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Firefighters at a Columbia station for months chased each other naked through the hallways, spanked coworkers in the shower, obsessed over the sizes of each other’s penises and pinned down fellow employees to perform a variety of unwanted sexual acts, according to an internal investigation obtained by The Post and Courier through an open-records request.
The inquiry, which led to the abrupt firing of five firefighters in May, found that supervisors at the Columbia Fire Department’s Lower Richland station condoned and sometimes joined in on the pranks, hazing and harassment.
And when the Fire Department’s internal investigators began asking questions about the behavior, supervisors and firefighters alike sought to cover up their misconduct by dodging questions, lying and omitting key information, the report concluded.
The male-dominated station’s unprofessional workplace drove a handful of firefighters to seek reassignment and came to a halt only after one abruptly walked off the job in April, sending a text that sparked the investigation, the report stated.
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Investigators interviewed at least 23 employees, six of them twice, before concluding the weeks-long investigation in early May.
Records show Chief Jenkins and other fire officials met with Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook about the investigation on April 29. The next day, Columbia Fire officials met with city legal staff before writing up the employees for personnel infractions.
The report said Gates, the former battalion chief, “knew a great deal about what was going (on), and witness and participated in some of it.”
Gates didn’t alert Columbia Fire leaders when one of his firefighters quit April 2 and complained about alleged sexual misconduct, investigators wrote.
Later, Gates reported that he investigated the man’s allegations and found them “unsubstantiated [and] hurtful.” But investigators wrote that Gates’ investigation was “incomplete and one-sided.”
“Gates never inquired beyond the members of Station 8 and recorded his conclusion before making any contact with (the firefighters who quit),” they wrote.
One of the station’s captains instructed firefighters not to use the word “horseplay” in their statements to Gates about the complaint, the report found. All members of the station’s first shift lied or misled internal investigators who came asking questions.
“There was a distinct impression, whether planned or unplanned, or a collective cover up,” investigators wrote.
Sexual pranks, hazing rampant at Columbia fire station before firings, investigation finds
The inquiry, which led to the abrupt firing of five firefighters in May, found that supervisors at the Columbia Fire Department’s Lower Richland station condoned and sometimes joined in on the pranks, hazing and harassment.
And when the Fire Department’s internal investigators began asking questions about the behavior, supervisors and firefighters alike sought to cover up their misconduct by dodging questions, lying and omitting key information, the report concluded.
The male-dominated station’s unprofessional workplace drove a handful of firefighters to seek reassignment and came to a halt only after one abruptly walked off the job in April, sending a text that sparked the investigation, the report stated.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Investigators interviewed at least 23 employees, six of them twice, before concluding the weeks-long investigation in early May.
Records show Chief Jenkins and other fire officials met with Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook about the investigation on April 29. The next day, Columbia Fire officials met with city legal staff before writing up the employees for personnel infractions.
The report said Gates, the former battalion chief, “knew a great deal about what was going (on), and witness and participated in some of it.”
Gates didn’t alert Columbia Fire leaders when one of his firefighters quit April 2 and complained about alleged sexual misconduct, investigators wrote.
Later, Gates reported that he investigated the man’s allegations and found them “unsubstantiated [and] hurtful.” But investigators wrote that Gates’ investigation was “incomplete and one-sided.”
“Gates never inquired beyond the members of Station 8 and recorded his conclusion before making any contact with (the firefighters who quit),” they wrote.
One of the station’s captains instructed firefighters not to use the word “horseplay” in their statements to Gates about the complaint, the report found. All members of the station’s first shift lied or misled internal investigators who came asking questions.
“There was a distinct impression, whether planned or unplanned, or a collective cover up,” investigators wrote.
Sexual pranks, hazing rampant at Columbia fire station before firings, investigation finds
