Fate of fire chief in doubt

Adrienne Packer

Friday, Sept. 21, 2001 | 9:06 a.m.

Clark County Manager Thom Reilly skirted questions Thursday about the future of Fire Chief Earl Greene and whether Reilly directly asked the chief to step down from his post.

County sources said earlier this week that Reilly had encouraged Greene to retire, but Greene was heavily protected by some county commissioners, especially Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates.

Atkinson Gates denied that she threatened to involve civil rights leaders if Greene, who became the state's first black fire chief when he was hired in 1996, was forced to retire.

"This is not about race," Atkinson Gates said. "I support him because he is good; I'm not the only one who supports him. It's ludicrous to contemplate a changing of the guard when we're dealing with so many national issues."

Greene, who has been with the department for 28 years, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Reilly said he has had a series of conversations with Greene since results of an audit of the Fire Department showed the division was short-staffed, under-equipped and lacked training. The audit was made public last month.

Criticisms of department operations were brought to the commission's attention by the firefighters' union, which has been at odds with Greene.

"We have had ongoing conversations on performance, we have addressed management and communication," Reilly said. "We'll have a lot more conversations. That's all I can comment on."

Ray Ireland, whose term as union president ends next week, said the division's concerns were clearly outlined and confirmed in the audit performed by Deloitte and Touche.

Ireland declined to discuss Greene's leadership or department morale, saying firefighters' thoughts are focused on New York City firefighters who were killed trying to save lives during last week's terrorist attack.

"We do have problems here and that's why we went to county commissioners," Ireland said.

Greene was a deputy chief for five years before he was promoted.