Tuesday, February 21, 2012 In October, when fire officials investigated the second blaze at a Glasgow home since 2008, they concluded it was deliberately set and had put the lives of five residents, including two teenagers and a baby girl, in danger.

The state Fire Marshal's Office filed a first-degree arson charge and five reckless endangering counts against homeowner Margaret A. "Peggy" Brennan, who allegedly admitted she set the blaze that night to destroy the home because she was in poor financial straits. In charging Brennan, fire officials accused one of their own.

Brennan, 44, is a former volunteer firefighter who previously worked for the Christiana and Claymont fire companies as a paid emergency medical technician. She also taught at the Fire Marshal's Office's sister agency: the Delaware State Fire School.

Brennan's work is not her family's only connection to the fire service. Her husband, Gerald C. Brennan Jr., is a senior instructor at the fire school that annually trains thousands of firefighters and ambulance crew members from across the state.

Yet the Fire Marshal's Office, which routinely sends out news releases about arson investigations and arrests, never informed the public that a member of Delaware's firefighting community had been charged with a crime.

The agency's failure to publicly report the arrest infuriates Brennan's former husband, Dave McKelvey, also a volunteer firefighter. McKelvey's two children with Brennan, ages 24 and 15, and his 1-year-old granddaughter were in bed or asleep when Brennan allegedly set the living room and kitchen ablaze that night.

John Flaherty, a former lobbyist for the good government group Common Cause, had even harsher words about the Fire Marshal's Office, a state agency overseen by the Delaware Fire Prevention Commission, whose seven members are gubernatorial appointees. While the fire school and Fire Marshal's offices are separate units, both operate on the same three properties in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties.

Flaherty charged that the arrogant lack of transparency from the insular world of the fire service does not surprise him. "It sounds to me like a total dereliction of their duty," he said. "Their attitude is the public be damned, but I'm concerned when someone sets fire to their home.

(This is a rather lengthy article which demonstrates the public's distain for not being fully honest and above board in our actions), read full story at:

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120221/NEWS02/202210325/Fire-office-withheld-key-details-Glasgow-arson-case?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome&nclick_check=1