THREE HIDDEN CAMERAS FOUND AT TWO HEARTLAND FIRE STATIONS IN EL CAJON

By Miriam Raftery

Photo,left: Heartland Fire Station 8 in  El Cajon, where two of the three hidden cameras were discovered.Heartland Fire & Rescue also provides fire services for La Mesa and Lemon Grove.

May 3, 2025 (El Cajon)—The city of El Cajon will hold an emergency closed-door meeting Monday over an anticipated lawsuit against the city over three hidden cameras found in two fire stations, including two cameras in the private dressing and sleeping areas for women first-responders.

A complaint filed against the city of El Cajon and American Medical Response (AMR) on behalf of four female first responders on March 20 by attorney Dan Gilleon claims that “one or more of its employees had used concealed cameras to secretly videotape, film, photograph, and record by electronic means the complainants and other victims, in states of full and partial undress, while inside their bunk rooms....”

Gilleon has said that a male employee has left his employment over the incident and plans to join the complaint, according to NBC San Diego.

No suspect has yet been identified. The complaint also claims that the city was negligent in failing to conduct a “prompt, thorough and neutral investigation.”

The complaint sought special and general damages in excess of $10,000 for each of the women for psychological treatment, emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety and mental anguish, as well as punitive damages against the unknown public employees.

On April 16, the city sent a letter signed by Deputy City Manager Marisol Thorn to Gilleon denying the claim filed on behalf of the four women (Tristan Hardin,Morgan Donnelly, Claire Warrenfelt, and Isabella Mason). No reason for the denial was stated. The denial sets a clock ticking; the claimants have six months from the date of the letter to file a court action.

The first camera, disguised as a cell phone charger, was found at Fire Station 8 on East Madison Ave. by a coworker of Mason, who says trust among her colleagues has been “broken,” 10 News reports. “And that camera is motion-activated, which means every single time I was coming in there, like in a vulnerable space, somebody was watching me.”

A second camera was found soon after, hidden in an alarm clock in a different bunkroom in the same station.

Yesterday, NBC 7 reports, a third camera was found. The city has refused to disclose its whereabouts, but sources told NBC that it was at Station 9 on N. Marshall Ave. in El Cajo in a co-ed day room.

East County Magazine contacted Heartland Fire’s public information officer Andy McKellar before revelation of the third camera surfaced. We asked whether Heartland had conducted inspections of other stations in El Cajon or in stations Heartland operates in La Mesa or Lemon Grove.  McKellar declined to answer and referred our inquiries to El Cajon, even though El Cajon has no jurisdiction over Heartland stations in the other two cities.

El Cajon refused to reply when asked if inspections had been conducted at any other stations and if so, whether any hidden cameras were found.  In response to an extensive records request, the city provided only two:  the letter from Gilleon, and the city’s response denying the claim.

ECM has reached out to elected officials and the city manager in La Mesa, who have not responded.

Lemon Grove Councilmember Jessyka Heredia advised ECM that she has requested inspection of all changing and resting areas in the Lemon Grove Heartland Station, contacting both City Manager Lydia Romero and Heartland Fire Chief Bent Kotch.

“Lydia has responded to me already with the following response: `Already being done,’” Heredia stated in a text to ECM today.

Heartland Fire & Rescue’s stations house both firefighters and emergency medical personnel working for American Medical Response.

Despite finding the first cameras on Feb. 2, Mason has said that employees were not notified by AMR of the incident until this week.

AMR advised ECM news partner 10 News that it found the discovery of hidden cameras “deeply disturbing” adding that it has offered support for the victims from its mental health provider and is committed to working with law enforcement and the city to assist in a criminal investigation, but noted that AMR does not manage the facility.

The complaint filed against the city contends that the women’s civil rights were violated, including workplace gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and invasion of privacy in the workplace.

The city declined to answer numerous questions posed by ECM and other media outlets, including whether or not the city has any information on who may have seen any photos or videos taken by the hidden cameras, and whether any images may have been posted online.