WESTBROOK — Two Westbrook firefighters who were arrested last month and placed on leave have lost their jobs.
James Gammon, a full-time firefighter for the Westbrook Fire and Rescue Department, is “not currently on the city’s payroll,” City Administrator Jerre Bryant said Monday. He was on the city’s payroll Friday, Bryant said.
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Richard Dorr, a captain with the call company, was terminated during his meeting with city officials Monday.
The moves come about two weeks after the resignation of a third firefighter who had been named in a protection-from-abuse order.
Dorr was put on unpaid leave after his arrest June 22. He was charged with domestic violence, criminal threatening and obstructing the report of a crime.
When police served Dorr with paperwork related to a protection-from-abuse order taken out by his estranged wife, they learned that Gammon, Dorr’s roommate, possessed firearms. Gammon, who state records show has a 1983 felony conviction for robbery, was arrested June 25 and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. He was later placed on paid leave.
Gammon declined to comment on his dismissal.
Dan Walsh, business agent for Teamsters Local 340, which represents firefighters and rescue workers, declined to comment and wouldn’t say if Gammon would appeal the city’s decision.
Dorr declined to comment on his dismissal. J.P. DeGrinney, the lawyer representing Dorr, said in a statement that the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office has dropped the charges of domestic violence and criminal threatening. Dorr still faces charges of obstructing a report of a crime. His wife said in the protection order that Dorr threw her cell phone across the room and stepped on it after she threatened to call police.
“This poses a very interesting dilemma in that the Westbrook Police Department has made an arrest for obstructing the report of a crime when there is no underlying charge and no crime to report,” DeGrinney said in a statement. “Dismissing a competent, qualified, and complaint-free fireman is not wise given the myriad of problems currently facing (the fire department). Good leaders seek out the real root of systemic problems and deal with them. Finding and firing an innocent scapegoat does not fix anything, and the public at large knows it.”
Dorr joined the department in May 1990. He worked an estimated 65 hours during fiscal year 2009-2010. Gammon, who joined the department in November 1998, worked an estimated 2,761 hours last fiscal year.
The department has about 77 members, roughly 30 who are full-time. The rest are part-time or call company members.
The personnel decisions come about two weeks after the resignation of James Harbaugh, a part-time Westbrook firefighter. He was put on unpaid leave after a woman obtained a protection-from-harassment order against him. He resigned from the department July 12.
Since July 7, Harbaugh has also been on paid leave from the Scarborough Fire Department, where he has worked part time since 2000.
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at: mcreamer@pressherald.com
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