Former firefighter:FWFD hiding mistakes

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The Fort Wayne Fire Department has a lot to hide as far as how a fatal fire was handled in January. That is according to a former firefighter who resigned after the Willows of Coventry fire that killed three young women.

Philip Grimme spoke only to NewsChannel 15 Monday, after declining to comment publicly for months. Grimme had almost 10 years on the department before he resigned in March. He was part of the first crew on scene of that January 23rd fire on Fort Wayne's southwest side.

"Does the City have a lot to hide? Yes," Grimme said emphatically, in a phone interview with NewsChannel 15. He did not want to go into detail pending a discussion with his lawyer, but said mistakes were made on the scene.

Following the fire, Grimme was accused of misconduct at the scene; an allegation that after an internal investigation would not result in any discipline. Fire Chief Pete Kelly didn't answer an interview request for this story.

Grimme resigned from the fire department in March. He said he was being made into a scapegoat for mistakes made during the fire. He wouldn't say whether the mistakes made would have affected the fatal outcome of the fire.

The probe into Grimme's alleged misconduct is just one thing the City of Fort Wayne does not want released. The families of the victims, the apartment complex, and The International Business College, where the victims went to school, are waging a legal battle with the City of Fort Wayne for information about how this fire was handled. City Attorney Tim Manges filed documents in Allen County Superior Court that lay out almost 200 otherwise public documents that city officials want withheld.

Grimme's alleged misconduct is part of this list. See the complete list of documents requested to be withheld regarding the fatal Willows of Coventry fire by clicking here .

The City says this investigation is ongoing. That's why it doesn't want those public records to be released. A judge has yet to weigh in on whether or not they should be.