Trash fires are again becoming a trend in Capitol Hill. WJLA has a small story on the trend and notes that investigators are looking into it. Of course, the last time trash-can fires had worried Capitol Hill residents occurred around the time of the Eastern Market fire. The D.C. Fire Department quietly dispatched a team of investigators to try and apprehend the fire bug; investigators believed that there may have been a connection between the dumpster fires and the Easter Market blaze.

Fire Department investigator Greg Bowyer was part of that team looking into the previous dumpster fires. That investigation, he says, did not come to a proper resolution. "The investigation of the trash fires in 2007 were totally mishandled," he says. "This should be an indicator to the Fire Department that these mishandled fire investigations are not going to go away."

Read More "Capitol Hill Residents Enduring Another Round Of Trash Fires" »

In early June, the Office of the Attorney General dropped the charges against D.C. Fire Department whistleblower Gerald Pennington. Pennington has spoken out against mismanagement within the department and faulty fire investigations. Pennington and his partner Greg Bowyer were the subject of a Washington City Paper profile.

Pennington and Bowyer had been respected fire investigators until they were removed from their unit. After speaking out, they were transferred to to the Community Services Unit. And Pennington was charged with falsifying his credentials as a proper fire investigator.

For a time, Pennington was tasked with handing out snacks to firefighters. After he was cleared of the credentials charge, the Fire Department did not transfer him back to the investigations unit. Instead, they put him in Engine Company 23. He hadn't fought fires since July 2001.

Now, the department has added a new wrinkle to Pennington's punishment.

Read More "Fire Department Fails To Pay Whistleblower" »

Two years after the fact, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells has gone on the record suspecting that the Eastern Market fire was arson. Wells tells the Voice of the Hill:

"'I have a tremendous amount of suspicion that it was arson,' Wells told the Voice immediately after the market reopened Friday."

Eastern Market re-opened today with the expected fanfare. Which is great. But it doesn't erase the screw-ups surrounding that massive blaze. In December 2007, we wrote a piece addressing the concerns of numerous fire fighters that the Eastern Market case was arson. Two arson investigators got bounced off their beat for making their concerns known.

Read More "Not Breaking: Councilmember Wells Suspects Eastern Market Fire Was Arson" »

In late May, D.C. Fire Department brass tried to hose down a local reporter's Emmy nomination. Deputy Chief Kenneth Crosswhite lobbied to have a story produced by WJLA disqualified as a local Emmy nominee. The story in question was a three-month investigative piece that ran on Nov. 11. It chronicled the saga of arson investigators-turned-whistleblowers Gerald Pennington and Greg Bowyer. The two had argued that there were serious holes in how arson cases were being handled. The two had gotten demoted for saying so.

When that story got nominated for a local Emmy, Crosswhite decided to pick his fight. Show business was not impressed. Local Emmy honchos overruled Crosswhite's efforts. And this past weekend, the WJLA piece---by veteran newsman Jay Korff---won an Emmy in the investigative category.

Surely this will go down as a devastating blow to Fire Department brass. City Desk reached Crosswhite this afternoon for a response. He tried to be gracious in defeat.

Read More "D.C. Fire Department Responds To Local Emmy Defeat" »

The D.C. Fire Department has lost one of its weapons in its fight against two whistleblowers.  Fire investigator Gerald Pennington was set to face a trial board hearing today on charges that he allegedly claimed credentials he did not have. He was facing termination. Office of the Attorney General prosecutors--which would have handled the case--reviewed documents and announced that they would not go forward with the trial board. Its decision came down last Thursday.

On Feb. 5, the department charged Pennington with falsely claiming that he is a certified fire investigator. In the charging document, the department writes: “The agency became aware of these facts on November 25, 2008.” Pennington insisted that he had the proper credentials.

"I knew the charges were groundless. It was retaliation," Pennington says.

Read More "Fire Department Whistleblower Gerald Pennington Gets A Victory" »

Few in public service have fallen harder. Recently, we chronicled Greg Bowyer, a fire department whistleblower who had been demoted from arson investigator to hydrant checker. Today, his hydrant checking duties were temporarily suspended in favor of rescuing some flooded bathrooms. This morning he attended to the Florida Avenue NW water main break--which still appears to be a problem--and helped citizens mop up their flooded basements and bathrooms. "We responded code one with lights and sirens," Bowyer says of his community service unit's response to the bathroom detail.

Bowyer adds he's "thankful for the unique opportunity."

"I'm not sure if this is a promotion from the hydrant detail or a demotion," Bowyer jokes. "It wasn't too bad today. At least I helped some citizens even if it was just cleaning the bathrooms out....After a year, I finally got a chance to respond to an emergency, although it was a water emergency."

This week I chronicled D.C. Fire Department arson investigator Greg Bowyer. Bowyer, along with his partner Gerald Pennington, went from working arson cases to checking fire hydrants. They allege their demotion wasn't for any performance reason. No. They got transferred because of their whistleblowing activities.

For more than two years, Bowyer and Pennington have waged a campaign to right a fire department that they allege has routinely bungled major fire cases like the Eastern Market fire and the Mount Pleasant fire, and put in place untrained and unqualified fire investigators. For their efforts, they got placed on hydrant duty.

I just posted a timeline of their activities. And it definitely appears that when they've talked to the press whether it's WJLA or Courtland Milloy, the departmental hammer has come down. For my cover, Fire Chief Dennis Rubin and Attorney General Peter Nickles refused to comment about the whistleblowers' claims.

But I wonder what will happen to them now? Is there a position in the fire department lower than hydrant checker? I hope my story didn't mess them up.

First CFSA lost its spokesperson powers to the Mayor's Office. Now, it's the Fire Department's turn to refer all calls to Fenty spokesperson Mafara Hobson. At this point, I feel sorry for Hobson. Her job is busy enough with the on-going budget debates, the travel issues, etc. Now, she gets to field inquiries about the D.C. Fire Department activities.

Today, I e-mailed Fire Chief Dennis Rubin seeking comment for a story I am working on concerning whistleblower/Fire Investigator Greg Bowyer. I then followed up with a phone call to Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Crosswhite to ask for Rubin's phone number.

By then, Rubin had already complained about my e-mail to Crosswhite. And my e-mail had already been forwarded to Hobson. I asked: why had Hobson become the Fire Department's vetting machine.

“I’m waiting to hear back from the mayor’s office," Crosswhite told me of my interview-with-Rubin request. "All communications go to the mayor’s office prior to us making comments.”

Update 2:31 p.m.: Fire Department is now on Facebook and Twitter.

Last night, two firefighters---Greg Bowyer and Gerald Pennington---announced their plans to file a lawsuit against the fire department. We detailed their case roughly an hour ago on City Desk.

Since announcing his imminent lawsuit against the fire department, Bowyer says his day has gone pretty normal.

Read More "Firefighter Greg Bowyer’s Average Day" »