DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710040371

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Liz Szabo 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

MICHAEL L. BOLAC'S CAREER AS FIRE CHIEF

May 1986: Bolac, a 38-year-old Alexandria firefighter, is selected from among 135 applicants for the job of fire chief.

March 1991: City Council member Willa Bazemore publicly criticizes Bolac, saying that firefighters have complained that Bolac's insensitivity is damaging morale.

September 1992: Huther Artis, a black firefighter, complains that a white firefighter put a pillowcase over his head, pretending to be Ku Klux Klan member, allegedly in jest.

July 1993: Artis files a discrimination suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Bolac appoints a fact-finding committee to investigate and suspends the employee involved.

April 1994: Chesapeake Vice Mayor John W. Butt criticizes Bolac for driving his employees too hard and hurting morale. City Council members criticize Bolac for refusing to hire additional fire fighters. Bolac defended his action, saying the department's increased efficiency and fire prevention efforts reduce its need for staff.

NAACP President March Cromuel calls for Bolac's resignation, claiming that Bolac permitted racial insensitivity in the department.

March 1996: Chesapeake fire fighters John Hudgins Jr. and Frank Young are killed when the roof collapses while they are fighting a fire at Advance Auto Parts.

May 1996: The fire department's review of the causes of the Advance Auto Parts fire blames the building's construction as flimsy and the radios as too old.

June 1996: Local members of the Virginia Professional Firefighters Association calls for Bolac's resignation, blaming him for the deaths of the two firefighters and for damaging department morale. Bolac also was criticized for saying, in the wake of Hudgins' and Young's deaths, that firefighters dying in the line of duty is inevitable.

June 1996: Citing a ``constellation'' of errors, the Virginia division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the department guilty of three violations of state labor laws: failing to have back-up firefighters, having a broken water gauge and having a faulty fire plan for the shopping center where the store was located.

August 1997: Chesapeake Emergency Medical Services personnel file suit against the department for back pay, claiming the department's scheduling and pay policies violated federal overtime regulations.

September 1997: A female fire department employee files a complaint of sexual harassment against Bolac.

October 1997: Bolac announces retirement. KEYWORDS: TIMELINE CHRONOLOGY

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