Fire chief nears OK for Washington job

Web posted October 20, 2000

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By Heidi Coryell
Staff Writer

OTHER STORIES: • Fire chief nears OK for Washington job • Chief answers questions • Capital supports fire chief • Few addresses allegations • Augustans back Few in capital • Agents confiscate fire records • Fire official resigns from department • Few pays $642 bill for calls • Officials' phone bills top $1,000 • Mayor is unsettled by debts • Chiefs group covers late bill • Chiefs' bill goes unpaid • Ex-fire chief bids farewell to Augusta • Group hits media for Few squabble • Fire chief reports to grand jury • Few faces final vote by D.C. council • Few accepts D.C. job

Former Augusta Fire Chief Ronnie Few moved one step closer Thursday to securing a permanent position in Washington as chief of its Department of Fire and Ambulance Services.

The Washington City Council judiciary committee voted 3-0 to recommend Chief Few be confirmed before the full council Nov. 8, said Scott Gastel, press secretary to the committee's chairman, Howard Brazil. Two members of the five-member panel were absent from Thursday's vote, he said.

Chief Few resigned as head of Augusta-Richmond County Fire Department in June to take over as interim chief in Washington. If he receives a majority vote from the full Washington City Council next month, the district's mayor has said, he officially will sign Chief Few on as permanent head of fire and emergency operations.

Thursday's confirmation came after a council judiciary hearing Sept. 27 where Chief Few defended himself against alleged wrongdoing during his four-year tenure in Augusta. Several local supporters, including three Augusta Commissioners and a business owner, traveled to the nation's capital for that hearing to speak on his behalf.

Washington council members' vote to recommend Chief Few was based on the information provided to them at that hearing.

Commissioners Lee Beard, Willie Mays and Marion Williams, along with Augusta business owner J.R. Riles, touted Chief Few's accomplishments before Washington council members during the September hearing. They praised his introduction of female firefighters to the force and his securing of more than $20 million in funding for new and renovated fire stations.

The commissioners also told Washington officials that news reports concerning ongoing problems in the Augusta fire department were nothing more than racially motivated character assassinations. They said there was no substance to allegations of a mismanaged ``media awards'' bank account or outstanding bills for a fire chief's conference.

The week prior to the judiciary hearing, agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation used warrants to seize fire department records after it was determined there was probable cause to suspect department employees had committed crimes.

Several Washington City Council members said the commissioners' testimony put the Augusta investigations ``into perspective.''

Reach Heidi Coryell at (706) 823-3215.

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