Airway Heights Douses Felonious Firefighters City Fears Jeopardizing State Prison Contract

The city of Airway Heights is dismissing volunteer firefighters with felony backgrounds to avoid jeopardizing a $100,000 state prison contract.

A Hells Angel convicted in 1978 of assaulting a federal police officer resigned from the fire department on Monday. Another volunteer firefighter, previously convicted of arson, will be fired today.

“He’s getting the boot,” Airway Heights city administrator Mike Patterson said of the firefighter with the arson conviction.

Patterson wouldn’t identify the firefighter and said he didn’t know details of the arson conviction.

The revelation came when the Airway Heights Corrections Center did background checks on the volunteer firefighters.

Under a $100,000 annual contract, the city provides fire protection for the state prison, which houses 2,000 inmates.

The background checks were ordered after officials learned in February that Phillip Ellsworth, a member of the Hells Angels, was joining the Airway Heights Fire Department.

Prison Superintendent Kay Walter asked the city for the criminal histories of all 25 volunteer firefighters.

“I was alarmed to find there are additional persons with significant felony records,” Walter said in a March 5 letter to Patterson.

Prison spokesman Cly Evans said Monday the background checks also revealed the fire department has two other volunteers convicted of liquor and domestic violence offenses.

They may not be asked to resign, Patterson said.

He said the fire department is drafting a policy blocking people with felony convictions in the past eight years from serving as volunteers.

Ellsworth said Monday he resigned as a volunteer firefighter to avoid causing potential harm to the city he only wanted to help.

“Enough’s enough,” said Ellsworth, 47, who joined the Hells Angels in Alaska before moving to Spokane.

“When I joined this motorcycle club, I knew I personally was going to be under a lot of scrutiny,” he said. “But the problem now is affecting the city I only wanted to help as one of its citizens.” Ellsworth said the city administrator and fire chief were “threatened with investigation by the FBI and IRS” for supporting his desire to be a volunteer firefighter.

He operates paving and towing companies in Airway Heights.

Patterson said Ellsworth completed his firefighter training “and was a valuable asset to the department.

“He was doing an excellent job,” the city administrator said.

Unimpressed prison officials said they don’t want felon firefighters inside their penitentiary.

In her letter to Patterson, Walter said the prison “is a customer with unique needs and requirements for fire protection services.

“As superintendent, I am responsible for the security of the institution, and the safety of all inmates and staff, including those who may assist us in the event of an emergency,” she said.

Volunteer firefighters with felony convictions may present an “unacceptable threat” to the prison’s security, Walter said in the letter.

“If the city refuses to screen out such applicants, the (prison) will have to consider its options for obtaining fire protection services that are better able to satisfy its unique security concerns,” she said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT The Airway Heights Fire Department is drafting a policy blocking people with felony convictions in the past eight years from serving as volunteers, said Mike Patterson, Airway Heights city administrator.