If you strip the fire chief and several others follow him out - it tells me a few things: 1-he was a good leader 2-he had respect of the people who work for him 3-that your incompetence as commissioners has ruined the reputation and safety of your town. 4-resignation to save face is your only option.

There is another video where the chief says he disciplined a member of the fire department for theft. That member is a relative of one of the commissioners. Interesting.

When volunteers quit there's a big problem somewhere.

Sounds to me like you have commissioners who are ethically challenged. Those fire fighters deserve better.

It's really good that people are pushing back against these self entitled government people. Most of them are way out of line, and previously didn't seem to have to answer to anyone. Stand proud and strong people!

I am a fire fighter in Abbeville sc been doing it for 46 years may the good Lord be with all fire fighters

Ever have a job where things are going great for BOTH the business and the employees, then one or two folks come along and strangle the joy out of the employees until they leave? I have had jobs in the past where I was eager to go to work, I got there early, stayed late, even helped out if needed during lunch. It was almost "magical", and the businesses were doing so well we were exceeding our goals, customers were happy, then it happens a pencil pusher, a control freak, a wiz kid comes along and wrecks it.

Man, that assistant chief was fired up, no pun intended

LOL,and towns wonder why nobody wants too volunteer anymore.

I would like to know more about the situation to make a judgement but I myself have been in this situation. I was chief of a volunteer department and the city council was against the department, the township trustees were very easy to deal with. My last night on the department I called the city out on a lie, which they had been lying about for months. Two council members called the department nothing but a car wash club twice in a public meeting. It was at that point I realized that I had been missing time with my family for 15 years and this is what myself and my members ment to these individuals. So anyone with a negative opinion of the department should volunteer and see what it really takes.

What's sad is that there are so many of these little fiefdom's around the country. It all comes down to power. It starts with the city dog catcher all the way up to the Mayor, City Manager or Village Commissioners. I grew up in a little township in Michigan. It sure isn't the money they seek (unless you consider the bribes), it's the power they have over other people.

So basically a guy who was good at his job was forced to quit because he wouldn't do what some clueless bureaucrats wanted him to

Great to see the community seeking transparency and accountability from its elected leaders.

I see three admirable things 1- a Chief that stands up to a corrupt council 2- an assistant Chief that stands with their Chief 3- a department that stands as brothers and sisters The community will become aware of the entire situation That you can believe

Let's see how these "elected officials" like it when THEIR house catches fire and nobody responds!

This is what happens when politicians try to have precidenc over issues of life and safety.

I never understood why city managers and commissioners think they dictate day to day operations if police and fire departments.

Let me guess ... city council decided to “defund” the fire department for using too much water 💦

Sound's like some council members need to be forcefully recalled and arrested....

They should bring back the old tar and feather for corrupt politicians. Countrywide......starting with those occupying seats they weren't elected to.....

he looked like he was gonna cry when he said you ran against me😂😂😂😂😂

As someone who’s been involved with a VFD in varying capacity over the last 5 years, it shocks me that more people haven’t been made aware just how common this is. While I’ve never personally seen it get so bad that half a department resigned, all 18 fire companies in my county go through some form of heated argument over leadership FREQUENTLY. Whats more is the amount of VFDs that simply refuse to offer/accept help from neighboring departments, and would rather wait for mutual aid that realistically shouldn’t even be called until the 2nd or even 3rd alarm, is actually kind of scary. There are people all over this country that have lost their homes or other property because a fire chief didn’t like the neighboring FD, so he waited 20-30 minutes for help. These kinds of things really make you stop and think - does this already severely limited service have my best interest in heart? Or are they more worried about making a point to their enemies. Its for this reason that Im not entirely opposed to municipalities having a say in (and taking a more active role in) VFDs, so long as they are only involved with administration, and have no say on a fire ground they know nothing about.

Seems like the elected official is a terrible leader. He got defensive and engaged in playing pass-the-blame, rather than realizing that this was his responsibility to deal with this problem. Firing the chief because "he wasn't doing as we instructed him" is a vague and terrible excuse. He probably used his expertise in telling the commissioners that they had no idea what they were talking about. They didn't like that because they wanted a chief who was a sycophant, so they fired him. That a third of the department left is very telling as to how much more to the story there is than what the commissioners are telling the people they're supposed to serve.

The difference between having enough fire fighters is putting a house fire out or controlling the burn till the house is gone.

The ONLY purpose a board has is to manage the budgetary end of the fire department, they have no business managing the day to day operations or the department members, let the men and women actually responding sort that out.

While it is nice that the you tube algorithm is letting this make the rounds, it is 3 years old. An update would be nice.

What’s the difference between a small town politician and a big city one? One wears Carhartt and the other wears a suit.

I know this video has been posted for quite a while but it goes back to what I’ve said more than once; sometimes the only cure is resignation. Sometimes we have to cut our losses and move on no matter how painful they are. It’s a shame I’m facing that now because of a family squabble.

So what was the resolution? I love these new stories that present these issues, but then never report the resolutions.

Springfield Maine volunteer firedepartment is in solidarity with your cause! You have the power to do what is right!

This type of problem is not just in fire departments. Somewhere something broke in many critical jobs. Somehow it became vogue to believe that "management" did not need to actually know the job because everyone was a "specialist". we need to return to the basic premise that you are not eligible to be on the board or commission of a fore department, police department etc. unless you have been one.

I never knew I needed small town meeting drama in my life.. but after 1 video I'm now down the rabbit hole of youtube recommendations lol

This is how "We the People" get it done. Learn it! Live it!

Why do I see a parallel with this video and what our country should be doing with its corrupt leadership?

Plain and simple I live around this area and been here for over 10 years plus. Things have gone down hill for years around here. Fire, police can't do their jobs and the government officials are corrupt. That's why I moved away so I don't have to put my tax dollars into a mess that won't get fixed.

How are the two corrupt people still in power? When your fire service resign on mass this needs an answer!

I love the way you try to make your community come together to solve your problems i truly wish that would happen for us in the UK 🇬🇧

Not sure what going on but as a firefighter that was on volunteer department you would be amazed at the back Stabbings That goes on. But the one thing it shows who in it for the right reason and who in for themselves

Volunteer Firefighter are the lunatics of the Fire Service. There’s only two things I know of that keeps Vollies from fighting fire, Broken Equipment and or bad Leadership. Obviously they supported the Chief.

Why aren't the commissioners being transparent? What is happening? The commissioners are elected officials and they owe the voters an explaination. Don't allow them to not give a full rational for their actions.

It's always about suppliers and kickbacks when it comes to comissioners ans elected officials.

Hi I'm fr. Canada & I was also a Vollunteer Firefighter at one Time & I'm also Standing up for my fellow Brothers & Sisters & agree with Thier Decision to do They need to do to get Selfish, Greedy & The Corupted People OUT for Good 🇨🇦👊🇨🇦👍🇨🇦👍🇨🇦👍🇨🇦✌🇨🇦👏🇨🇦👊🇨🇦.

What's the status today? Are things back to normal? Are calls being responded to? Is the service being provided to the community?

When you get paid you get paid but if volunteers leave that's a big problem

My uncle is a fire chief at a volunteer based station in vermont. Alot of the towns are volunteer based up there. And when he appealed to the state that law enforment and first responders need better forms of communication and they all basically said that in doing so theyd cause eye soars by putting up towers in the mountains. So peoples lives are not as important as your politcians view...

My municipality did the same thing to our chief too! Same BS no explanation spending taxpayers dollars on frivolous things and not focussing on the priorities !

You know that the mayor is full of it. * When asked for a reason, he is vague statement about resigning and "He wouldn't do what we told him to do." * When later pressured, he changed to some even vaguer comment about harassment. Which is it? * He's yelling at people because they ran against him rather than keep the discussion about the ex-fire chief. Sorry, but if you want to fire someone, you need a clear reason and you have to document it. If this was legitimate, you'd expect him to say, "We had an issue. We gave him several verbal warnings. On W date we sent an email outlining the issue and met with him. On X date, we had another meeting and gave him a warning letter to be kept on file. On Y date, we gave him a second letter and met to see if there were any personal reasons he couldn't comply. On Z date, we regrettably had voted to remove him from his position. As this is a personnel matter we can't discuss it or release the letters unless Mr. A agrees in writing." This is common sense and anyone in a mayor position (no matter how small the town) knows this -- as should at least one council member, any legal representation, anyone dealing with HR/payroll, etc.

It’s the age old problem, those “in charge” leading from the rear with no idea what’s happening on the front line! I used to teach, as an unpaid volunteer, at a unit for children who had been excluded from mainstream education. We had great success and most students went on to further education at a local technical school. Those in charge of the purse strings, withdrew funding, preferring to support colour therapy and a gay Internet cafe rather than give disadvantaged youngsters a decent start and some chance to improve themselves, the cafe lasted six months!

If the chief was ELECTED, how could the council FIRE him?

Her statement could open up a lawsuit against her. Police and fire agencies are not allowed to go on strike. That’s under law. They would have to resign.

United we stand , together we fall !

Here is an idea don't pay your city council pay your firefighters. The city council is worthless and the firefighters might actually help you one day.

The people are the ones who are going to pay for this in the long run

When a town full of people who just want to be alone have to come together

Let’s get some of the Deadliest Catch captains in there to figure this out

Simple, get rid of the bone heads in office and let those that do the job run things.

These commissioners surely trained for the position on HOA boards.

Florida is offering bonuses to experienced firefighter and police officers. No snow, no ice, no state income tax. You know where we are. See you soon.

The only thing I see here is the egos in the room mean more than the citizens of the community. Good job way to set the example and stick to your departments creed of self before service.

Any update ?

And that people is how it's done.

This is what happens when you give the fire company more power than the fire department. Our fire company board of directors know their only job is to raise money and if they over step we will take that from them and they can leave seeing as the actual fire department goes about getting everything we need ourselves or with the help of the town while the money raised by the company is only actually used for ceremonies and end of year christmas parties for members and family.

Typical govt response...deflect, deflect, deflect...

So many stories about small town decline. Small towns is there things should be more right than wrong.

“He was not following our directions” what you mean is you couldn’t control him anymore, he wasn’t going to be used as some pawn. So in return you got rid of him, don’t like someone questioning your power.

People file charges against the board

Do the fire commissioners call DHS on those that question their corruption like the school boards do?

Love it when people take back THEIR government!

Good job y'all. Stand up for what's right. All politicians are corrupt and need to be held accountable for their actions and decisions. That starts with your own local reps.

Have respect for VFD’s, many of them show up when no one else will.

Wow...wouldn't want to be that guy.

People have power....

Nothing worse than clueless people about a job trying to manage those who do that job, a recipe for disaster

People will soon understand they are not irreplaceable.

This is why I stay home and watch judge judy

That woman has a lot of balls

This is happening more and more everywhere. Just a epidemic of a bigger issue that won’t be solved. It’s only gonna get worse. Most good men don’t want to help anymore.

Wow! What a Gal! :-)

All too often, this is the case. The commisioners don't have a clue what the fire departments do along with the police departments. Politics needs to stay out of it. All too often the power goes to their heads.

A whole department that are volunteers. I would be doing everything I could to make their lives the best it could be. You have no idea how lucky you are/were to have selfless people doing jobs for nothing. Unbelievable.

To The Onalaska Fire Dept I am the host of The Mid West Plainsman Podcast in Iowa, I am a former EMT and current First Responder and I am going to be doing a series of broadcasts on issues with both volunteer and paid departments with city council members or commissioners. Please reach out to me

Curious what was the finally outcome of this? Did the dept come back? City people who have no clue removed?

The best thing that could happen to Seattle is a good cleansing fire. Something Biblical.

Funny how even the "news channel" protects the commissioners, by not actually reporting what was the primary compliant all those who quit had. Editing the footage to cut away at key moments and not even showing anyone addressing the actual complaints.

In Hotevilla Arizona such a meeting would be a violent brawl!

Wow!

At first I was with the chief and now im with the Mayor. If the Chief is covering up for Harassment and god know what ever else ethics violations, he has to go. This is why REPORTS and civil actions must be public record so the PEOPLE can be properly informed on who serves them. If I was Mayor and I tried to fire a guy who was obviously caught covering up misconduct but was met with a public who chose the side of their friends instead of facts then there is no point of having a Mayor.

Remember, they are vonlunteers. They quit means you guys as mayor and associates should follow suit 😊

This is how citizens need to deal with DC politicians!

Is this problem resolved ???

Luckily for me I got all their radio equipment since they disbanded and sold everything off

VOLUNTEER!!!!!! Means no pay….. Onalaska is a beautiful community and deserves the best!

Bet ya they bagged the money that otherwise would have gone to the fire departmenet firefighters, assuming any did to begin with.

what the hell were they trying to tell the chief to do that he would quit to ignore certain fires? to lets arsonist go? to fire people based upon political beliefs? what did they do they still refused to answer

Despite the fact the commissioner had virtually no specific defense for his actions, I'd still be willing to bet that the truth lies somewhere in the middle of this. Assistant chief resigning without notice on a volunteer department sounds like a serious brain drain after having the chief also removed.

So what happened to this Did they do the right thing and bring the people back

I worked in the department where a whole squad quit because one of them was fired for asking "too many questions". The officer just wanted clarification on a new directive that was introduced. He was dedicated to his team and wanted to move forward with a clear understanding.

Need the full story. Why was the Chief fired? What's the Chief's side? 1/3 resigned including the Assistant supporting the Chief. The other 2/3s did not which could mean they do or don't know the full story and since it's a volunteer they don't have to resign.

What’s that line from all those mobster movies….? The fish rots from the head. The head would be the guys that fired the chief.

"Do what right now what easy" 😀