Fire Chief on Leave Over Guns in the Office: Mayor

Ansonia's fire chief is on administrative leave after city officials learned that firearms were being stored in the chief's office.

It appears that Mayor Jim Della Volpe learned that guns were being stored in the office after a burglary was reported on Tuesday morning.

The fire chief’s office is located in the public works complex and Ansonia Public Works employees noticed that the door was open when they arrived for work just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday and reported the burglary, police said.

Among the $8,000 worth of items stolen were a Smith and Wesson 9mm semiautomatic handgun worth $700 and a Smith and Wesson 5.56 caliber rifle with three boxes of ammunition, worth $1,400, police said

Della Volpe placed Fire Chief Ronald Burgess on immediate leave on Wednesday, pending the outcome of the police investigation.

"The reason for this action was the existence of firearms in the Fire Chief’s office which is city property. I have never authorized the storage of firearms at any city building other than the police department out of concern for the public safety of our citizens," Della Volpe said. "I will await the outcome of the police department investigation into the burglary before taking any further action in this matter."

Police said the burglars forced a door open on the south side of the building and took $a Scott Air Pack worth $5,000; four Uniden BC 35000 scanners, each worth $100; a Motorola portable radio charger worth $250; a Motorola BearCat scanner worth $250; five sets of earmuffs and five sets of safety glasses, in addition to the guns.