Case ‘not closed,’ but Shaw denied grievance hearing

Jan. 25--Anderson County Fire Protection Commission Chairman Glenn Holliday says the "case is not closed" on the suspension of Starr Volunteer Fire Department Chief Gary Shaw, even though Shaw's request for a grievance hearing has been denied.

Holliday said a grievance hearing for Shaw, along with two other members of the Starr department, "was denied on the basis that it was made on the same information we already had" involving the Santa Claus violation at a Dec. 7 Christmas parade.

"We're open to additional information any of the three might offer, and would reconsider our decision if we receive that," Holliday said Friday afternoon. He did not specify a time frame on that reconsideration.

The denial for a grievance hearing was dated Wednesday, a day after Starr Assistant Fire Chief Gregg Campbell made a plea to the commission that it reinstate Shaw, along with members Reese Shaw and Russ Hawkins. All were suspended Jan. 10.

The five-man volunteer commission is scheduled to meet again Feb. 18. The agenda for that meeting will be decided Feb. 12, and Holliday said the Starr issue could be included.

"It's my desire that something be resolved before then," Holliday said.

Shaw, chief of the Starr unit for 22 years and a member of the unit for 42 years, called the commission's latest verdict "disheartening," in part because the suspension makes him ineligible for 2014 election as chief and as secretary-treasurer of the county advisory board.

In the Christmas parade, Hawkins violated an Anderson County Fire Protection Commission rule by riding in the back of a Dodge flatbed truck as he portrayed Santa Claus. Firefighter Reese Shaw was the driver of the truck. An Anderson County Fire Commission rule, added in 2010, calls for a suspension of a minimum of 90 days for the local chief and the driver involved in the violation.

Shaw argued that the recently acquired flatbed truck, which had no firefighting equipment, did not qualify as a firetruck. He was informed of the commission's decision Jan. 10 and filed a grievance Jan. 14.</p>

More than 40 firefighters, including Starr Assistant Chief Gregg Campbell, expressed widespread support of the three suspended firefighters in Tuesday's monthly meeting of the commission.

The Starr unit, which had been scheduled to elect its 2014 chief Thursday, voted to suspend that election indefinitely. The group is expected to select its chief by the end of February, and a re-election of Shaw was likely.

Holliday, a volunteer member of the commission for 22 years, said he did not know what the commission might do if a chief has not been selected by March 1. "We're in uncharted territory," he said Friday.

Gary Shaw declined to speculate on his next move.

"We've got to tough it out. It's all we can do," he said.

"We're just trying to give something back to the community. It hurts you when you're trying to do that and something like this happens," Shaw said.

"I feel bad for my wife. The spouses of the firemen sacrifice a lot of time," Shaw said. "They work on the fundraisers, and they're also involved when the call comes at 2 or 3 in the morning,"

Shaw hopes the commission, whose members are appointed by the state legislative delegation, will change its rule regarding parades.

"The rule should be revisited, with more thought and common sense put into it," Shaw said.

Holliday said the rule was added for safety purposes, in hopes that it would lower the insurance rate. The rule, however, had no apparent effect on those rates.

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