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Fla. board ends contract with volunteer fire department

Some say the move was to oust the chief; the board has 60 days to negotiate a new deal

By Kevin Wadlow
The Keynoter

KEY LARGO, Fla. — The Key Largo board created to oversee the community’s volunteer-based fire department may need to assemble a new department in two months.

In a 3-2 decision Monday night, elected members of the Key Largo Fire-Rescue and Emergency Medical Services District voted to terminate its contract with the Key Largo Fire-Rescue Department Inc., consisting mostly of volunteers the past five decades.

No reasons were publicly offered in the crowded special meeting that lasted less than 30 minutes. The without-cause resolution “just says the district didn’t want to fight about the reasons,” district attorney Dirk Smits said. “Just that it’s over.”

Full story: Fire board severs contract with firefighters