Firefighers Press for Investigation of Blackwood Fire Chief

A union of professional firefighters is calling for the chief of a volunteer firefighting company to step down.

International Association of Fire Fighters Local 3249 are requesting an investigation of Blackwood Fire Chief John Vannoni over concerns about a fire department response on May 24, said Keith Kemery, the union president. The local wants the chief to step down during the investigation.

"This isn’t the first time we've had problems with Chief Vannoni," Kemery said.

The issue last month involved a dispatching error for a hazardous-material call. The dispatching error was quickly discovered, but Vannoni ordered his crew to stand down, Kemery said. He calls this is just the latest salvo in a long-running dispute with the chief, and says action needs to be taken.

"Local 3249 believes that Chief Vannoni’s actions were a deliberate attempt to attack the professional integrity and good names of Local 3249 represented career firefighters," said a letter presented to the Fire District 4 Board of Commissioners Wednesday. "Local 3249 further believes that Chief Vannoni’s latest actions represent a continued pattern of behavior that is predisposed to be adversarial and discriminatory toward full-time paid professional firefighters serving throughout Gloucester Township."

Fire District 4 oversees the Blackwood Fire Co. It's one of six fire districts in Gloucester Township and one of two that have paid and volunteer firefighters. Chews Landing also has paid and volunteer firefighters.

The letter also requested the commissioners investigate Vannoni's response on May 24 and an order by Gloucester Township's emergency management director to investigate the incident, Kemery said.

The board took no action on the letter because only two of five members showed up for the scheduled work session and there was no quorum.

Michael Jones, the chairman of the board, said he planned to forward the letter to the board solicitor, David Carlemere, who is also the township solicitor. When asked if he knew what the dispute was about, he paused for several seconds and then declined to comment.

Vannoni also attended the meeting. When asked about the allegations, he said he hadn't seen the complaint. When a reporter handed him the complaint, he took a few minutes to read the one-page letter, pausing to smile on several occasions, and then refused to comment.