SAN ANTONIO – Fire Chief Charles Hood spoke Thursday about the allegations against six cadets. Those allegations: drinking in uniform on the job at a local Twin Peaks restaurant.
Hood said while the decision to let those cadets go was a "difficult one," the action is final and the case is closed.
"We don't come to work wanting to terminate people or fire people," said Hood. "That's not in our DNA, but what is in our DNA is to make sure we have a professional force of members that are going to be working in this community for the next 30 to 35 years."
He said that four of the cadets resigned last Thursday and the other two were terminated
The decision came after a “thorough investigation” that started 14 days prior to their dismissal.
San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association President Christopher Steele said once they were approached for help, even though the cadets are not members, they did their own investigation and found that the cadets were not in uniform and were not on the job when they were seen at Twin Peaks.
"These cadets are telling the truth, 100 percent," Steele said. "They were not in uniform."
However Chief Hood said despite the cadets' good standing, there were poor choices and those choices came with consequences.
"When we looked at that, I was not judging the persons," Hood said. "I think they are quality young men. We hired them. We invested in them, just like they invested in us, but the challenges are that they made some bad decisions."
Steele said the cadets shouldn't be fired for just having a beer off-duty. "You can't fire someone for doing that," he said. "I did it. Every last one of those chiefs, they did it. For us, that's wrong to terminate some of the best kids in the class."
While Hood said the case is closed, Steele said they will be looking to the mayor and other elected officials to weigh in.