Jeff Maus

GREENWOOD— Now-former Greenwood Fire Chief Jeff Maus has been terminated as a township firefighter and emergency medical responder after an investigation into a laundry list of allegations of questionable conduct leveled against Maus last October by Tower EMT Steve Freshour. The Greenwood Town Board, on a 3-2 vote, made that call at a special meeting held Feb. 18.
Attorney Pamela Whitmore, who was hired by the town board last fall to investigate Freshour’s complaint, issued her 41-page report plus lengthy attachments on Jan. 31. It includes 13 findings that Whitmore said she could substantiate along with six that she determined were unsubstantiated or false. Those findings were based on interviews with 13 witnesses, including Maus, as well as reviews of recorded radio traffic from some of the incidents in question. A few potential witnesses declined to speak to Whitmore.
According to Maus, who obtained information from the city of Tower after a data request, Freshour, at the request of Greenwood Chair Lois Roskoski, supplied the witness list to Whitmore although Maus was never asked for witness suggestions himself.
In dismissing Maus, the town board cited a lack of leadership skills rather than any particular action documented in Whitmore’s report, although a subsequent letter from township attorney Mike Couri cited more than a dozen reasons for his dismissal, many of them related to maintenance issues that have been chronic problems on the department for years. Several of the items listed were never considered as part of Whitmore’s investigation. The letter also cites a failure to update the department’s standard operating guidelines, or SOGs, although Maus has provided updates to the current town board, which has not acted to approve them.
None of the allegations that Whitmore says were substantiated could be categorized as “wrongdoing,” but reflected judgment calls, miscommunication, poor people skills, or possible mistakes that can occur on any emergency scene.
The substantiated findings cited by Whitmore included:
• Maus made comments to an EMT, on more than one occasion, which made the EMT feel he was trying to rush patient assessments. Whitmore concluded, however, that none of the assessments were rushed as a result.
• On more than one occasion, Maus’s actions or words upset either Greenwood employees or those of other agencies, triggering them emotionally to the point of crying in some cases.
• Maus handed an oral adjunct to members on his team that was too small, causing it to disappear into the patient’s mouth, forcing an EMT to remove it.
• Maus did not adequately supervise personnel during the adjunct incident.
• Maus used an open radio channel during a call to share health information of a patient rather than sharing them in writing as requested. Whitmore concluded, however, that sharing patient information over the radio appears to be common practice in the area and she did not determine whether doing so was a violation of any law or rule.
• Prompted Tower Fire Chief Paige Olson to state over the radio that she was incident command on a fire due to confusion over directions provided by Maus during a fire in Greenwood.
• Heard from some fellow medical responders that they believe Maus does not handle stressful situations well and lacks calming leadership skills.
• That Maus had created an “us versus them” work environment.
• That Maus shared the complaint against him with some of the staff he supervises.
• Other emergency responders confirmed that on at least one EMS call, members of the patient’s family complained that Maus had been disrespectful toward them.
• Maus once opened the door to a Tower ambulance while EMTs were working on a patient.
• Maus once stepped in front of a departing ambulance, prompting the driver to stop.
• Greenwood responders, including Maus, sometimes respond to calls in their personal vehicles, which is common for emergency medical responders. Greenwood has no ambulance, so response typically requires use of personal vehicles.
At the same time, the investigation could not corroborate or disproved some of the allegations against Maus, including that he had refused to pick up EMTs at a scene after being asked to do so by the incident commander. A review of the recorded radio traffic confirmed that Maus had agreed to do so. The recording contradicts the testimony of three of the witnesses against Maus, who all stated they heard him refuse the command.
Other findings include:
• Testimony did not support the contention that patient assessments were rushed.
• Recorded radio traffic shows that it was incident command that decided against having EMTs respond to a medical call on an island, not Maus as alleged.
• Allegations that Maus yelled on some scenes was not confirmed in all cases.
• Allegations that Maus did not wear proper PPE were not confirmed.
Moving forward
The town board decision could come with some fallout. While the board had already installed Brian Trancheff as interim chief following Maus’s surgery in December, the board’s action removes the township’s most consistent emergency medical responder, who began service as a firefighter in 2006 after Greenwood responders had helped him after a severe leg injury that year. “I was wearing a cast and was on crutches when I started training,” he said. He completed his EMR training a couple of years later. According to records provided by Maus, he responded to 92 calls in 2023 and more than 100 in 2024, although he did not have final numbers for the year.
Maus already has an open case against the township stemming from a retaliatory dismissal as fire captain after Maus made complaints of safety violations by the fire department several years ago. Maus did remain an active member of the department. The town board later elevated Maus to interim chief after the board dismissed former fire chief David Fazio, who then opted to leave the department. Maus was later formally hired as fire chief.
Maus had no comment on any discussions with attorneys on a possible legal challenge of the board’s decision.