State officials have ruled that the chief of the South Fire District broke no laws when he terminated a probationary firefighter.

[Frank] Ricci had been with the department for only eight months, but had eight years of experience in Maryland and numerous training certificates.

The small fire was in an area of the school where asbestos was being removed. Some firefighters believed that [Wayne S.] Bartolotta had put their safety in jeopardy and asked Ricci to investigate the handling of the incident.