Plymouth Fire Chief ‘extremely upset’ after selectman candidate ‘endangered’ his crew on call

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A Plymouth town official is accused of taking his job a little too far. Officials tell Boston 25 News that he went so far that he followed firefighters to an emergency call.

Plymouth fire officials say a town meeting member running for selectman was aggressively following a fire truck while responding to a call, risking lives around them.

“He endangered my crew,” said Plymouth Fire Chief Ed Bradley. “When I read my email that night, I was extremely upset.”

Bradley is speaking about Kevin Lynch, who is running for selectman. On Friday night, Bradley said Lynch followed a fire truck in close proximity while they were responding to a call at a nearby Bertucci’s parking lot regarding a woman who suffered a head and leg injury.

“He was keeping up with the engine, driving through red lights and being right in the back tail of this engine,” Bradley said.

At first, police and firefighters on scene thought Lynch had information about the call, Bradley said. Police stopped Lynch on scene.

“He then said he was also running for selectman and was taking notes and that they can go cry him a river,” Bradley said. “He was going to do what he was going to do.”

Lynch allegedly told authorities on scene that he was conducting a study on fire department response times and the types of calls they take.

“Recently, you probably saw stories about how these fire stations go through poor conditions because of the lack of maintenance in the last 10 years,” Bradley said.

And that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars to repair the facility, which is something Lynch is against.

“He thinks he’s doing these studies on his own by following [us] in a very dangerous way,” Bradley said.

“I have no problem with a town meeting member doing his due diligence,” said Lt. Brian Baragwanath, president of the Firefighters Local 1768. “There is a difference with being a hindrance on a call and endangering the public.”

Bradley said they are not going to stand for Lynch’s actions because they are a risk to the public. They said he also delayed patient care because they had to deal with Lynch on scene.

When Boston 25 News reached out to Lynch for a statement, he said he didn’t want to make a statement and said to talk to the police chief.

Bradley said this is the second time in two months that his on-duty fire crews have been harassed by an elected town member. Police are investigating and charges have not been filed yet.

Plymouth Fire Chief 'extremely upset' after town selectman candidate follows trucks to emergencies A Plymouth town official is accused of taking his job a little too far.

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