Two resignations involving a volunteer fire department are the latest cause for concern for some neighbors in the greater Whitney community, especially when it comes to having enough resources to answer calls and how department funds are being used.
Diane Frederickson is the secretary for the governing board of the 2604 Volunteer Fire Department. She said one of those resignations was the fire chief, and the other was their board president.
She said, "they haven't been active," but now "It gives us leeway to act where probably before our hands were more tied."
During a public meeting on February 11th, the board accepted the resignations and moved forward with placing active fire department members in temporary positions within the department as it works through a 90-day restructuring plan.
Even though they didn't have a full board present, Diane said, "we had a quorum that could vote."
She said part of that 90-day plan — that's required by its bylaws — is to fill positions and she said they already have applicants.
"When we get the officers voted in, and the responders voted in on the 90 days, we will call for a committee audit, and a committee by-laws review," she said.
Diane told 25News' Bobby Poiteivnt it's important to wait because they want input from their community and the new members to help restructure their outdated bylaws -- a restructure she said is needed.
Diane said they haven't had an audit at least in her six years as secretary.
In the meantime, she wants neighbors to know calls are still being answered by the department and they have three people able to run calls right now with a fourth person from another district who can also help.
"But right now, there's not a problem with arriving on the scene on time — normally when fires are called out, there's always more than one department called out — at least five in the area that almost can get here as quick as our guys can — and we are making calls because the calls have been going out," she said.
"We've probably made more than before," said Diane referring to the two resignations.
I'm told the former chief and board president are husband and wife — each with around two decades with the department. While I wasn't given much information about them, I have made other efforts to contact them to find out their side of the story.
Diane was not able to provide a copy of their resignation letters or their names at the time of our interview but she said their letters were brief in their writing and did not provide an explanation for their leave.
