John MacMillan ~ Study of a Con Man

I've come across a lot of interesting people in my day, but I have to say, John MacMillan, (self appointed mega fire chief five-star battalion Grand Poobah of "name that agency") takes the grand prize for the most prolific and convincing con man I've ever experienced. How a convicted offender could ever be approved for a professional training MOU from the PNWCG (via ODF) is really beyond my imagination. It's experiences like this that have convinced me there is no need to waste time reading fiction. Real life is just so much more interesting.

Just for the record...(since we're talking records)
The purpose of this post is to provide a preemtive warning to those unfortunate enough to come across MacMillan in the firefighting world - either structure or wildland - in any capacity. This man is not who he claims to be, nor does he have the experience he claims to have. We found this out the hard way when we hired him two years ago to provide our company's annual wildland firefighter refresher course in Southern Oregon. After he offered to provide a fireline qualifications card for one of our employees who didn't complete the training because he had a broken leg (and so couldn't complete the pack test portion of the training) I initiated my own background check on MacMillan. What I found was that MacMillan was much like the "Wizard of Oz" when Toto busts him behind the curtain...He's not really what he has presented to the world.

Oregon Department of Forestry agreed to initiate a formal investigation into MacMillan's background after I contacted them about my concerns, which made sense since it was ODF that recommended MacMillan be approved for a training MOU in the first place. (We could bring up preliminary background check protocol here, but, again...that's another story...)

Reading ODF's full investigation report on MacMillan's "background" is better than watching the latest episode of "Deadliest Catch." Following the investigation MacMillan's training MOU was canceled, which meant his fire training was no longer valid. In our book, the complete obliteration of MacMillan's legitimacy as a trainer or self-proclaimed fire manager called into question every training he ever conducted. But, that's also another story...

After being dethroned as a wildland fire trainer (via Professional Firefighter Training Association) it appears MacMillan promptly made his way over to Seaside, Oregon to vie for that municipality's Fire Chief position. Unbelievably, MacMillan made it to the top four candidates there! A different candidate was hired to oversee Seaside's fire department - which I'm sure is to their relief now that MacMillan's true identity has been made public.

According to the Daily Astorian, MacMillan has a Masters degree in Fire Administration, was awarded "Firefighter of the Year" several times and received three Medals of Valor! "Wow! Dude! The guy's a darn hero!" One might think these are things a reporter might check out before reporting. Another example of regurgitating MacMillan's personal delusions without fact checking.

Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District wasn't so fortunate. In February of this year (2008) MacMillan was hired as the district's new fire chief. The magnificent news was broadcast to the community which was ultimately picked up on the internet (good ole' Google). After MacMillan's appointment was announced on the CalFire Blog Site, the Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue board of directors was alerted to MacMillan's falsified background (detailed in ODF's investigation report) which led to his immediate release. But, unfortunately not before he was handed a business credit card. Oops!

In all seriousness, my primary agitation with the MacMillan issue is my concern for the young firefighters MacMillan has trained - or could train in the future if he again successfully manages to con someone (or a group of people) into hiring him in a fire management or fire training capacity. MacMillan has NO advanced fire experience or training himself, so every bit of the training he has delivered has been scripted, not experienced. Fact: The extent of MacMillan's personal firefighter training is (get ready....)...an FFT2 cert. Don't believe me? Read the report...

I just hope with the extensive investigation findings currently available, MacMillan's intended Marks will be able to dodge a potentially deadly bullet...and young firefighters will not fall prey to ill founded "training" as we almost did.

So, here's the rub...where, along the line, did it become acceptable to EACH AGENCY involved in this fiasco, to sweep MacMillan's "issues" under the rug and scoot his ass down the road so he could inflict more damage to unsuspecting firefighters? Read the investigation report. There were MULTIPLE opportunities to nail his hide the wall. Each agency that chose to ignore the problem (either through lack of thorough initial background investigation, or complacency afterward) amplified the downstream offenses. And, what about the court where his criminal offenses were tried and convicted?

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And how about the probation officer who was supposed to be tracking MacMillan and his activities? Oh, wait, MacMillan simply had to file a regular "self report" for the probation officer to read to make sure he was abiding by the law. Hmmm, does anyone see a hiccup in the system here?

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And, one might ask, (and I really wish someone WOULD) - How am I privy to such "special and personal information" on MacMillan? Well, I went to the court house and paid them a bit over $9 for a complete copy of his criminal file, which included a pretty serious multiple count conviction for grand theft and fraud. Not too tough. Not exactly brain surgery. And it's certainly something any INVESTIGATOR could accomplish, particularly if they were considering putting MacMillan in a position to have access to hundreds of firefighter's social security numbers, drivers licenses and DIGITAL IMAGES!

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I simply walked in to the court clerk. I identified myself as an interested member of the public. Handed over the cash. I have a nice little receipt, if anyone would like to see it. And an hour later, I came back and was handed a complete copied criminal file. The clerk was extremely pleasant and smiled. Like I said, who needs to read fiction?...

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Oh, and since we're talking about this issue, let's do touch on the fact that those icons of public service - newspapers- from the small town Calaveras Enterprise to the larger nearby urban papers were blatantly uninterested in covering such an "unimportant, and unsubstantiated" story.

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Oh dear...is it any wonder newspapers are circling the drain? Not in my mind. No sympathy here... I'll take social media in the hands of the public any day.