Plainfield Fire Board Release Refers to Stratton 'Investigation,' Offers No Details

Plainfield Deputy Fire Chief Jon Stratton (left) and Plainfield Police Chief John Konopek talk after the fire board voted to reinstate Stratton on Monday. Credit: Shannon Antinori

A day after voting to reinstate Deputy Chief Jon Stratton, the Plainfield Fire Protection District Board of Trustees issued a statement saying he members are “happy to have completed the investigation involving DC Stratton,” but offering no information on the scope or reason for the investigation.

• Stratton Back on the Job: Plainfield Fire Board Approves Agreement with Deputy Chief

Stratton was placed on paid administrative leave on Oct. 1, with the board, Chief John Eichelberger and Deputy Chief Dave Riddle all saying they could not comment on the reason for the board’s decision. Residents, elected officials and local police and firefighters turned out to special meetings on Oct. 9 and 15 to support Stratton, who has been with the Plainfield fire department since 1995.

On Monday, the board unanimously voted to approve an agreement with Stratton, and reinstated him as deputy chief.

Tuesday morning, a statement was posted to the fire district website, but did little to address residents’ demands for answers.

“The Board will not discuss the particulars of the allegations or outcome, we will only try to explain why we handled this the way that we did,” the statement said. “You are more than welcome to ask DC Stratton if he wishes to explain or discuss the outcome.”

Stratton did not immediately return a message from Patch on Tuesday, but said Monday that he’s eager to get back to work and put the incident behind him.

The board’s statement addressed residents who came out to voice support for Stratton.

“We heard terms like leader, mentor, always there, helpful, and several other wonderful things that described how much of an asset he is to this district and community. There is not one board member or chief who could dispute what was said about him,” the statement said. “We all know this and have witnessed it firsthand. It was never this board’s intention to discredit DC Stratton or his reputation. All we wanted to do was conduct a fair and impartial investigation.”

The statement added that Stratton was placed on paid administrative leave “to help protect sensitive information and resources, and it would also protect him from behaving disruptively during the investigation.”

The release also refers to the board’s protocol for disciplinary procedures, which states, “If the district has reason to discipline an employee, it will attempt, whenever possible, to do so in a manner that will not unduly embarrass the employee before other fellow employees or members of the public.”

In the statement, trustees deny they were trying to hide anything from residents.

“Please understand, we cannot disclose to everyone the allegations towards an employee. The Board was not trying to hide anything from the residents of this district; we only wanted to obtain all the facts and allegations first,” the statement said.

Click here to view the statement.