Report: Thompsonville Fire Chief Is Suspended

Thompsonville Fire Chief Frank Alaimo has been given a four-week suspension without pay by the Thompsonville Board of Fire Commissioner’s according to a report.

Citing sources, WFSB said Alaimo was given a final notice about insubordination, apparently related to the deadly Dec. 10 fire on South River Street that claimed four lives.

Alaimo is required to respond to all fires but didn’t arrive at the fire scene until a couple hours after it started, according to the WFSB report and The Courant.

The Thompsonsville fire commissioners met Tuesday night at Enfield Town Hall and the agenda included “discussion of performance of Chief Francis Alaimo” with “possible action on agenda item #4” which was the discussion, according to town documents.

Commission Chairwoman Colleen Reidy told The Courant that Alaimo did not meet memorandum requests from the commission, issued on Oct. 27 and emailed again on Nov. 3 and Nov. 5. The commission also asked Alaimo to respond to all structure fires and emergency situations, such as the structure fire on South River Street, according to The Courant story that can be found here.

The Dec. 10 fire at a 68 S. River St. duplex was reported about 6:15 a.m. Nine people lived there and five were able to escape the fire that raged from all of the building’s windows when the first fire crew arrived. Four people were reported missing and were found later that day in the building whose interior had collapsed during the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by local and state fire and police officials. In an interview with NBC Connecticut this week, Alaimo said that since the fire dozens of residents have called local firefighters for free smoke detectors that are available.

Photo credit: WFSB.