‘Told how useless we were’: Ex-Myrtle Beach Fire recruits’ accusations lead to changes
Complaints about the Myrtle Beach Fire Department’s treatment of recruits last year initiated an internal investigation leading to changes, including an anti-hazing policy, and coincided with the demotion of a high-ranking official.
Two recruits who left the department last June, shortly after graduating from recruit school, sent letters to city officials in August detailing leaders’ inappropriate comments and behavior they deemed racist, sexist and homophobic, in addition to instances of bullying and hazing.
“My fellow recruits and future recruits deserve so much more, they deserve to find the love for the job without being bullied and harassed in a daily uphill battle,” one recruit wrote in their letter. “This job is hard enough, there is no need for people who are supposed to be on your side to make it harder.”
The letters and ensuing investigative report by the city’s human resources department were acquired by The Sun News via Freedom of Information Act request. A reporter’s attempts to reach the former recruits were unsuccessful.
The investigation, which involved interviews with rest of the recruits in the class, deemed most of the more incendiary claims — including that a training chief told recruits that “we cannot tie any nooses because our class is majority white people” — were either untrue or taken out of context.
The noose comment came during a class where the recruits were being taught how to tie knots and in reference to other fire departments getting in trouble when nooses were found in their stations, according to city spokesman Mark Kruea, who admitted the employee’s word choice “could’ve been better.”
Investigative findings
Recruits were permitted to submit anonymous reviews on courses and instructors during recruit school, and none of the issues mentioned in the letter were included in those reviews, the HR department found. Rather all courses and instructors were highly rated.
The issues extended beyond after graduating recruit school, the former recruits alleged, noting that they were pranked, hazed and otherwise shunned by the more experienced firefighters when they began working shifts.
“... (T)he worst thing came after recruit school was over when we were all stationed...sometimes belittled and told how useless we were,” one wrote.
The former recruits, who both had previous firefighting experience, left the department within days of each other last June after being hired in December 2021, and both questioned how many others had left due to similar mistreatment.
“... (A) City like Myrtle Beach with the highest paid firefighters in the state deserves better treatment for their recruits and more respect for the taxpayer dollars that they used to hire and then ultimately lose so many of us,” one wrote.
MBFD has sent 32 recruits through its recruit school since the beginning of 2020, and seven have since left the department, according to numbers provided by Chief Tom Gwyer, who noted that other local fire departments often also have recruits attend.
The cost of that training is $311-$871 per person, depending on the recruit’s educational needs, in addition to the employees’ salaries, which are paid during their training.
While the investigation didn’t corroborate many of the issues the former recruits cataloged, Kruea said it did ultimately find deficiencies.
“It’s not the level of professionalism we’d expect,” he said.
As a result, the fire department will “revise the recruit school experience,” develop an anti-bullying/hazing policy and partner with human resources to get training on leadership development, bullying and reporting requirements, according to the action items at the conclusion of the investigative report.
Leadership change
Another action item includes the recruit school moving under new leadership. Kruea confirmed that the only change involved the demotion of Joshua Andrews, formerly the fire battalion chief of training, who the former recruits specifically criticize in their letters.
Andrews, who has been with the department since 2006, requested the demotion to fire lieutenant, according to Kruea. The position change, which occurred after the letters were received but before the investigation was complete, included a 16% pay decrease, according to Andrews’ personnel record, which The Sun News reviewed through FOIA.
Attempts to reach Andrews for comment were unsuccessful.
No explanation for the demotion was included in the personnel file, which otherwise consisted of all positive performance reviews during Andrews’ lengthy career, because the request was made verbally, according to Kruea.
This story was originally published February 20, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
