Glens Falls firefighter with Alzheimer’s denied early retirement benefits
A firefighter who has been fighting entire career found out he wasn’t able to win by fighting city hall.
Following a tragic diagnosis, and despite generous offers of support from fellow firefighters, city officials said “no” to Lieutenant Doug Holl, denying him an opportunity to retire with full benefits.
Holl has been a Glens Falls firefighter for 18 years. He is also a firefighter instructor and investigator.
Holl was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, a little over a year ago, which for all intents and purposes abruptly ended his firefighting career.
Holl needed to reach 20-years of service in order to receive his full pension.
In order to make sure he reached that milestone, the other 37 members of the firefighters union agreed to donate their unused vacation time, sick time, and personal days to Holl. It added up to around 3,000 donated hours.
There were negotiations with the city.
Doug’s wife, Heather, pleaded with the city council on numerous occasions to allow her husband to retire with dignity and the financial support she believes he’s entitled to.
The hope was that city officials would green light the proposal. However, Heather said Friday the city told her no.
Learn more about how the answer is shocking to family and friends, by watching the video of Dan Levy’s story.