FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro leaves his Queens house Tuesday.
Photo: Dennis A. Clark
[From article]
City investigators will look into FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro’s use of two fire crews to clear snow from the front of his Queens home in the blizzard’s aftermath, sources said on Tuesday.
The Department of Investigation decided to conduct the inquiry after reading about Nigro’s apparent abuse of power in The Post, the sources said.
The DOI will “review” why a pair of trucks were sent to Nigro’s private residence in Whitestone on Sunday morning — making them unable to respond to emergency calls, the sources said.
The review is the first step before any potential full-blown investigation is launched. Such reviews are not standard procedure and are done on a case-by-case basis, the sources said.
Hours after The Post exclusively reported about the shoveling on Tuesday, Nigro personally went to Engine Co. 320/Ladder Co. 167 and told them he was disappointed that the story got out.
[. . .]
Faye Smyth, who was supervising the fire operations dispatch center in Queens when the call came in, told The Post that having two trucks go to the house is “not the normal response.”
She said the protocol is to send one unit to a “lock-in” — when someone calls 911 to say they are trapped by the snow.
[From article]
City investigators will look into FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro’s use of two fire crews to clear snow from the front of his Queens home in the blizzard’s aftermath, sources said on Tuesday.
The Department of Investigation decided to conduct the inquiry after reading about Nigro’s apparent abuse of power in The Post, the sources said.
The DOI will “review” why a pair of trucks were sent to Nigro’s private residence in Whitestone on Sunday morning — making them unable to respond to emergency calls, the sources said.
The review is the first step before any potential full-blown investigation is launched. Such reviews are not standard procedure and are done on a case-by-case basis, the sources said.
Hours after The Post exclusively reported about the shoveling on Tuesday, Nigro personally went to Engine Co. 320/Ladder Co. 167 and told them he was disappointed that the story got out.
[. . .]
Faye Smyth, who was supervising the fire operations dispatch center in Queens when the call came in, told The Post that having two trucks go to the house is “not the normal response.”
She said the protocol is to send one unit to a “lock-in” — when someone calls 911 to say they are trapped by the snow.
Nigro’s home in Queens, with a clear walkway, on Sunday.
Photo: Dennis A. Clark
But the run to Nigro’s house was logged as “administrative” and the call to dispatch came directly from the firehouse, allowing them to send two trucks.
That kind of manpower is typically used by dispatchers only if “they also needed medical attention,” Smyth said.
She said the dispatch center sent firefighters to dig out about 20 homes in Queens Sunday morning – and that the ones handling Nigro’s home weren’t needed elsewhere at the time.
[. . .]
At Nigro’s house on Tuesday, veteran FDNY investigator Randall Wilson — whose office conducts internal probes and reports directly to the commissioner — was spotted talking to the department commissioner’s wife, daughter and son-in-law.
While the FDNY said Wilson was simply there to keep the family members safe, sources said he was also likely probing how the story was leaked.
If an investigation is launched internally by the department, the firefighters who did the heavy lifting would be forced to go through an intensive questioning and have their phone records pulled, sources said.
Nigro issued a department-wide order last May promising to “investigate these improper releases of information and do all we can to identify those responsible.”
http://nypost.com/2016/01/27/fdny-chief-in-hot-water-for-personal-snow-job/
FDNY chief in hot water for personal snow job
By Shawn Cohen, Larry Celona and Chris Perez
New York Post
January 27, 2016 | 12:39am
But the run to Nigro’s house was logged as “administrative” and the call to dispatch came directly from the firehouse, allowing them to send two trucks.
That kind of manpower is typically used by dispatchers only if “they also needed medical attention,” Smyth said.
She said the dispatch center sent firefighters to dig out about 20 homes in Queens Sunday morning – and that the ones handling Nigro’s home weren’t needed elsewhere at the time.
[. . .]
At Nigro’s house on Tuesday, veteran FDNY investigator Randall Wilson — whose office conducts internal probes and reports directly to the commissioner — was spotted talking to the department commissioner’s wife, daughter and son-in-law.
While the FDNY said Wilson was simply there to keep the family members safe, sources said he was also likely probing how the story was leaked.
If an investigation is launched internally by the department, the firefighters who did the heavy lifting would be forced to go through an intensive questioning and have their phone records pulled, sources said.
Nigro issued a department-wide order last May promising to “investigate these improper releases of information and do all we can to identify those responsible.”
http://nypost.com/2016/01/27/fdny-chief-in-hot-water-for-personal-snow-job/
FDNY chief in hot water for personal snow job
By Shawn Cohen, Larry Celona and Chris Perez
New York Post
January 27, 2016 | 12:39am
