masks and getting a first hand taste of what a fire is like."

However, according to the Westchester firemen, the men have been going into smoked filled rooms in Elmhurst, minus the all-important masks, and a number of the men are suffering from smoke inhalation to some extent.

Another negative point concerning the chief has been buying a large amount of equipment, whereas in the past the men receive very little in the way of firefighting material.  The equipment is all well and good, in his opinion, however, he contends that a lot of the equipment bought by the chief is inferior in quality.

As an example, he brought with him one of the new coats purchased by the chief for the department.  He pointed out that the chief bought the coats for the department's use in fires despite the fact that the label on the inside clearly states that the coat should not be worn as an approach garment and that the coated shell may be adversely affected by intense heat.

THE FIREMAN further stated that the company that sold Fornell the coats took them off the racks shortly afterward because they were considered unsafe.  He also said that a number of men on the department have refused to wear the new coasts for fear of their own safety and have continued to use the old ones that have not been confiscated by Fornell.

Danek, when first told about the vocal charges made against Fornell, appeared somewhat perturbed about the whole situation.

Last Modified:  02/09/2005