The Colorado Springs Fire Department’s most senior firefighter is still on leave six months after he became the subject of a personnel matter.

R.C. Smith, Jr., who joined the fire department nearly four decades ago, is a well-known battalion chief. His late father, Richard Smith, served as the city’s fire chief from 1979 to 1989.

In February, R.C. Smith Jr. was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. His status changed to unpaid administrative leave about a month later.

City officials won’t disclose the nature of the investigation, saying it’s a personnel matter.

Deputy Chief of Support Services Tommy Smith, no relation, said the fire department is following a process spelled out in the city’s Civil Service Policies and Procedures Manual.“The disciplinary process is ongoing,” Tommy Smith said Tuesday.

“The disciplinary process encompasses the investigation, appeals, all of those things in accordance with civil service rules and policies,” he said.

R.C. Smith had been working as one of three battalion chiefs in the Operations Division until he was assigned to the Training Division for unspecified reasons last year.

—Contact Daniel Chacón: 476-1623Twitter @danieljchaconFacebook Daniel Chacon

Preston Hartman, 11, and his grandmother, Marilyn Jones, react as he makes a hole-in-one at Adventure Miniature Golf and Batting Cages this month. Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE

MARK REIS