Francis A. DeBellis's Page

Profile Information

Lives in:: Non resident FireFighter

Department:: Chester, Pa.

Title/rank:: FireFighter

Years of public service:: 10

Agency structure:: Paid fire department

Top issues in your department:: The top issues involve political biases. The uniion, local 1400, Chester City FireFighters, is fighting hard to put me back on duty. I was placed on a non-job related disability pension 25 years ago. At that time the union was so corrupt they wouldn't represent me and I had to hire my own lawyer. A couple of years ago my buddies called me and related that the union was strong, and no longer "in bed" with the city, that they could get my job back. I am 50 now but run 4 miles per day and always stayed in good shape. Well, the City is fighting to keep me on pension, they don't want to have to give me my original 7 years seniority and have already promised the positions to their politically loved, so they engineered the physical so that I would not pass. The union president coached me to go back and take the physical again until I passed as they had given this opportunity to all of their politically loved. I was supposed to start at the Philadelphia Fire Academy on June 15 but they washed me out quickly having given me the least amount of time to repair any anomalies found. Arbritration is set for August 26, 09 if the city does not put me back on. The city dislikes me because they know I will pass the officer's test high and bumb their politically loved. They have been found to cheat on the tests, having given the answers to their prefered, firefighrers had to walk out on tests three times due to opened test boxes and suspicion of imporpriety. Is it possib le to trait with your department? The union is now trying to broker a deal to have me train independently, at the citie's cost because they gave me no time to repair any problems as they did for their prefered cadets.

Professional Qualifications:: Seven years on duty, two awards for above and beyond the call of duty for the rescue of a small girl and an elderly man. Two seperate fires. Also, Bachelor's Degree in Aviation Maineenance as well as firefighting training before the nationally standardized FF1 and FF2.

Bio:: Fire Fighter Frank A. DeBellis
Phone: 610-620-7641

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