Guns in the fire station ends one woman’s career and results in lawsuit

Ponce Inlet released photos after internal investigation.

Former Ponce Inlet Fire Lt. Susanne Severson is suing after she was fired last year for buying a gun inside the fire station from another firefighter who reported directly to her.

She was also caught up in another scandal where three fire lieutenants posed in photographs with weapons while wearing their uniforms on town property. The photos taken around 2010 were posted on Facebook and showed Severson smiling with two other town employees as they lay down with their weapons on their chests. In another photo, the trio are pointing their guns at the camera — one man holding an AR-15-style rife — dressed in their firefighter uniforms.

Severson filed a federal lawsuit against the small Volusia County town this month and claimed town officials treated her differently than the other men in trouble. Severson, 49, who had been promoted to lieutenant in 2010 and worked at the department full-time for 20 years, is suing for sex and age discrimination.

In 2022, the town conducted an internal investigation after becoming aware that the Facebook post existed for years.

Severson admitted she paid $300 in cash for a 9 mm, making the gun deal with a firefighter in 2017 in the rookie’s fire station living quarters, according to the June 2023 internal investigation conducted by DSK Law that the town released following a Florida Politics record request. The town also released the controversial photos.

“The evidence is clear that she encouraged a fairly new employee to engage in a transaction, with full knowledge that the sale of a firearm on Town property was in violation of a long-standing policy,” the report said, noting Severson was rookie’s direct supervisor and was higher ranking at the time of the gun deal. “In doing so, she negated her duty to lead, supervise, and serve as an example to those under her rank.”

The investigation also said Severson had been deceptive and claimed she hadn’t seen any guns in the fire station. She said she didn’t remember who she bought the gun from. The investigation said she was not credible.

How the damning photos got taken, a maintenance worker said he was washing his hands in the fire bay when he sat down and saw Lt. Derek George holding an AR-15.

The maintenance was impressed because he had only seen a gun like that in the movies before, he said, according to the internal investigation. George let him hold the gun and photos were snapped with Severson and Lt. Michael Young joining in, the investigative report said.

“Lieutenant Severson said she was aware that possessing firearms on Town property was prohibited and that she had no defense, except that she was acting under the direction of then-Lieutenant George.”

The maintenance worker posted the pictures on Facebook on New Year’s Eve, 2010.

The rookie firefighter who sold Severson the gun received a written reprimand. The maintenance worker, Young, who posed in the photos with Severson and George, was suspended for five days. Severson was terminated. George had also been fired over another investigation, the report said.

In her lawsuit, Severson defended her work at the fire department.

“She received positive performance reviews, was promoted, and was involved with the Union as a treasurer until 2023,” the lawsuit said

Her attorneys did not respond to a request for comment. The town declined to comment.