Thomas' sad, wise departure

City of Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas concluded 11 months after nine of his firefighters lost their lives in an inferno still under investigation that the best way to hasten the healing within the department was to step aside. His instincts were right, not only for the department, but for himself and his family.

His supportive boss, Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., told a press conference Wednesday afternoon that the chief informed him of his retirement decision on Tuesday. The mayor insisted that the chief's timing had nothing to do with the contents of an exhaustive report on the Sofa Super Store fire by consultants for the city to be released today.

In fact, the mayor said his briefing on the report occurred Wednesday morning and that it doesn't single out any individual. Mayor Riley did say he felt the chief wanted to make his announcement before the report was released to avoid a connection between the two events. The chief, he said, had conflicting emotions, but "felt it was the right time." The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health issued its draft report last week and there are several more reports to follow.

Clearly retirement, effective June 27, was a decision with which the chief struggled, primarily, according to the mayor, "because he was afraid of letting me down. I don't know that I've ever met a man more dutiful than Rusty Thomas." The fact that he has had only one sick day in 32 years with the department "says it all," the mayor said.

The mayor not only has steadfastly defended the chief amid intense controversy over the deaths of the nine firefighters but has said he had faith in his ability to oversee the multitude of recommended changes in its operation. But the internal and external criticism, primarily from firefighters' groups, has been ongoing and taken its toll on the chief and his family.

In a brief statement to the media at the Wentworth Street firehouse, the chief expressed his feelings about the department. "The city of Charleston Fire Department has been my life for 32 years. For 16 of those 32 years I put the fire department in front of my family. My family and I got together the past couple of weeks and we decided it would be better for me and my family to retire."

No one who heard Chief Thomas eulogize the fallen firemen at the emotional, nationally televised memorial would question the depth of his feeling for the department and those who gave their lives in its service. His heartfelt eloquence that day expressed the community's grief and great sense of loss.

Following the tragedy, Chief Thomas led the effort to help his colleagues deal with their grief and make needed changes in protocol, training and equipment upgrades.

"Over the last 11 months, our department has responded to that tragedy with an intense self-examination and we are in the midst of an ongoing effort to bring our department in line with the highest standards of firefighter safety," he wrote in his letter of resignation. "We have put in place a model counseling program to make sure that our firefighters have the support they need to deal with the emotional scars of June 18. We are moving forward on many important initiatives."

The chief also described his own overwhelming and continuing sense of loss in his letter. He wrote that the deaths of his nine friends "changed me and this department forever. ... I think about them every day." He implicitly acknowledged his critics by writing that his retirement would be "the best thing that I can do right now to help this department that I love so much to heal from the tragedy."

The mayor contends there is no one person accountable for the tragedy. What happened, he said, was "extremely complex," adding that there are lessons to be learned "for this fire department and other fire departments." Still, the chief recognized that he remained at the center of the finger-pointing and his continued presence would continue to distract from the needed work ahead. His voluntary departure from the department to which he was so devoted is yet another sad aftermath of this tragedy.