OPINION: The information used to report this article is from the 50- plus page document entitled State of New Jersey Final Administrative Action of the Civil Service Commission. Some of the pages from that ruling appear in the article below. This is about some of the employees of the Gloucester City Fire Department who routinely play pranks on each other without being disciplined despite the fact they were breaking city employee rules. On one page of the document, a city official mentions how damaging the information about this incident will be to the Fire Department if the public ever gets wind of what has been occurring at Fire Headquarters. After reading that statement, it makes you wonder what else has our city officials hidden from the taxpayers, the people who pay their salaries.
Not only did fire department supervisors ignore the pranks, but the firemen received help from other departments with those pranks.
Specifically, a former public works supervisor supplied some of the material used in several antics. Because of the City’s lack of enforcement of its Zero Tolerance Policy, two firemen who received hours of training paid for by the taxpayers are no longer employed by the City.
By not acting when they should have, the local fire department’s 23-member force is now cut by two. And, more taxpayers’ money will be shelled out to pay for the overtime that will be necessary due to the lack of manpower.
In our opinion, the lack of enforcement of city employee regulations was also the reason for a physical altercation that happened several years before. This time the melee involved a fire captain and a fireman who got into a physical fight during working hours at the firehouse. The fire captain, who outweighed the firefighter by 50 lbs or more, picked the firefighter up and body-slammed him into the concrete firehouse floor, breaking his shoulder or arm. The captain was suspended with pay, and the injured firefighter quit and got a job in another city. We spoke with the injured man’s family about reporting the story, but they wanted to forget the incident.
Also, a few years ago, we wrote about a fireman who lost his driver’s license for six months for drunk driving. Although a driver’s license is needed for his job, the firefighter remained employed over those six months. In our opinion, the precedent not to terminate Christopher Oliver for the same offense was set when this fireman was allowed to remain on the force.
Mayor and council should demand the Fire Department release weekly reports on the number of fire calls they make. The same with the police department; a weekly crime report should be made public. By not doing so, we are left with the impression that they are hiding something.
We will never know if this situation would have happened at the firehouse if the City had a full-time administrator employed.
The entire story is mind-boggling; you have an 18-year veteran who is making in the neighborhood $100,000 plus annually, and he sets a fellow fireman’s pants on fire. This individual only works a 24-hour shift and is off for three days. If there is no fire, he gets to sleep and is paid to do so. The excuse given for his actions, he is under too much stress. We don’t know how many fire calls he and the other firefighters make because those records are kept from Gloucester City residents, who pay their salaries.
Thank you to Courier Post reporter Jim Walsh for his help with this article.
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GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (January 2, 2022)(CNBNewsnet)–A veteran Gloucester City Fireman with 18 years of service has found himself without a job for playing a prank on a fellow fireman.
The event happened in 2021 at Fire Headquarters, King and Monmouth Streets. The 50-page document, entitled State of New Jersey Final Administrative Action of the Civil Service Commission, describes the Gloucester City Fire Department Headquarters as if it was a college frat house, not the home of professional firemen.
After reading a few pages, the thought of the movie National Lampoon’s Animal House quickly comes to mind. Especially when you learn that there were times in the past the firemen would have food fights at the dinner table. That escapade was straight from that movie. Actor John Belushi, playing the part of Bluto Blutarsky, yelled “Food Fight” in the college cafeteria, and everyone threw food at each other.
This story involves Christopher Oliver, age 38, and Charles Sanderson IV, 24, with four years of service. Battalion Chief Jefferey Sanderson, his father, works a different shift than his son. Oliver was hired in 2004.
The following is from the Civil Service Commission ruling: The date of the incident was November 12, 2021. The decision was released on November 23, 2022.
The HE mentioned in the first sentence of the court document below is fireman Charles Sanderson IV.
The younger Sanderson said later that he suffered mental stress from this incident and was considering transferring out of the department. We have recently learned that he did leave the City’s fire department.
From the November 23 Civil Service Ruling
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FROM THE NOVEMBER 23, 2022, CIVIL SERVICE RULING
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THE PRANKS COULD HAVE ENDED TRAGICALLY
Some of the other pranks the firemen played on each other were pouring syrup in a firefighter’s boot, vinegar in the fire station’s coffee, wrapping a fellow fireman’s bed in plastic, and putting foil in someone’s bed, so it made a lot of crinkling noise when the person laid down on it. Firemen say all innocent pranks to relieve the job’s tension and stress.
The investigation document states that the Gloucester City Fire Department has a zero-tolerance policy related to jokes and pranks within the department. Jokes and pranks fall under “horseplay.” the seriousness of the incident surfaces to the top when considering that Sanderson could have been seriously injured if not for the fact that he was wearing his fireproof uniform pants. Also, those boots full of syrup would have delayed the men’s response time if there had been a fire. Oliver was involved in that prank, also. The Gloucester City Fire Department Standard Operation Guidelines for Professional Relations sets forth how employees should exhibit courtesy and respect toward their supervisors, fellow firemen, and the public. “Members shall treat one another with due courtesy and shall not engage in horseplay or disrespectful conduct at any/all times, states the employee policy.”
WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT?
Michael Hagan is the Chief of the Gloucester City Fire Department. He has been chief since 2016 and has been employed as a firefighter for 30 years, 18 as a firefighter and six as chief. On or about November 2021, he became aware of an incident involving Oliver and Sanderson. As a result of this complaint, he commenced an investigation. Following his investigation, stated the Civil Service ruling, he concluded that disciplinary charges should be brought against Oliver.
FROM THE NOVEMBER 23, 2022, CIVIL SERVICE RULING
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GIVING OLIVER A SECOND CHANCE WAS A BIG MISTAKE
Before Oliver set fire to Sanderson’s butt, he was involved in a traffic accident on May 30, 2021, in Mount Ephraim. At approximately 3:03 AM, Oliver’s vehicle caused damage to three parked cars as well as his vehicle. He needed to be taken by ambulance to the hospital due to his injuries. He was drinking alcohol before driving his vehicle, stated the report.
He was uncooperative with the hospital staff. Oliver admitted that he failed to notify Chief Hagan of this incident for several weeks after the accident and not until July 14, 2021, when he sent the chief an email telling him that he was in the accident. Oliver’s license had already been suspended, and he must have a driver’s license to serve as a fireman with Gloucester City. At the time of the May 30, 2021, accident, Oliver had been out of work for personal and mental health reasons. Oliver was summoned to a meeting with Chief Hagan and the acting temporary City Administrator/Police Chief, Brian Morrell.
The report states at that meeting, Hagan and Morrell told Oliver they were giving him a break and were not going to seek his termination. This meeting occurred before the November 2021 incident.
Hagan said in the report that other firemen had been involved in a traffic accident caused by drinking and driving. He said he was unaware of any firefighters who had been removed for an off-duty accident. The fact that a fireman needed a driver’s license to work at the Gloucester City Fire Department was not mentioned until later in the report.
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A POLICE OFFICER PLACES A CHICKEN INSIDE THE FIREHOUSE
FROM THE NOVEMBER 23, 2022, CIVIL SERVICE RULING
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OLIVER TESTIFIES ON HIS BEHALF
From the document
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During his testimony, Oliver mentioned the numerous awards he received over his career as a City firefighter. He also said he had served as a temporary officer during an emergency.
The final report determined that Oliver violated several of the City’s employee regulations. For example, he broke the City’s Workplace Violence Policy by setting Sanderson’s pants on fire. His actions constituted conduct unbecoming a public employee; he violated the rule of not treating a fellow employee with due courtesy and shall not engage in horseplay or disrespectful behavior; careless waste of materials; violation of established safety and fire regulation, et cetera.
FROM THE NOVEMBER 23, 2022, CIVIL SERVICE RULING
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Oliver was allowed to resign from the Gloucester City Fire Department. Part of the ruling appears below.
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Involving Christopher Oliver appealed a decision that removed him from the Fire Lieutenant eligible list decided on November 23, 2016. MENTIONED in that document was Jeffrey Sanderson, Charles’s father.
Oliver, Jeffrey Sanderson, Robert Glassman, and Kurt Dillion took the test for Fire Lieutenant. Oliver came in number one, and Glassman and Sanderson scored second and third. Oliver was bypassed despite having a higher score.
On appeal, Oliver said he was bypassed three times for the position of Fire Lieutenant. Oliver argued he scored number 1 on the test and had served on three different occasions as acting Lieutenant. Received numerous awards and 36 college credits in Firefighting and Emergency Medical Services, which the appointed candidates didn’t have. He served as union president and sought the FMBA Brotherhood Metal of Valor and other commendations. He argued that he was bypassed for retaliatory purposes. The appellant argued he was missed because of the nepotism that existed in the department.
From That Document
The appellant took the promotional examination for Fire Lieutenant, achieved a passing score, and was ranked on the eligible list as of April 23, 2018. In disposing of the certification, the appointing authority bypassed the appellant, the first-ranked qualified, and appointed Robert Glassman, the second-ranked candidate, and Jeffrey Sanderson, the third rank.
were recorded.
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For the record: It has been our experience that most Gloucester City Firemen go beyond the call of duty and do an excellent job. The facts of this article speak for themselves. If you read the entire story, you had to notice that there were only a few firemen involved. Paul Harvey, a long-time radio announcer, describes the firemen we have known and respected throughout our lives. We urge you to take a moment and listen to his commentary,
