A committee will review Augusta Fire Department hiring procedures that some commissioners say are keeping good firefighters away.

"Thank God we haven't had this issue of a person trying to get into a burning house and they couldn't do their job," Commissioner Joe Jackson said.

Hiring procedures put into place three years ago don't credit applicants for certifications they already have, such as EMT certification. Nor do they give credit for experience such as military service, Jackson said.

"Is our house out of order?" Commissioner Don Grantham asked when the issue was raised at a committee meeting. Commissioner J.R. Hatney said it was.

"I get 25 calls a month from the fire department," Hatney said. The hiring process needs "a complete review" by a subcommittee with input from city human resources, equal employment and administration, he said.

Hiring procedures introduced in 2007 include applicant interviews and agility testing, Fire Chief Howard Willis said. The procedures are followed to the letter and candidates are hired from the top scorers down, Willis said. Which is a Lie, and only part of the misconduct that is really going on at The Fire Department. Assistant Chief Christopher James has been wrongfully firing new firefighters in 2009, for an unfair nepotism policy. Then re-hires most of the firefighters, once the department did away with the policy, but has a training program; under James direction, that has encouraged firefighters to harrass, bully, assult, and threaten other firefighters! Official complaints have been issued to Director Ms. Humphrey at the E.O.A. Currently Asst. Chief James and the entire Fire Department is under investigation, for racism, harrassment, terrorisitic threats, and wrongful terminations against fellow firefighters. Firemen along with James that are suspected of criminal activity are: Scott Walker, Lt. Brown/Lt. Lee (under Asst. Chief James), Recruit Firefighters; Myles, mith, Wolmack, Zanwiger, Santadota, Mullins, Johnson, A. Johnson, Parrish, Garcia, and Female recruit Ms. Guest.

If You Know anything about Augusta, Aiken Counties (The C.S.R.A)-Corruption, racism, and injustice toward Black Men are common place; especially From The Public School System, Board of Education, Police Departments, and our U.S. Military Branches. But we as Americans, should not expect this kind of inhumanity from an Institution that we all hold dear (especially after 9/11); such as The Fire Department! But the sad truth is that in The Fire Service, there is indeed lots of racism, feminism, and lack of true brotherhood amongst fellow firefighters. Hopefully this new report and criminal investigation will change some very bad practices in The Augusta Fire Department.

Weekly testing of a firefighter trainee can get him or her dropped from the program, Willis said.

"It's more beneficial when you have somebody ready to go to work," Jackson said.