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Hernando Today

Firefighters Accuse Giammarco Of Putting Lives In Danger

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By TONY HOLT

Published: May 15, 2008

SPRING HILL - It is a fact that a woman nearly crashed into a Bayflite helicopter at the scene of a motorcycle accident last month.

Had she driven into the helicopter with its propeller blades still spinning, it could have led to unimaginable carnage. A firefighter said there were nearly 100 bystanders.

What isn't known, except for those who saw it, is whether a fire commissioner was directly responsible. Witnesses are telling two stories.

Spring Hill Fire Rescue responded April 30 to the intersection of Meredith Drive and Spring Hill Drive. The patient required trauma care, so a Bayflite helicopter was dispatched to the scene.

Soon after the helicopter landed along the roadway, a woman approached the scene in her vehicle and "traveled through the landing, narrowly missing the helicopter," wrote firefighter Michael E. Sellito in an e-mail to his supervisor.

He claims fire commissioner Rob Giammarco distracted him and caused him to leave his post. That is what led to the breach in the landing zone, he stated.

"The chopper was already on the ground, and they were putting the patient in the chopper when I got there," said Giammarco, who vehemently contended he never saw a woman drive through the landing zone.

It happened before he arrived, he said.

Giammarco told his side of the story to his fellow board members Wednesday night during a workshop.

"I'm very, very disappointed in the way these people have acted," Giammarco said.

Three firefighters at the scene — Sellitto, Mike Stucchio and Capt. John M. Irons — all wrote letters to Chief Mike Rampino accusing the fire commissioner of not following directions and being disruptive while responders worked.

"Commissioner Giammarco initiated an incident of distraction to the firefighters as well as detoured traffic," wrote Irons, the ranking officer at the scene. "This caused an incident that luckily did not cause any injuries. However, if this car would have hit the helicopter, the ensuing events would have surely (caused) injury, if not death."

In Sellito's letter, he stated Giammarco parked behind a vehicle he was trying to move out of the landing zone area. He said that was what caused him to leave his post. He had to run toward the fire commissioner's car and tell him to move a second time.

"I am very frustrated at the actions that caused this event and believe (Giammarco) should publicly apologize to the people he put in danger," wrote Stucchio. "I would also like to ask him what his statement would have been if the car did hit the aircraft and people did die."

The pilot who operated the Bayflite helicopter also was asked to provide Rampino with a written statement describing the events. A Bayflite manager did not return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Rampino did not know the medical status of the motorcycle victim.

A sergeant and deputy with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office were at the scene and both said they never saw Giammarco anywhere near the landing zone.

"They didn't see this commissioner," Sheriff Richard Nugent told Hernando Today on Thursday. "To the best of our knowledge, he didn't have anything to do with it."

Giammarco said he responds to accident and fire scenes wearing a red baseball cap and orange and yellow vest with the words "fire commissioner" printed across both.

Former fire commissioner Bob Kanner said a "similar scam" was done to him while he was on the board. He alleged his accuser was one of the firefighters who reported Giammarco. He would not specify which one.

He reported it to then Chief Michael Morgan, who said he would look into the matter, but "it went nowhere," he said.

"There are two types of firefighters at Spring Hill," Kanner continued. "There are those proud of doing a good job and want their supervisors knowing they do a good job, and there are those who don't want their supervisors looking over their shoulders."

Giammarco also thinks the accusations have something to do with how he has voted while on the board. He publicly said in March he was opposed to the district becoming independent from the county. District employees are overwhelmingly in favor of independence.

Kanner agrees with Giammarco and thinks he was singled out for the same reason. He, too, opposed independence for Spring Hill Fire Rescue while on the fire board.

Giammarco told fire commissioners Wednesday that Sellito was "rude, crude and indignant" and "very disrespectful to a senior person."

"The information sent in those e-mails is not true or correct," he said.

Chief Mike Rampino said he would review the e-mails and meet with Giammarco. He would then present his findings to the fire board.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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