NAPLATE, Ill. — All 25 members of an Ill. volunteer fire department have resigned over “unspecified personnel conflicts” with the town’s mayor.
Naplate Fire Chief Dave Parrot said that he wouldn’t discuss specifically what the conflicts were but said that if current negotiations with the mayor and board fail to reach a resolution by the end of the month, the unit will apply to join a neighboring company, according to My Web Times.
The neighboring company, the Wallace Fire Protection District, works closely with the Naplate Department and function almost as a “one entity,” the Wallace President Mick Garrison said.
“I have attended multiple meetings with the board and the volunteers to help resolve the issues which threaten the existence of the 60-plus-year-old small town department,” Garrison said. “It’s an unfortunate situation.”
Naplate Mayor James Rick told My Web Times that he hopes to continue negotiations with the firefighters, but said that if they refuse to return to their positions he would definitely replace them.
None of the personnel involved in the situation would elaborate or say what the issues at hand are, but a public health and safety trustee previously said it’s a “political situation.”
Chief Parrot said that while negotiations are happening, firefighters will still protect the people of Naplate.