February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Adrienne Walsh, 37, was the first female firefighter to land at one of the city’s five elite-ranking rescue units. There are only 29 female firefighters on active duty in the ranks today.
The FDNY has declined to release the names of the other people involved in the case, but nine of them are ranking officers. There is one firefighter implicated.
Walsh left her post at Rescue 4 earlier this year after only a short time with the company, but not before mentioning the alleged harassment on the job to a chief at the firehouse, which shares space with Engine 292.
The chief forwarded her statement as a complaint to the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, which then launched an investigation that resulted in charges being drawn up.
The charges are currently being reviewed, according to a FDNY source who declined further comment.
It is not clear whether if the harassment was sexual in nature.
Firefighter Walsh is now at Greenwich Village’s Squad 18, where she had been prior to transferring to Rescue 4.
Rescue 4, considered one of the city’s most elite firehouses, is a haven for firefighters with special skills used in all types of rescues. They lost seven members on Sept. 11.
Callan’s father, Joseph Sr., is an assistant chief with the FDNY and commander of the Bronx.
Calls to the Uniformed Fire Officers Association were not returned by press time.