By Jim Vorel
Hearld and Review
CERRO GORDO, Ill. — A final look at the firehouse where he served for 29 years was bittersweet Monday night for Randy West, chief of Cerro Gordo’s volunteer Fire Protection District.
West was present, along with many supporters, at a special meeting of the district’s trustees to formally turn over his keys, radio and other materials after being dismissed by the five-person board in a decision announced Thursday. About a dozen of the department’s other volunteers joined him in handing in their own resignations as a protest.
“I was relieved because I did not fulfill the trustees’ wishes of firing the deputy chief, who happens to be my son, Blake,” said West after the meeting. “At the meeting Thursday, they told me they wanted me to remain on as fire chief but they wanted me to remove Blake from the roster due to complaints about too much training. He was under direct order from me to push hard for that training, which is required by the state. They gave me an ultimatum to remove him from the roster or resign, to which I said, ‘I’m not quitting, and if you want rid of me, you can fire me.’ ”
Full story: Cerro Gordo Fire Department rift leads to mass resignations