ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Former St. Johns County Fire Chief Scott Bullard is speaking out against allegations of wrongdoing that led to his resignation, he’s accused of endangering firefighters and the community.
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Bullard stated that he was forced to resign. In an interview with Action News Jax’s Ben Becker, Bullard defended his record as the fire chief.
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“As fire chief, do you believe you did a good job?” Becker asked.
“Yes, I do,” Bullard said.
Bullard submitted his resignation, citing that he had “done nothing to cause detriment to the fire department or the county, and having done nothing that could be perceived as immoral, unethical, or illegal.”
“All I know is, you know, this is my livelihood that’s been taken away from me. My future, my family’s future. I’ve done nothing wrong,” Bullard told Becker.
The controversy surrounding Bullard’s resignation stems from issues found in his personnel file, including a sick leave policy that required firefighters to take unpaid leave if they had exhausted their sick days, which Interim County Administrator Joy Andrews said could “place the county at risk for an unfair labor practice claim by the union.”
Bullard claimed that he was following orders given verbally in a meeting.
“That was at the direction of the Human Resources Director Lillian Hutchinson, the Fire Chief, or any other department director in the county, none of us have that autonomy to make a decision like that,” Bullard stated.
READ: Internal concerns raised about former St. Johns County Fire Chief and his leadership
Additionally, concerns were raised about the use of polyester uniforms the union and his file said he ordered, saying it could melt and attach to the skin, increasing the risk of injury, infection, and potential fatality of burns.
Action News Jax obtained a memo of understanding, which isn’t signed by Bullard, but signed by the union and the former county administrator, stating that “NFPA-approved” uniforms would be temporarily waived for research and testing purposes for new hires and specific employees chosen to wear them.
Bullard argued that this document allowed them to issue the uniforms, he says the union agreed ahead of time so he could order them but there is no documentation to back that up.
“First off, this is not my decision to do this,” he said. “We had a new hire class starting in June, and we had to outfit them. We both agreed that we weren’t going to put them in the Nomex, that we had been ordering previously because it’s an old carcinogen. At the time, the cotton-poly blend uniforms that had been field tested were the most popular ones.”
“This was not a move that we were moving. This isn’t what we’re going to permanently transition to these uniforms,” he said.
Another concern was Bullard’s leadership before and during Hurricane Idalia, with some leaders expressing low confidence and competence in his abilities and that he didn’t follow the established protocols. Bullard disagreed.
“We followed the tried and tested hurricane policy that we’ve used for every other hurricane that’s been out there,” Bullard said. “I didn’t change anything as far as response goes.”
“What I say to that is, if they have those thoughts as the administration, as my supervisors, they provided no guidance after that, no corrective opportunity for anything like that, if you’re not giving me anything than what I am to do?”
The interim county administrator, who ultimately oversaw Bullard’s resignation sent a statement to Action News Jax that read “Once I realized that continuing on the path we had been on could potentially endanger our residents, I had to make the decision to change course. My foremost responsibility is ensuring public safety.”
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In response to these allegations, Bullard has filed a grievance. He claims he was a victim of “politics” but doesn’t know why.
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