Leonia’s 60 or so volunteer firefighters will again be allowed to respond to emergencies and to maintain equipment. Only firefighters will be allowed in the firehouse.
The firefighters were all suspended for two days following the accusations against the 18-year-old developmentally disabled man.
“The administration needs to sit down with the fire company and work out what issues the municipality apparently has,” attorney Paul Kaufman, who represents the firefighters, told WCBS 880’s Levon Putney.
“If it happened in a school, would they have shut down the entire school? I don’t think so,” firefighters’ attorney Mark Semeraro told Putney. “What happened was not just a knee-jerk reaction, it was a knee-jerk overreaction.”
“There’s no allegation that anybody associated with the fire company did anything wrong,” Kaufman added.
Neighboring Teaneck and Fort Lee handled fire calls after the 115-year-old department was closed on Monday.