[R]UTLAND — Firefighter Brent Garrow returned to work Monday from a kidney transplant and was surprised to learn he was the subject of a news release neither he nor the mayor knew was coming.
Garrow, who answered a phone call to the station Monday afternoon, said he was indeed back on the job.
“Oh, really,” Garrow said when told Fire Chief Mike Jones had issued a release. Garrow said he knew nothing about the release and would return a reporter’s phone call later in the day.
Allaire said he had discussed the matter of Garrow’s return with the chief and they both agreed on Garrow’s going back on duty.
Jones did not immediately return a phone call Monday night seeking comment.
Garrow’s status with the department became an issue during the mayoral campaign when shortly before Town Meeting Day he posted on Facebook an allegation that the city wouldn’t let him return to work even though he was cleared by physician.
Then-Mayor Christopher Louras denied that was the case in his own online posting, in a letter addressed to Garrow.
Bad blood between Louras and firefighters was cited by many as a factor in Louras’ loss in the mayoral race, in addition to his support of a plan to resettle refugees from Syria and Iraq in the city.
Louras’ handling of a proposal to restructure the Fire Department drew opposition from firefighters and members of the Board of Aldermen. The firefighters union backed Allaire — then an alderman — for mayor.
The fire chief’s statement issued Monday was titled “Fire fighter Brent M. Garrow Accepts Chief’s Return to Work Offer and is Back in Boots.” Garrow had been away from the department for 18 months as he awaited a donor and then recovered from the kidney transplant.
The two-paragraph release from the fire chief states that Garrow had been medically cleared for duty by his physician, accepted the chief’s offer to return to work on April 10, and Monday was his first day back on the job.
“Members of the department welcomed Mr. Garrow and got right down to work his first day back,” Jones wrote in the release. “We wish him well as he once again serves the community as a member of the City of Rutland Fire Department.”
