A high-level Anchorage Fire Department employee was placed on paid administrative leave this week pending an internal investigation.
City officials said in a Wednesday memo that Aliesha Richards, the Fire Department's finance officer, was being put on leave, and that the city was conducting an investigation. Neither city spokesperson Myer Hutchinson nor Fire Chief Denis LeBlanc would comment on the nature of the investigation, calling it a nondisclosable personnel matter.
"Information has been received … which requires the municipality of Anchorage to conduct an investigation," officials wrote in the memo, which was sent to all Anchorage Fire Department employees.
The memo states that Richards is barred from access to city property, communication systems and networks. Employees were also barred from helping Richards get access, from speaking to Richards about "work-related topics," or from discussing "this situation" with one another.
Mike Stumbaugh, president of the local firefighters union, said he couldn't comment.
News of the investigation was first reported by KTVA-Channel 11, which depicted a flirtatious text that Richards appeared to have exchanged with a firefighter.
Hutchinson said Richards has worked at the Fire Department for 4 1/2 years and is a management-level employee who is not represented by a union.
Richards did not respond to a message seeking comment.