By Savannah Eller
The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
BLACK FOREST, Colo. 鈥� The Black Forest Fire Rescue Protection District has placed its chief on administrative leave following accusations made by staff.
Citing 鈥渙rganizational leadership and cultural challenges鈥� addressed in letters sent to the district board of directors at the end of June, the board placed Fire Chief PJ Langmaid on administrative leave July 1. The suspension has since been extended indefinitely pending investigation into the chief鈥檚 conduct.
The board has discussed the allegations at several special meetings over the past month, all in executive sessions closed to the public. According to the board鈥檚 meeting minutes, a 鈥渓etter of no confidence鈥� was sent to the board from staff members.
The board has also considered suspending other leadership at the district employing 30 full-time firefighters, including Deputy Chief Chris Piepenburg and Training Captain Michael Torres. At the July 1 meeting the board voted to restrict command staff to 鈥渘othing except operational needs,鈥� suspending their ability to make policy decisions, change schedules, or hire and fire employees of the district.
Board member Jim Abendschan said at a July 6 meeting that the two leaders were involved in the issues plaguing the district.
Black Forest looks to move ahead after year of disaster, divisiveness
It鈥檚 been a tumultuous 12 months for the Black Forest Fire and Rescue District. After battling the most destructive wildfire in the state鈥檚 history, the district鈥檚 board spent the year of recovery embroiled in controversy with residents and the El Paso County Sheriff鈥檚 Office. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen, in the 22 years I鈥檝e lived here, such animosity and divisiveness as I鈥檝e seen in the last year,鈥� said former board chairman Eddie Bracken, who was voted out in last month鈥檚 board elections. While on the board he received a petition to remove Fire Chief Bob Harvey, a petition to keep him on, allegations of malfeasance, a costly internal investigation and a hostile election that unseated him and two other incumbent board members.
鈥淚f we leave Chief Piepenburg and Captain Torres in their positions, the culture is untenable, the grapevine is alive and well and not a healthy environment,鈥� he said, according to the meeting minutes. 鈥淲e have a qualified administrative officer that can keep the ball running and Captains who are qualified to run calls.鈥�
A motion to suspend Piepenburg and Torres died, as did a motion to fire Langmaid outright in a 2-2 vote with one board member excused. In the meeting, the board 鈥渄eemed the actions committed by Chief Langmaid to be terminable.鈥�
The lack of leadership has prompted 鈥渙perational support鈥� from the Colorado Springs Fire Department, said CSFD Spokesperson Ashley Franco. She said that CSFD was providing a battalion chief for supervision on complex and multi-company incidents, and would continue to do so until the situation was resolved.
Many Colorado Springs residents to see double billing for fire protection resolved, others left still waiting
Hundreds of residents paying taxes twice for fire protection could see the issue resolved in the next year, while many other homeowners will keep waiting.
In an email statement, Black Forest Fire Rescue Board of Directors Chairman Nate Dowden said that the district continues to provide fire and EMS services 鈥渦ninterrupted:"
鈥淭he city will be assisting in calls that Chiefs were tagged to under our mutual aid agreements and the Board has further authorized the use of appointed individual(s) to be temporarily available to provide day-to-day leadership presence pending completion of its investigation.鈥�
He then wrote that the district was in discussion with the CSFD 鈥渢o accept a limited, short-term appointment鈥� of an 鈥渋nterim operational fire chief鈥� from the Colorado Springs agency while the investigation into Langmaid continues.
Monument Fire District chief Andy Kovacs said that his neighboring agency had not received any formal requests for assistance from Black Forest Fire Rescue.
鈥淓ven in light of circumstances over there, it鈥檚 business as usual for the two agencies,鈥� he said.
He said mutual aid calls route through the El Paso County Sheriff鈥檚 Office dispatch and that the neighboring agencies were still in the operating smoothly when it came to multi-agency calls or ambulance requests.
The recently-inaugurated joint firefighter training program between Monument, Black Forest Fire Rescue and Pikes Peak State College may be up in the air after the successful graduation of its first batch of recruits this year. Kovacs said that he hoped issues at Black Forest, where the training program was physically run, would be resolved by the time another class would start in January.
In the meantime, Langmaid is under investigation for issues at the district as well as an allegation about the board鈥檚 emails. On July 6 the board voted to employ IT to 鈥減rovide forensic analysis of the potential unauthorized access of Chief Langmaid to Director Dowden鈥檚, Chief Piepenburg鈥檚 and Captain Torres鈥檚 email,鈥� according to the minutes.
Langmaid鈥檚 own email has been taken over by Administrative Officer Rachel Dunn .
Local fire departments, Pikes Peak State College partner on new training academy
Starting in January, aspiring firefighters will have a new place to train in Colorado Springs.
The board retained the law firm Cockrel Ela Glesne Greher and Ruhland out of Denver to conduct what is intended to be a 鈥�360 degree鈥� investigation, according to to board member Jack Hinton .
Langmaid previously served on the Black Forest Fire Rescue board of directors before taking on the role of chief in 2019. He lost his house in the 2013 Black Forest fire.
Langmaid was a firefighter with the Colorado Springs Fire Department for 15 years, according to Gazette news partner KOAA. He had not held a leadership rank with a firefighting agency before becoming chief.
Langmaid could not be reached for comment.
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