SAN ANTONIO — Members of the New Braunfels Fire Department were placed on paid administrative leave due to damages done at a local hotel in April.
According to a statement released by New Braunfels City Manager Robert Camareno, the city is calling it an unfortunate situation.
"In early April, an incident involving New Braunfels Fire Department personnel occurred at a local hotel which resulted in damage to the facility. The City took immediate action and launched an investigation into the incident. Per City policy, the personnel were placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation. The investigation is ongoing and per policy, the City cannot comment on personnel issues. Pending the results of the investigation, disciplinary action may be taken based on the level of responsibility of each individual. The City moved quickly to work with the hotel to address the damage to their facility and the city continues to work on determining liability. This was an unfortunate situation but the City took the appropriate steps to address the incident."
KENS 5 followed up with several questions to the city below.
- When did this happen? Where?
- How many firefighters are on administrative leave currently?
- Were they under quarantine at the time of the incident?
- Estimated damages?
- Were police called?
KENS 5 received another response attributed to the city manager.
"This is a confidential personnel matter related to an ongoing internal investigation and as such, these additional details must remain undisclosed at this time."
The New Braunfels Mayor and members on the council KENS 5 contacted declined to discuss this story saying they're unable to comment about ongoing investigations.
The New Braunfels Fire Chief referred all questions to the city.
The New Braunfels Professional Fire Fighters Association President released the following statement:
"The NBPFFA is aware of an incident that occurred with several of our members. At this time, we can only state that this is a personnel issue and is currently under investigation. To ensure integrity of the investigation we cannot give a detailed statement at this time. The members involved have the protection of the State Civil Service Code Chapter 143."