A Connecticut fire department union has angrily demanded the resignation of a local politician for likening their opposition to a mayoral firefighting proposal to “the way Hamas lobs rockets into Israel.”
The dust up involves the Stamford Professional Fire Fighters Association, which has lobbied strongly against a plan by Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia that would result in the hiring of 61 new paid firefighters and merging them with a volunteer fire department.
In response to the union’s efforts, Stamford City Representative Scott Mirkin was quoted in the Stamford Advocate as saying, “Charges and assertions, real and perceived, are being lobbed the way Hamas lobs rockets into Israel.”
Those comments – which were uttered two days after two firefighters in nearby Bridgeport died in the line of duty – infuriated Stamford Professional Fire Fighters Association President Brendan Keatley and his 280 members.
Keatley told The Post Mirkin’s comments “display an utter lack of judgment and show him to be insensitive to both firefighters and the people of Israel who are innocent victims of Hamas rocket attacks.”
He added that many of his 280 members, who are now assigned to the Stamford Fire Rescue Department, work just 30 miles from New York City, where many spent long hours working at Ground Zero after the 9-11 attacks.
“I don’t know what his [Mirkin’s] thinking was. I have no idea what he meant by it, but as a firefighter, I’m upset by it. It’s absolutely wrong,” Keatley said.
“I was at Ground Zero after 9-11 and a lot of people went to the Trade Center that day and didn’t come home,” he noted.
Mirkin could not be reached for comment, but told the Stamford Advocate the union was misstating his position and that he had no intention of resigning.