Boston fire chief resigns after criticism.
Steve Abraira resigned from his position on Monday, citing public criticism from subordinates regarding the corporation's response to the marathon bombings in the city.
Reuters Boston Fire Chief Steve Abraira resigned on Monday, citing public criticism from subordinates regarding the department's response to the marathon bombings.
Firefighters under Abraira's command complained in a letter to the mayor that their boss failed to take control of the situation when he arrived at the finish line of the race on April 15, after two pressure cookers containing bombs exploded amidst thousands of people. Three people were killed and 264 were injured.
Abraira said he followed the "nationally accepted practice" of allowing his subordinates to continue directing the response to the attack.
"The unfounded attacks by deputy chiefs, especially their attitude of turning this into a matter of public debate by leaking their April 26 letter to the press, made it impossible for me to continue doing my job," Abraira stated in his resignation letter.
The FBI has blamed two brothers from Chechnya—a Russian republic—who lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the bombing. The younger of the two, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is recovering in a prison hospital after being charged with crimes that could result in the death penalty.
His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a shootout with police days after the attack. Tamerlan was listed in a U.S. government database of potential terrorism suspects.
The United States had been warned twice by Russia that he might be an Islamic militant, according to U.S. security officials.
(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis)