Massachusetts: Firefighters refuse to work overtime; fireworks canceled
“It’s a shame that families in Randolph are getting strong-armed. The Night Before the Fourth is a great community, patriotic tradition,” Connors said in a statement released by the selectmen’s office Wednesday night.
“To boycott a patriotic celebration is distasteful at best,” Connors said in the statement. “I am terribly disappointed that our firefighters would do this to the community that has supported them time and time again.”
The “Night Before The Fourth” parade will go off as scheduled, starting at 7 tonight at the Boston Higashi School, 800 North Main St. The parade route runs from the school south along North Main Street to Memorial Parkway.
The two events draw thousands of residents and visitors to the town each year.
Fire Chief Charles Foley would not issue a permit for the fireworks display because no firefighters were willing to work details associated with the event, including a crew to extinguish burning debris that lands on the roof of the high school.
“In my expert opinion, the risk of exposure with pyrotechnics for not only the residents but also the largest capital assets of the town, the high school and Town Hall, is significant,” Foley wrote in the memo.
A last-ditch effort Wednesday by Foley and Ron Cassford, the president of the union representing Randolph firefighters, failed to get any firefighters willing to work overtime for the event....click to continue.
