Internal Affairs Investigating Woman’s Claims
"We take this very seriously, it’s prohibited, the commissioner will not stand for it, it’s reprehensible, it’s against everything the fire department stands for," said Fire Media Affairs spokesman Larry Langford.
The liaisons allegedly occurred at Engine 15’s quarters at 81st Street and Kedzie Avenue.
"A woman came to internal affairs with allegations that there was prohibited activity taking place in the firehouse," Langford said Wednesday. "We immediately started an investigation which is still under way. So far we have not found any evidence that the alleged activity took place."
Firehouse personnel were being interviewed, according to Langford.
Another source familiar with the investigation said the woman who made the accusation is a former mistress of a firefighter who works at Engine 15. When the married firefighter tried to end the relationship, the woman "threatened to ruin him and ruin his job," the source said.
That is when she apparently took her allegations about having sex with the firefighter —- at the firehouse, while he was on duty —- to internal affairs.
The Engine 15 allegations are not the first involving alleged sexual activity in a Chicago firehouse. In March 2000, then-Fire Commissioner James Joyce threw the book at eight firefighters for having sex at a Northwest Side firehouse, or for refusing to report that a prostitute was working there.
In a handwritten statement that touched off the scandal, prostitute Jennifer Manzella claimed that she performed oral sex on as many as five firefighters a night over an 11-year period. In the statement, Manzella said she was paid $25 for every sex act, that the sex went on at several firehouses and that her roommate was engaging in similar acts.