Fire Chief Mike Grillo has been battling uphill since he was hired in July.
Photos: Jane Kaufman, The Berkshire Eagle. Used with permission.

SANDISFIELD - Two per diem firefighters worked their first shifts on Monday, a week after Chief Michael Grillo won permission from the Select Board to use his budget to begin hiring.

Grillo said volunteers stopped showing up for shifts shortly after Police Chief Michael Morrison was placed on paid administrative leave pending a formal investigation.

Grillo has accused Michael Morrison and his brother, Ralph Morrison, Sandisfield's former fire chief, of attempting to sabotage the department through the nonprofit Sandisfield Fire Department Inc. Ralph Morrison is president and Michael Morrison is a director.

Now, Grillo hopes to have 25 per diem firefighter/emergency medical technicians to staff Station 2 on Route 57 within two weeks.

In addition to nine Sandisfield volunteers who've come forward since last week, Grillo said 10 people are interested in taking paid shifts at a rate of $30 an hour.

New Firefighters

"It's all genuinely new people," Grillo said. The volunteers should be ready for service in three to six months and three of them are planning to begin emergency medical technician training in September, according to Grillo.

Meanwhile, two volunteer firefighters - Alec Morrison and Shamus Geherty - and one EMT, Cayenne Riiska, have resigned, Grillo told the Select Board on Monday.

One of the two new firefighters, Brian Reynolds, worked a 16-hour shift on Monday, from 8 a.m. to midnight. He's commuting from Norwich, Conn., but said he's happy to help out Sandisfield. He plans to return on Wednesday for a second shift.

Joe Lester worked an eight-hour shift on Monday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. He's a firefighter and paramedic in Connecticut, Grillo said.

Both Reynolds and Lester trained on Sandisfield's trucks, fired up chainsaws and tried out the Hurst tool, also known as the Jaws of Life. Reynolds also went through the air packs and found one in need of filling.

Grillo said he's been in contact with the Massachusetts Office of Emergency Services regarding credentials for EMTs he's hiring from Connecticut, including his own credentials.

Locked Out

Of Sandisfield's two fire stations, Station 2 is larger and newer. It has an office and large room on the second floor that could house bunks, as well as a kitchen and day room.

Grillo said the owner of the station, Sandisfield Fire Department Inc., has locked the two rooms on the upper floor and dumped the duty gear that had been stored in them onto the floor of the garage. Grillo left the duty gear there for now, he said, because he has no other place to put it.

In addition, some important documents, such as emergency preparedness plans, were stacked on top of a filing cabinet, he said. Other documents, though, Grillo has no access to, including patient information. They remain in a locked office.

"Who does this?" Grillo said. "This is what really stepped up everything."

When asked on Wednesday about the equipment, Ralph Morrison, told The Eagle "that's what [Grillo] requested so that's what we did.

"The SFDI has nothing to do with this baloney," Ralph Morrison added. "I'm sick of hearing it."

Michael Morrison could not be reached for comment.

Since he can't work in the office in Station 2, ostensibly because the lease doesn't extend to that part of the building, Grillo has been working out of the chief's car and sharing a desk with the town accountant.

Support from the Select Board

At Monday's Select Board meeting, the Select Board approved in spirit a strongly worded letter Grillo drafted severing ties with the Sandisfield Fire Department Inc. working together with us," Select Board member Robert Fedell said at the meeting. He's a firefighter and EMT in New Marlborough and is now volunteering for Sandisfield calls, as well.

Two Sandisfield Selectmen, Bob Fedell (left) and Steve Seddon support their choice for the Town's new fire chief.
Photos: Jane Kaufman, The Berkshire Eagle. Used with permission.

The Select Board will draft its own letter based on the advice of town counsel and approve the final version before forwarding it to the nonprofit.

Among the deficiencies Grillo has identified are ambulance calls that went unbilled since 2021. Altogether, he said, that adds up to $341,000 in lost revenue. Grillo said $156,000 of that total is "still collectible."

Grillo told the Select Board that if Sandisfield Fire Department Inc. won't approve a lease renewal next summer, he has a plan to house firefighters, trucks and equipment in a townowned building.

"I have full faith in Chief Grillo," Fedell said after the meeting. "What he's presented and what he's been able to accomplish in three or four short weeks has been amazing. The amount of deficiencies he's uncovered and revealed is what we were basically begging to be told. We can't fix something that we're not told about."

Fedell said he hopes that current members of the Sandisfield Fire Department will take care of the community, "go on calls and do their duty."

"The townspeople that are pushing back realize that this newcomer's going to expose all their dirty secrets," Fedell said. "The problem is that the door's open. It's Pandora's box right now. If you close it, it's not stopping anything. The issues have been revealed. We have to deal with them now."