Springfield fire chief appeals suspension

NEW SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Township Fire Chief Brian Hughes has filed an appeal with Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of a 90-day unpaid job suspension, which township trustees imposed on him beginning Nov. 1. No hearing date has been set.

Trustee James Holleran said when trustees met Wednesday that they would have no comment.

Trustees imposed the suspension after a hearing Oct. 10 in which they found Hughes guilty of several charges after an investigation into a 911 call made to report a barn fire at 4613 E. Garfield Road in April 2005. The fire was actually a controlled training burn for the Springfield Fire Department.

Hughes was found guilty by trustees of unauthorized use of township equipment, willful neglect of duties, giving a false statement to a township police officer, directing the fire be reported as an emergency, failing to obtain necessary permits for the burn, violating EPA laws, failing to supervise subordinates and unnecessarily endangering the public and emergency personnel by failing to inspect the property beforehand.