04/25/2021
Unfortunately we have some housekeeping to do here.
It has recently been brought to our attention about several matters that need addressed.
Firstly, previous personnel claiming to be department members. Our department, as a matter of policy adopted by the board of directors, in order to undergo any and all certified training, that is a training that is open to firefighters that results in that firefighter receiving a State or Federal certificate upon successful completion of that training, you pledge one year's service to the fire department for basic/entry level training such as S-130/190. Any certificates after that require a 6 month term of service with the department per certificate. This is required to ensure the investment the fire department puts into the personnel under it's command is recouped.
Secondly, there are several former personnel that think it is appropriate to not fulfill their obligation to this department and feel that it is appropriate to bad mouth the reputation of this department within the wildland firefighting community. Specifically, these personnel are Rory O'Malley and David Pauley.
Mr. O'Malley earned his S-130/190 while under the auspices of our department then promptly left for his home state of West Virginia shortly afterwards once our Chief reached out to WV Forestry to see if there was any opportunities available for Mr. O'Malley while he finished university which would allow him to gain experience and return to fulfill his obligation to Black Sheep Volunteer Fire Department making the department stronger due to his experience. Instead, Mr. O'Malley did not take advantage of the WV Forestry opportunity presented to him and instead moved to California and joined a contractor to fight wildfires. Mr. O'Malley made claims that he had progressed to Engine Boss in just 2 or 3 years on the job and he was obtaining his EMT certification in California.
As of April of 2021 Mr. O'Malley has never fulfilled his obligation to this department, is only a certified FFT1 (commonly referred to as Squad Boss) wildland firefighter and has no EMT license in the State of California. Yet Mr. O'Malley recently contacted this department demanding any pictures of him be removed because his association with this department was preventing his progression in his career according to his own words.
Let it be stated for the record that Mr. O'Malley has never served a single day with this department despite his obligation to do so, Mr. O'Malley did willfully defraud the department in order to obtain a Federal certification that allowed him financial gain.
Now on to Mr. Pauley. Mr. Pauley did come to us from Oregon after having served several years on contract crews im Oregon. Having only regional certifications from the Pacific Northwest when arriving. Mr. Pauley did obtain his NWCG S-130/190 and S-212 as well as a Federal certificate of PER-213. Mr. Pauley's behavior on a Rx fire that this department was invited to join with Texas Parks & Wildlife and Texas Forest Service resulted in our department never being invited to more Rx burns with these agencies.
Mr. Pauley stayed with the agency for a little over a year, fulfilling his first obligation to the department. In his second year Mr. Pauley chose to return to Oregon breaking his obligation to the department. Upon his return to Oregon he gained employment with a contractor based, in part, on his Federal certifications obtained while he was with this department. Due to his behavior during the fire season while with this contractor he was terminated. During Hurricane Harvey Mr. Pauley stated he would return to Texas to assist with the natural disaster response. Mr. Pauley went on to produce an elaborate facade that he was returning to the point of claiming that he missed his flight that was donated by JetBlue because he was pulled over by police right before he got to the airport. The results of Mr. Pauley not making his flight, and not informing us of this fact until after the hurricane made landfall, was to put multiple firefighters lives in jeopardy so to meet Mr. Pauley at the airport and return with him to the station. Subsequently Mr. Pauley moved to California and as of last we were aware tried to gain employment with a fire department in California and was declined. His current status is unknown and of no concern to this department.
Black Sheep Volunteer Fire Department has never operated domestically with the exception of the Rx burn with TPWD & TFS and Hurricane Harvey.
However, due to multiple individuals in the wildland firefighting business in Region 5 and Region 6 making disparaging comments about the fire department and it's personnel, with whom they have no experience whatsoever, they have left Black Sheep with a tarnished reputation within the American fire service. This includes not only contractors but members of the much esteemed "hot shot" crews who are supposed to represent the best of America's wildland crews.
So now that the record has been set straight we can move forward in this business of firefighting.
- Chief
