From the Eagle Tribune: Haverhill (Mass.) Mayor James Fiorentini he has hired Matrix Consulting Group to analyze the department and report back in about three months. The study is being paid for with money surrendered by 30 Haverhill firefighters who forfeited their EMT stipends when they were implicated by the state for forging training records. The state has suspended the firefighters from working as EMTs for various lengths of time.

The consultant will meet with fire department officials and representatives of the firefighters union during the study.

The audit comes as the city deals with several fire department scandals, including: the EMT training matter; firefighters who called in sick and then were videotaped by a private investigator as they moved furniture and ran errands; recent revelations that a firefighter worked for the city for almost two decades without a valid driver's license; and a fire alarm system in an industrial park that didn't work properly for more than two years.

Matrix, which is based on California and has an office in Andover, was used by the city to study and recommended improvements at the city's highway department. Matrix also has done similar studies of more than 100 fire departments across the country. Click here for the full article.