‘Gas-lit and mob-bullied’

A woman with several years experience in the fire service said she was bullied out of a course, had to withdraw from some training, and had been stopped from representing her community.

‘‘They’ve stopped me from progressing, denied me opportunities, and denied me opportunities to progress my career.’’

The chief fire officer of her brigade, who she didn’t want to identify, was ‘‘a narcissist’’.

‘‘He basically gas-lighted me and mob-bullied me.’’

Others in the brigade had a similar experience, but wouldn’t make a complaint.

‘‘There’s a lot of people who won’t speak out,’’ she said. ‘‘I know that there’s another girl, and I’ve been trying to get her to speak up. She says it’s not going to change, it’s not going to do anything.’’

She knew of one person who was left in a house fire alone.

‘‘The chief did absolutely nothing to the firefighter that left her in there.’’

The staffer said she hoped to be able to return to the brigade when her issues were resolved.

But because of the moblike bullying and constant negativity conveyed by one person, she was not sure if she would be able to return.

‘‘I don’t know if the other brigade members will actually trust me in the future again.

‘‘We’ve got to get this out there, and they’ve got to stop sweeping it under the carpet.’’