An unidentified senior member of the Montgomery County, Maryland, fire and rescue service engaged in misconduct in 2019 and 2021, according to a recently released report from the county’s inspector general.

Officials in the inspector general’s office first received a complaint on Jan. 2, 2024, according to a public synopsis of the incident. However, a memo sent from the office by Inspector General Megan Limarzi to the county’s second-highest-ranking executive, Chief Administrative Officer Richard Madaleno, did not include explicit details from the complaint.

“I am referring this matter to you for whatever action you deem appropriate,” the inspector general writes to Madaleno.

A news release from the county outlined which portions of the code of ethics were relevant to the investigation but provided few details on which provisions were broken by the employee.

“The OIG investigation revealed that in 2021 the subject employee violated the ‘hands-off’ and decorum provisions of MCFRS Executive Regulation 22-00AM Code of Ethics and On-Duty Personal Conduct,” the department said. “The investigation also revealed that during a
different event in 2019 the subject employee used language that violated the decorum provisions
of MCFRS Executive Regulation 22-00AM Code of Ethics and On-Duty Personal Conduct.”

It’s not clear what punishment or disciplinary action, if any, the senior personnel will face.

County officials praised several members of the fire department who witnessed the incident, and came forward to report what took place.

WTOP’s Ivy Lyons and Christopher Thomas contributed to this report.