OXFORD — An Oxford Fire Department officer who successfully spearheaded a drive to oust the fire chief has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Lt. Mark Blaquiere confirmed Thursday morning that he has been placed on leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the break-in of former Fire Chief Wayne Jones’ office sometime last week.
He said he would not be making any further statement until he spoke with his attorney.
On Thursday afternoon, the Board of Selectmen called a special meeting for Dec. 13 to address an undisclosed personnel matter in executive session.
Jones submitted his resignation Tuesday after he was handed a two-page “Letter of No Confidence” from Fire Department members citing numerous allegations, including ignoring safety concerns, refusal to help drive the equipment, lack of communication skills and creating an environment of low morale and other issues. The letter was unsigned, but Blaquiere said it was from the entire membership.
Following Jones’ resignation, three unnamed members of the 30-member department resigned Wednesday by leaving their equipment outside acting Fire Chief David Heidrich’s office door.
Heidrich said he hopes to convince them to return to work.
Heidrich, who had been serving as deputy chief, was appointed acting fire chief by Interim Town Manager Rebecca Lippincott on Wednesday. Heidrich said Jones is not expected to return to work before his last official day, Dec. 31.
Police Chief Jonathan Tibbetts said he could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation is ongoing, but Heidrich confirmed he had been told by Lippincott that an investigation was underway. Lippincott was unavailable for comment.
Blaquiere said Tuesday that reports that Jones’ office was “packed up” while he was on vacation last week were accurate, but he did not know who did it nor was he involved in the action.
“All we know is that it happened,” he said.
Blaquiere said when Jones returned from vacation he complained about the action to department members. Blaquiere said he does not know if the chief keeps his office locked and he does not have a key to the office.
Heidrich said he is continuing to use his own office and had not accessed the chief’s office, so he could not tell what state it was in when he arrived. Officers all have keys to their own offices, but in general no one else in the department would be able to access the offices.
Blaquiere has been one of several outspoken critics of the Fire Department.
On Tuesday, he said the chief communicated poorly, leaving memos on the memo board rather than talking to his department, refused to help drive the equipment despite being a “working” fire chief, and refused to address safety issues, among other concerns.
“We can do the job without him. He’s not our chief,” Blaquiere said.
Blaquiere said prior to the town manager appointing an acting chief that the department would be run by senior members, starting with the lieutenant, captain and deputy chief.
“We are not taking orders from him anymore. We don’t care if he sits in his office,” Blaquiere said.
This is the second attempt in a year to remove the fire chief. Members of the department issued an initial “Letter of No Confidence” signed by seven department officers that was given to Jones in January. That letter cited a lack of local knowledge and communication, and accused him of putting the firefighters in danger because he takes too long to make decisions.
At least six members of the department quit because they didn’t want to work under the chief, Oxford firefighter Pvt. Zac Creps said at the time.
Heidrich said he intends to restore morale to the department and get it back on track.
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