Mayor George Flaggs Jr. criticized Fire Chief Charles Atkins for failing to tell him about a January 2012 letter from the Mississippi State Rating Bureau outlining several deficiencies in the fire department that could cause the city to lose its Class 5 fire insurance rating.

Flaggs said a copy of the letter accompanied a May 11 letter he received Friday from Atkins that outlined a discussion the chief had with Ty Windham, superintendent of public protection for the rating bureau, about requesting a new fire rating.

Atkins recommended the city wait on a rating review “because many of the improvement areas the rating bureau mentioned in a letter dated Jan. 25, 2012, to maintain the city’s Class 5 rating are lacking.”

The mayor discussed the letters at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, reading his comments from an email he sent Saturday to Aldermen Michael Mayfield and Willis Thompson.

Atkins who was not at the meeting, said the Jan. 2012 letter was sent to all city officials, including former Mayor Paul Winfield. The copy he sent Flaggs, he said, “was my copy. Winfield would have known about this. He did know about it, put it that way.”

The January 2012 letter from Wyndham lists three items:

4 Begin and maintain an annual inspection program of all gate valves in the city’s water distribution system.

4 Increase the number of firefighters so there area a minimum of three firefighters per truck per shift.

4 Continue to improve and maintain a vigorous training program for all firefighters that should include six day, and two night practices per shift per year at the city’s training center and make some of the exercises multiple company exercises.

“Gentlemen, I am highly disturbed to know that I have served almost 22 months as mayor of the city of Vicksburg and I am just now finding out about a letter dated Jan. 25, 2012, when I hadn’t even mentioned my candidacy for mayor, that details ‘deficiencies’ and ‘improvements’ for the Vicksburg Fire Department that could adversely affect our Class 5 fire rating,” Flaggs said.

Such deficiencies affecting 25,000 people and businesses, he said, should have been addressed either during the transition period between his and Winfield’s administration, or right after he took office as mayor. He said he and City Attorney Nancy Thomas will meet with Windham to find the status of the city’s fire insurance rating.

Flaggs said he was suspending discussions to develop three- and five-year plans for the fire department “until such time as these grave deficiencies can be addressed.”

He also wants to discuss the fire department at the board’s June 8 work session, “because our fire rating can be affected at any time and cause significant increases to fire insurance for our citizens.”

“That’s the reason why I absolutely believe this form of government and the way this government is working is absolutely inefficient,” he said.

“The mayor of this city has the duty to protect the citizens of this community, and as the mayor (I) should at least know when we are in jeopardy of losing (a rating) or in a deficiency.

“You ought to at least inform me or educate me so I can educate the public,” he said.

While he did not specifically discuss the Jan. 25 letter with Flaggs, Atkins said he “mentioned on several occasions” the deficiencies outlined in the 2012 report, and talked about them in April.

“I wouldn’t say that he knew about all of it, but he knew about some it,” he said, adding he told Flaggs about the department’s manpower and water situations.

“We don’t do anything in the fire department without considering the Mississippi State Rating Bureau,” he said. “Anything we have to talk about is within that context.”

The manpower issue and the water situation were discussed at an April 17 meeting between Flaggs, Atkins and deputy chiefs Kenneth Daniels and Craig Danczyk, Thomas and human resources director Walterine Langford, that looked at the fire department’s needs to improve its rating.

Atkins said at the time adding at least three firefighters on each truck and four on an aerial truck would require 38 to 42 people per shift. Flaggs suggested the requirement could be met by consolidating stations.

He said Monday the department has 104 firefighters, which allows three firefighters per truck per shift at stations 5, 9 and 8, and two per truck at the other stations.

He added the firefighters on the department’s service truck are also trained to handle all the equipment.

“Manpower is always a problem,” he said.

“That’s the good thing about our department; all the firefighters are crossed trained. They’re qualified to handle any of the trucks,” he said.

“We have made a big jump from 2012,” he said, adding the department has implemented the training requirements outlined in the January letter.

“Training is not a big issue for us except for maybe not having a drafting pit (to learn how to draft water from a source).”

“He knew what our problems were,” Atkins said. He said he talked with Windham in 2014 about the department’s problems and was told to wait until the department’s next scheduled review in either 2016 or 2017. “I checked midway to see if we’re doing good. We have to report to them because that’s one of those agencies you don’t want to be on the other side of the table with.”