FDNY is in ‘turmoil’ after commissioner bosses were demoted and senior officials resigned

The FDNY hierarchy is on fire.

Three senior fire chiefs in the city were abruptly demoted last week in a controversial shake – and two other chiefs then voluntarily resigned their titles in solidarity, law enforcement officials told the Post on Monday.

And other protesting chiefs could soon follow, sources warned.

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh on Friday fired deputy fire chief Joe Jardin, deputy deputy chief of operations Michael Gala and deputy chief of department Fred Schaaf, sources said.

The move immediately drew an outcry from the simple Bravest – and prompted two senior firefighters, department head John Hodgens and operations chief John Esposito, to seek a demotion, at least partly angry at being left in the dark by Kavanagh by their colleagues, sources said .

Kavanagh was stunned by Hodgens and Esposito’s move, sources said.

“This has the department in turmoil,” said an FDNY source.

“Who makes the day-to-day decisions? The commissioner has no idea about firefighting or personnel.

“She’s also going to have a hard time replacing her,” the source said. “Firefighters are a tight-knit group. No one is going to want to take their job, and if someone is stupid enough to take the job, good luck getting people to work for them.”

No replacement was named for the demoted bosses.

According to a fire department source, the demotions of Kavanagh, the FDNY’s first female commissioner, should flex her muscles in the 150-year-old Big Apple department.

“She’s showing that she’s boss, and they’re fighting back,” the source said. “That was not necessary. Things went smoothly. Now the commissioner has a problem.”

Ironically, the decision to demote the three chiefs was announced after an FDNY executive meeting on Friday on “collaboration,” a source noted.

Fire department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.