Sept.

21, 2020

Ogdensburg mayor says city fire department captain

spreading fear and lies to community

OGDENSBURG – The mayor of Ogdensburg has issued a press release criticizing a

member of the Ogdensburg Fire Department for deliberately spreading
misinformation claiming that city fire fighters are being told they can no longer
respond to emergencies outside the city’s municipal boundary.
Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly said Gerald Mack, a captain at the Ogdensburg Fire
Department is deliberately posting false claims through social media platforms
alleging that city fire officials have been told to stop responding to calls in
Heuvelton and parts of the towns of Oswegatchie and Lisbon.
Mr. Skelly said Capt. Mack has used a Facebook page known as Support
Ogdensburg First Responders as the vehicle through which to spread the
falsehoods.
“Here again we have a city employee, a fire department captain, deliberately lying
in an effort to frighten city and area residents,” Mr. Skelly said. “No one has told
the fire department not to respond to emergencies that they are summoned to,
or that are close to the city limits, such as along our Route 37 corridor, our
intersection with Route 68 and our Route 812 corridor heading toward Heuvelton.
“It’s a shame to see a civil servant and first responder with the experience of
Capt. Mack acting like nothing more than a small-town street thug or spoiled
rotten kid,” Mr. Skelly said.
The Ogdensburg mayor said a recent Standard Operating Procedure update
issued by City Manager Stephen Jellie over the weekend deals with improved
protocols for handling emergency calls outside the city. He said the issue came up
after concerns were raised by St. Lawrence County Emergency Services over the
Ogdensburg Fire Department arriving at scenes within the Heuvelton fire district
without being called.
“The Ogdensburg fire department should only respond to the village of Heuvelton
fire district if called in for assistance,” Mr. Skelly said. “Both 911 dispatch in
Canton, and Heuvelton fire officials on the ground, are capable of determining
their needs, to include calling for backup and standby.”
“The city manager has spoken to fire chiefs in the surrounding towns and is
addressing an issue that was brought to him by other government officials and
volunteer departments,” the mayor said. “Every time we do anything that is
aimed at improving efficiency and avoiding duplication involving the fire
department Capt. Mack is the first to complain.
“Spreading lies and falsehoods to the public is not the way a civil servant should
act in my opinion. All it does is frighten the people we are supposed to serve and
protect,” Mr. Skelly said.
“Capt. Mack’s assertion that the city fire department will not protect our business
on the outskirts of the city is absurd and outrageous. These areas are long
established parts of the greater Ogdensburg community,” he said.