2 Investigates: Fire department ties with home restoration company

ATLANTA — When Atlanta firefighters arrive at a fire scene, they do more than put out the fire. They also call a private company to board up the property after a fire. The homeowner doesn't choose the company, the fire department does.

Critics wonder whether Atlanta is playing favorites, with big insurance money at stake.

Zahi Elias owns several rental properties. Last July, his tenant called to say his house in Atlanta was on fire.

When Elias arrived, a company called 1-800-BOARDUP was already on the scene, and the tenant had signed an agreement to let the company board up the house. ­­­­­

"I said 'No, this is my property, not the tenant’s property. I will board it.' He wasn't happy," Elias said of the BoardUp representative.  He called the two men with the company pushy.

1-800-BOARDUP is based in St. Louis. Local restoration companies around the country buy a franchise, and often hire current and former firefighters to be the face of the franchise.

The company’s website states, “If your market is available and you would like to increase your sales and decrease your dependence on worn out marketing strategies, please contact our franchise sales department.”

Testimonials on the website include this one from Dave W. Of California: “Our disaster recovery business flourishes because of our 1-800-BOARDUP program.”

Retired Atlanta Fire Section Chief Jimmy Hodges gets a paycheck from a restoration company, but if you ask where he works, he'll say, "1-800-BOARDUP."

“Every franchise has to have a director of emergency services and usually it's a chief officer like myself, retired,” Hodges said. “We understand emergency management. We understand what people go through.”

Hodges said he doesn’t get involved in restoration issues. “It's not a favoritism issue. It's a doing the right thing issue. People need help.”

Homeowner’s insurance pays for a board up, but when there's no insurance, it's free. For Atlanta fire, that was a key part of the deal, since more than 100 houses have been boarded up for free this year.

“No other service out there had that program. So I’ve, for years, tried to get them to bring services inside the city of Atlanta,” said Deputy Chief Wilmond Meadows.

He said with the large number of vacant houses in Atlanta, “That would be a money loss for most companies.”

Paperwork Channel 2 Action News received through the Georgia Open Records Act shows Atlanta Fire Rescue started pursuing a partnership with 1-800-BOARDUP in 2010.

This year, a local company called Paces was added to the program. Channel 2 Action News found Sandy Springs Fire Capt. Mark Ware moonlighting for Paces at an Atlanta house fire.

Boarding up a house after a fire isn’t a big money maker. But if a homeowner has insurance, there is a restoration job at stake.

“The whole idea behind it is you might get the opportunity to get the entire job,” said Howard Johnsa, the CEO of a company called Disaster Response Team.

Johnsa applied but didn't make the boarding list.  He and other contractors say they're at a disadvantage once the board up crew picked by the fire department shows up.

"I'm not here to blast another company or whatever the political environment might be. But we do the same work, and I think we do it better," Johnsa said.

Channel 2 Action News found one 1-800-BOARDUP employee who also drew a paycheck from the Atlanta Fire Department. Retired Assistant Chief William Rhodes was a paid consultant for the department, and at the same time he worked for 1-800-BOARDUP.

“He and I both make sure that we walk this fine line,” Meadows said. “If we have an issue with BOARDUP, I cannot walk across the hall to his office and say, ‘Hey chief, we’ve got this issue with BOARDUP.’”

Atlanta Fire Rescue told Channel 2 Action News that Rhodes recently quit working at 1-800-BOARDUP due to scheduling conflicts.

Partnering with a board up company caused a controversy in Augusta in 2010. Battalion Chief Tommy Willis ran the BoardUp franchise, a violation of city policy. Willis and his brother, the fire chief, lost their jobs. 1-800-BOARDUP revoked the franchise.

Meadows said that kind of thing wouldn’t happen here.

“We will not tolerate any type of things that breach our integrity or anything that goes against our core values,” Meadows said.

He added that while Atlanta does call the board up companies, homeowners still have a choice.

“The homeowner has the option to choose whoever they want to choose to board up their house,” Meadows said.

Not all fire departments have partnerships with board up companies. In Fulton County, Deputy Fire Chief Charles Stubbs doesn’t want a partnership.

“I don’t think that’s our job as the fire department. Our job is to come and put the fire out and assist the homeowner any way we can,” Stubbs said. “A lot of these companies have retired firemen that are working for them. And I just don’t think it would be in our best interest to be recommending people to go to people we know.”

As for the fire at Zahi Elias’ house, the local 1-800-BOARDUP franchise gave Channel 2 Action News a statement that said, “We did not behave aggressively at the 3532 Garfield Way Atlanta GA 30315 call on 7/12/14 nor would we ever.”

Atlanta Fire Rescue looked into the issue and called it a classic “he said-she said” type of complaint.

WSBTV