The Silver Hill Volunteer Fire Department (SHVFD) in Suitland, MD is suing Prince George’s County and Fire Chief Tiffany Green. The lawsuit is in response to an earlier lawsuit filed by career firefighter and Captain, Jason Wiseman. Wiseman sued the volunteers alleging “defamation per se, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, wrongful interference with an economic relationship, impairing a liberty interest not by the law of the land in violation of Article 24 of the Maryland Constitution's Declaration of Rights, impairing a property interest not by the law of the land in violation of article 24 of the Maryland Constitution's Declaration of Rights, and civil conspiracy.” A partial dismissal of Mr. Wiseman’s complaint was granted on July 18, 2023, by the Circuit Court. On October 26, 2023, Silver Hill filed a crossclaim against Prince George’s County and
the County Fire Chief.
There were several areas of concern brought up in the deposition of Matthew Fowler, President of the Silver Hill Volunteer Fire Department and former volunteer fire chief. Silver Hill Volunteers (like Beltsville) own the fire station, and the career personnel are there to work alongside the volunteers. According to his deposition “On November 11, 2022, then President William King and I sent a memorandum to County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, County Fire Chief Tiffany D. Green, Fire Commission Chairman Johnathan Bolden, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Public Safety and Homeland Security Barry Stanton, the County Council, and Fire & Rescue Association (PGCVFRA) President Jeremy Jordan. The memo explained we were not able to work amicably with Captain Jason Wiseman and requested his removal from Station 829. If he was not removed, the memo requested the County remove all career staff and County apparatus from SHVFD property.” This was not the first time that a request had been made to remove Captain Wiseman. In May of 2019, eight career firefighters (including Captain Wiseman) were linked to several hazing incidents where some personnel had been injured. According to reporting by NBC4 the eight temporarily removed from emergency operations and given administrative positions. The victims of the hazing incidents were “treated like fraternity pledges” according to news accounts. Wiseman also tried to overthrow the volunteer membership when former County Fire Chief Eugene Jones wanted to join the SHVFD. According to Fowler, Wiseman told him “we don’t want him here ‘cause he cost us money.” Us meant career firefighters. Then Wiseman demanded 30 applications so that he wanted to “overthrow your membership. We’re going to vote y’all out.” Also, according to Fowler “Captain Wiseman did not follow or enforce any Fire/EMS Department policies or SHVFD policies in the firehouse. For example, during COVID-19, he did not require career personnel to wear masks. He allowed smoking in the firehouse despite state law. I asked, when I was the volunteer fire chief, that there be communication, we work together that did not happen.” On January 19, 2023, SHVFD through counsel again requested Captain Wiseman be removed from Station 829 and offered screenshots of communications Captain Wiseman had with Tim Bautz. Wiseman called Fowler a “clown” and a “hobbyist.” On January 20, 2023, Chief Green denied the request to have Wiseman moved.
On January 29, 2023, Volunteer Fire Chief King was at the station until around midnight and had noticed an ambulance was dispatched for a call but the alerting system did not sound off except on screen in the bay and in one speaker. A test confirmed the system was not working. He requested an investigation to determine the cause of the malfunction. According to Fowler, “I requested a test alert from the Communication Dispatch Center to the station and noticed the volume was low throughout the fire station, and the bump up control system was not working. I also noticed the main control panel door in the downstairs dayroom was unlocked, even though it was supposed to be locked at all times. I then requested service from the vendor.” Also, on January 29 the SHVFD barred Captain Wiseman from the grounds, which was their right because they owned the station. During the annual maintenance, the technician alerted Fowler that someone had gone in and unscrewed some of the volume wires. When this system was initially installed, Captain Wiseman told the vendor that only one key was needed for the cabinet, which was supposed to be locked at all times. Fowler insisted that since the system was a joint project between the volunteers and the county and that the volunteers owned the building that a second key was provided. The vendor agreed and the key was locked in a lockbox in the chief’s office at all times. During the investigation into the tampering, Captain Wiseman admitted to Assistant Fire Chief Phil Bird that he had unlocked the cabinet. As a result, Wiseman was reassigned to Office of the Fire Chief.
On March 17, 2023, Captain Wiseman sued SHVFD and the Board of Directors. Around July 3, 2023, SHVFD learned the County was sending Captain Wiseman back to Station 829. On July 12, SHVFD, through their counsel, requested the Fire/EMS Department assign Plaintiff to a station other than Station 829. On July 16, Wiseman was sent back to Silver Hill. Wiseman was not reassigned again until April of 2024. There is a lot more to this story. If you would like to look through the entire filing, you can find it at https://bit.ly/3MjJY1m
Comments