In an unprecedented move, Scott Mello will no longer serve as the city’s acting fire chief and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré will take on the role. The shakeup is due to the high number of firefighters who have reported on-duty injuries and called in sick over recent months on the heels of controversial staffing changes in August.
With Mello in command, the department experienced "a dramatic increase in firefighters claiming injuries, especially minor injuries like soreness and stress," Paré said Friday.
Mello didn't manage the situation effectively, Paré said. His reassignment, beginning Sunday, is in response to that assessment. He will return to his position as assistant chief and remain No. 2 in the department's chain of command and chief of the department's operations division, Paré said.
Reached Friday night, Mello declined to comment.
Mello joined the Fire Department in 1984. He became an acting battalion chief in 2014, and in February 2015 was promoted to assistant chief of department. Mello became the city's interim chief in July, replacing Chief Clarence A. Cunha who retired.
A retired Providence chief, George S. Farrell, has been hired as a managing consultant to the public safety commissioner’s office in connection with Paré's new dual role as both department overseer, as commissioner, and acting chief as the city searches for a permanent chief.
In a statement, Evan England, spokesman for Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, said, “Farrell will be an asset to the Public Safety Commissioner’s office and to the City of Providence as we continue to address high-cost overruns in the department and ensure the highest level of public safety for our residents and firefighters alike.”
Firefighters Local 799 President Paul Doughty said Friday, “It’s the mayor’s prerogative to hire whoever he wants to lead the Fire Department and we will continue to do the good work that we do.”