Two AFD firefighters disciplined

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Two Austin firefighters face disciplinary action after incidents involving alcohol.

A City of Austin civil service memo says one faces a 90-day suspension after being charged with an off-duty DWI.  The other, a lieutenant admitted buying alcohol while in uniform, but also while off duty. 

At the same time, KXAN learned of a new alcohol education program firefighters in San Antonio are using. It’s a program Austin FD is actively considering.

Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks told KXAN battalion chiefs at Austin fire department have seen the alcohol education program which was developed at San Antonio’s Fire Department last year. 

San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Deborah Foster said it features a 45-minute video and a classroom session including a question and answer period. San Antonio’s fire chief introduced it in December after a number of alcohol-related incidents involving firefighters there.

The course is mandatory for all 1600 firefighters in San Antonio, dispatchers and civilian staff.

Nicks says it’s hoped all 1100 Austin firefighters and staff take the course. But he said he does not believe there is a trend of alcohol abuse within the Austin department. 

“When you look at the (Austin) fire department as a whole, 1100 members (and) 3 to 4 DWIs a year. There’s no excuse for them, but the rate is very, very low,” Nicks said.

The Austin Fire Department dealt with 12 suspension cases in 2012, according to a department spokesperson.

The latest City of Austin civil service disciplinary memo says early on the morning of Nov. 19, 2012, firefighter James Doyle was arrested for DWI by Manor police. Charges are pending.

The memo also notes Doyle had two prior DWI arrests dating back to 2006. A 10-year veteran firefighter, Doyle began a 90-day suspension on Tuesday.

The head of the Firefighters Association says Doyle is getting the professional help he needs, including random alcohol testing and counseling.

Bob Nicks told KXAN, “A big part of the punishment is making sure he’s on a program, a probationary period, he’s being monitored to make sure he can come back as a productive firefighter in the future. 

In the second suspension case, last November 14th, 2012 Lieutenant William Sawers was spotted at an Austin liquor store buying vodka in his firefighter uniform.

Sawers is a city fire inspector and fire prevention educator with more than 14 years on the job, Nicks said. Sawers admitted to breaking an AFD rule that members “conduct themselves in a manner that will bring credit to themselves and the fire Department,” according to the disciplinary memo dated Jan. 28, 2013.

It said Sawers also broke policies forbidding wearing his uniform off duty and taking home a department vehicle.

Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr did not offer comment beyond the memos.

But Nicks says, here too: it’s lesson learned

“It’s terrible. You can’t justify it. Bad judgment that’s what it was. Bad judgment it doesn’t paint his entire career. I think it’s a severe punishment and I think it’s justified in this case,” said Nicks.

Lieutenant Sawers faced a 15-day suspension, but his bosses agreed under terms of the department’s collective bargaining agreement, he could use accrued vacation time for half the suspension period.