Firefighters Union Bashes Quillman for Bias, Failure to Honor Deal

The Joliet firefighters union president publicly chastised Joliet City Councilwoman Jan Quillman Monday and accused her of playing politics in talking to the media about her angry encounter with firefighters transporting her mother-in-law to the hospital.

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Tim Hunter, representing Joliet Firefighters Local 44, addressed the city council at its Monday night meeting about the sacrifices firefighters make when dealing with emotionally scarring situations and missing time with their families. Their jobs are worthy of “respect, honor and praise,” he said.

Quillman, however, did not show any of that during the heated confrontation she had with firefighters this summer, Hunter said.

Although he did not get into specifics, Hunter was referring to an Aug. 25 incident in which Quillman allegedly accused firefighter Dave Chizmark of assaulting her and touching her breast as they both tried to assist Quillman’s mother-in-law, who was bleeding profusely from an injured varicose vein.

According to reports, obtained by Joliet Patch via a Freedom of Information request, Quillman – a licensed nurse -- allegedly interfered with firefighters as they attempted to transport the injured woman to the hospital, ignored repeated orders that she step away and tried to climb into the ambulance.

At one point, Quillman said the emergency workers must not realize who she was and demanded that Chizmark be arrested. At another, Quillman’s husband – retired Joliet police detective Tom Quillman – questioned whether the firefighters were “part of Giarrante’s gang,” referring to Mayor Tom Giarrante, a retired firefighter.

Quillman later met with fire officials in an effort to diffuse the situation, and both sides agreed to let the incident go and not discuss it publicly.

Quillman apparently violated that agreement when she spoke to the media after the reports were released, calling the scene “chaotic” and saying she went into “nurse mode” when she saw her mother-in-law losing so much blood. While she didn’t apologize, she acknowledged that “things were said that shouldn’t have been said” and that she did not want Chizmark arrested.

The firefighters agreed to the deal in order to benefit Quillman, Hunter said.

"A meeting took place to address these issues in a professional manner, and the firefighters honored an agreement to help Councilwoman Quillman save face and chose not to comment,” he said.

“But unfortunately, we feel she did not honor this agreement to refrain from making personal allegations against the firefighters. We could have taken the low road and fired back personally, but we chose not to.”

Quillman declined to comment on Hunter's statement.

The union is willing to “forgive” Quillman for her behavior, but questions whether she has a bias against firefighters that might cloud her judgment as a council member, Hunter said.

“As a councilperson, you should not allow your personal feelings towards a group, us or any other group, affect the decisions and actions for an entire community," he said.

"If you’re unable to set aside your feelings for an individual group from personal to professional, then maybe you need to reevaluate your position as an elected official.”