ORRINGTON, Maine — The town’s fire chief has been placed on administrative leave for the second time in three years but the reason for the disciplinary action was not disclosed.
Town Manager Paul White confirmed that Fire Chief Mike Spencer was placed on paid leave Thursday morning but declined to comment on the reason, calling it a personnel matter.
When asked how long Spencer’s suspension will last, White said, “Unknown.”
Spencer, whose salary is approximately $50,000 a year, declined to comment on the situation, as did Board of Selectmen Chairman Kevin Allcroft.
Thursday’s suspension was the second time that Spencer has been disciplined by town officials.
In the spring of 2013, he was suspended without pay for two weeks because he allowed off-duty firefighters and others to hang out at the fire station, did not record 12 hours of sick time and drove a town vehicle to his other job.
Spencer said at the time that he informed those who gathered regularly at the fire station that they could no longer do so, that he forgot to write down the sick time, and that he used the designated chief’s vehicle to go to his job at R.H. Foster so that he could get back to town if there was an incident.
Those matters became public during an open grievance hearing conducted at Spencer’s request.
Spencer was elected fire chief by the department’s firefighters in 2004. The next year, he combined the town’s volunteer fire and rescue departments into one municipal department and was appointed chief.