Convicted arsonist named a fire department's acting chief; almost all the firefighters quit

[sl8]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/22/jerame-simmons-illinois-fire-chief-arson/

A man once convicted of arson was named a fire department’s acting chief. Almost all the firefighters quit.

By Gina Harkins
Today at 5:26 a.m. EST

[...]

“Here’s my gear,” the firefighter told members of the Prairie Du Pont Fire Protection District’s board of trustees. He was among the bulk of the department’s 13 volunteer firefighters to resign after his chief in St. Clair County, Ill., near the Mississippi River, was replaced by a man previously convicted of arson.

[...]

Simmons, who did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night, pleaded guilty to arson in 1999 after setting fire to ceiling tiles in his high school basement and to an abandoned house when he was 18. He was sentenced to four years of probation. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) later pardoned Simmons, KTVI reported.

[...]

Simmons’s father, Herb Simmons, was mayor of East Carondelet in St. Clair County at the time of his son’s sentencing, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 1999. Herb Simmons is now the director of the county’s emergency management agency.

Ten of the department’s 13 firefighters quit in response to Jerame Simmons being named acting chief, according to KTVI. Eight of them submitted a letter to the board Monday announcing that — “with regret and sorrow” — they were leaving their positions.

[...]

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Not Sure How To Feel About This

If I'm reading this right, the guy is now 40. This happened when he was18 years old.
Not sure how the Pritzker pardon fits in. JB has only been governor 3 years, so the pardon had to be close to 2 decades after the fact.
But, the firefighters quitting has to mean something. Is it really about an arson 20+ years ago or is it really that Simmons is unqualified and/or a major jerk?
I get a fire chief convicted of arson looks horrible, but I'm thinking he could have been a disturbed kid 22 years ago & might be much more stable today. Do we hold against him, his whole life, something he did that long ago?
Still, the resignations give me pause. What do they know that I don't?

[634-5789]

2. Agreed!

Sounds hinkey.....fishy...and a l'il bit whacky

[secondwind]

3. Who would want to take the chance?

Eighteen is not a baby....

[uponit7771]

27. +1

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Some convictions never go away. This may be unfortunate...

in many situations, but here it's difficult to understand why they couldn't find one person never convicted of arson.

[Maraya1969]

12. This! And I am wondering who assigned him the job although I suppose clicking

the link would tell me except it's behind a paywall.

[haele]

31. According to the OP, his dad is county Emergency Management Director.

Two guesses on how this guy got his job.
There is also no indication of his qualifications, either. Former arsonist could have been a used car dealer or other small business job that doesn't look too close at one's rap sheet, unlike a public service or management job.
I doubt he has the qualifications to begin with.

Haele

[PJMcK]

6. Simmons can't lead the department

All the volunteer firefighters quit! They won't support Simmons. That speaks volumes.

[2naSalit]

7. And the mayor's kid at the time.

Maybe he was given the American exceptionalism treatment, even in being named to that position. That's what I got out of it.

[k0rs]

23. Remember Tom Lehrer...

...and his song "My Home Town?" You'd have to be, ahem, of a certain age.

partial lyrics were:

I remember Sam he was the village idiot
and though it seemed a pity it was so
He loved to burn down houses just to see the glow
And nothing could be done because he was the mayor's son

[2naSalit]

26. Indeed.

An updated version from the 1980s:

[Vinca]

8. I wonder if things like setting fires as a teenager are indications of mindsets that never

go away. They say people who torture and kill in their adult years were often animal abusers as kids, for example. I've always had the impression people who set fires really get some kind of need met when they do it and that it's not always a prank. No evidence to back it up since I've never had a reason to study it. In any case, it would be interesting to learn what the 13 firefighters know or have heard. I think I've read somewhere that arsonists like to join fire departments.

[LisaL]

11. There is a phenomenon called a "firefighter arson."

It involves firefighters who also love to set fires. Those would be people fascinated by fires.
Now, this dude set fires before he became a firefighter, but I imagine it involves similar psychology.

[Sur Zobra]

35. Firebug is a podcast

about a fire investigator who was a serial arsonist. The host of the podcast, Kary Antholis, dives deep into the arsonist’s psychology.

[AncientAndy]

36. I read a book about serial killers once.

Setting fires and cruelty to animals are common traits, especially during late adolescence/early teens. It’s a power/control thing.

[msfiddlestix]

9. I don't believe arsonists become reformed as they age..

There is something pathologically disturbing connected to the inclination of arsonists. It doesn't just go away with age.

I believe the firefighters are keenly aware of the problem and their instinct to resign in this case was based on that knowledge.

Frankly the pardon in my mind was highly ill advised and am pretty stunned the Governor apparently doesn't grasp the fundamental psychology driving the behavior of arsonists.

shocking really.

[BlueBlud]

17. Fully agree, IF it was a stiffy fire, not a mistake.

[msfiddlestix]

18. I'm not sure what that means

first the term stiffy fire, and second a mistake isn't an act of arson, so i'm not sure what you mean by mistake.

not trying to be obtuse...

[BlueBlud]

19. Such as, you drive car catalytic converter over dry grass, and start a brushfire etc.

[msfiddlestix]

21. I gotcha... that's a careless and stupid accident, as opposed to deliberate intent

acts of arson is quite deliberate with the intention of doing severe harm and destruction and possibly death.

Arsonists are psycho/sociopaths. Harm, destruction, and death is their intention.

and enjoying the show.

accidents happen, sometimes due to stupidity, or carelessness. but the damage and harm as a consequence was unintentional..

[stopdiggin]

10. thank you. and your response is probably

far too reasonable. While I agree with you that the wholesale resignations have to mean something - and certainly shouldn't be swept aside ... I think there is something else (besides the 22 year old conviction) at play here. I'll suggest (without having any real background) some combination of small town politics, patronage and nepotism - and the fact that, with a volunteer department, an acting chief position should clearly have had input (if not consensus) from the ranks of the serving volunteers. And just as clearly didn't in this situation.

[Joinfortmill]

15. I think a conviction of arson is disqualifying

[Captain Zero]

24. I'm wondering if it's the NEPOTISM on top

That the firefighters really can't stomach.
I think it's the NEPOTISM thrown into the mix of all this.

Could anybody else even BE A REGULAR VOLUNTEER IF THEY HAD THIS IN THEIR PAST??

Anybody else would probably need to find something else to do with their lives.

This guy should to.

[Bev54]

34. Well it looks kind of hinky when a convicted arsonist is appointed by his father

as fire chief. Even if he was not appointed by his father, it would be improper or if he was not an arsonist and appointed by his father it would be improper. How I feel about it? Just another power hungry family doing whatever the hell they want.

[Hortensis]

43. :) I'll accept the firefighters wishes, Prof, and I am a bleeding heart

who hopes adolescent Kyle Rittenhouse escapes his dreadful start to someday live a decent life.

It may be that they just don't like the son and are spitefully trashing their careers in obection to working under someone they wouldn't have lunch with.

But of course it also seems unlikely that that son would have any position in the fire department if dad hadn't been mayor and now emergency management director.

[Demovictory9]

44. If crime is related to career..i would be hesitant to give him a pass

Go work in some other field

[PJMcK]

5. The Chief of a fire department has important roles

First, they have to manage and run a department that is both vital and volatile. It's a complicated organizational skill set that involves people and complex equipment.

Second, they are the public face of their important department.

It's this second issue that should prohibit Simmons from the job. Frankly, his appointment simply sounds like a bad joke.

The resignations of the firefighters-- all volunteers!-- demonstrates that Simmons doesn't have the support of the people he has to lead.

[calimary]

13. Yep. If THEY'RE bothered by it enough to resign, that shouldn't be overlooked.

If it were just one of the firefighters quitting, that’d be noted but wouldn’t be a red flag. But this many at once? Ten out of 13? That’s not just A red flag. That’s a whole bunch of red flags AND screaming sirens AND horns honking. Seems to me, anyway.

[SharonClark]

14. Like hiring Michael Vick to run an animal shelter.

The optics are horrible.

[Calista241]

20. I lol'd at the irony.

But Michael Vick is kind of the definition of a reformed individual.

Vick is still doing his outreach with the Humane Society and other animal rights groups. Long after his obligation to the government to do this kind of work expired, and long after he had any financial incentive with the NFL to continue doing it. He’s still at it doing the events and work for free.

But still, if i walked into an Animal shelter and saw Mike Vick working with the dogs, I’d do a double take.

[BlackSkimmer]

22. Fuck Michael Vick.

Period.

[XanaDUer2]

32. Fuck Michael Vick

Disgusting pos

[Thomas Hurt]

16. The nepotism, the arson conviction, or the firefighters know he is an a-hole cuz they grew up...

with this guy. yeah, something stinks when that many people resign.

[Paladin]

25. Bravo to the departed firefighters.

It's as if a convicted rapist was handed a high school guidance position. And the "My Daddy's The Mayor" aspect of it just makes it worse.

[intheflow]

28. Details not mentioned in OP:

The people with the power to put him in place held an unusual meeting in August, and then fired the beloved Fire Chief - who spent 40 hours a week at the fire station on top of his full-time Teamsters job - without notice or explanation five days before Christmas. Arsonist has been the Assistant Fire Chief for some time. My guess is he went whining about his volunteer boss to Daddy and Daddy “fixed” the problem. Small town politics at their finest.

[packman]

29. Got one better

Heard of a failed real estate, tax dodging, low-IQ, multi-divorced man, who went bankrupt on many of his adventures - he became President of the U.S. and, in addition, had no political background.

[Takket]

38. yikes!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds awful!

[TNNurse]

33. The firefighters live there and know him.

I think they may have cause.

[sarisataka]

37. Three things I do not want

- A convicted embezzler as my accountant
- A convicted sex offender running my day care
- A convicted arsonist as my fire chief

I'm all for forgiveness after paying your debt to society but there are somethings the temptation is too great of a risk to trust.

[Hekate]

41. There's a thousand other career paths for such folks

They are not being deprived of a livelihood

[RobinA]

39. If What This Guy

was convicted of truly was an arson, the guy shouldn't be anywhere near a firehouse in any capacity. It may have been a youthful indiscretion, but there are other jobs in the world he can have.

I'd want to know what he did, as sometimes people call any responsibility for a fire "arson," but if arson he doesn't get to work around fire. Ever. Period.

[Hekate]

40. How to put this: kind of like hiring a reformed Josh Duggar to run the girls' school. Some things...

… I question whether one really “outgrows.”

Okay, maybe some can, with really early intervention. The age of 18 is not nearly early enough, imo.

Some behaviors — arson, sex abuse, animal torture — indicate such deep kinks in the psyche that they should disqualify a person from ever taking related employment.

Find something else to do: there are a million other ways of earning a living.

[liberalla]

42. I have a different concern about him. People who play with fire, start fires, etc. are sometimes

mesmerized by the fire itself. The "lure" of the flame... it's like a 'kink' that you can't quit (or can't forget). Or an addiction to something that keeps calling your name. Gambling, sex, booze, drugs, shopping, sugar... the urge is waiting for when you feel stressed, weak or powerless.

He's a firebug. Fire Dept. Chief is probably not the best job for him.