![A view of Riverheads Volunteer Fire Department in Staunton, Virginia, where 22 volunteer firefighters resigned following rising tension between them and the fire department president on August 14, 2023. [Screenshot/WHSV]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Screenshot-2023-08-18-213953-e1692409336767.jpg "A view of Riverheads Volunteer Fire Department in Staunton, Virginia, where 22 volunteer firefighters resigned following rising tension between them and the fire department president on August 14, 2023. [Screenshot/WHSV]")
Twenty-two volunteer firefighters in a fire department in Virginia resigned Monday night all at once, according to reports.
Volunteer firefighter chief Barry Lott and 21 others, all from Riverheads Volunteer Fire Department, walked out after reported disagreements with the fire department’s new president, Gerry Chandler, the Staunton News Leader reported.
“Everything reached a boiling point, this has been building for months now,” Benji Smith, the former president of the fire department and one of the resignees, said in a series of texts, per the news report.
Chandler had reportedly been trying to control all spending decisions from the committees and members. He had reportedly canceled two of the department’s fundraising ceremonies and its first banquet since 2017 — moves that did not go down well with the firefighters, the report noted. During the August meeting, the volunteers learned that Lott would resign, and the other volunteers reportedly gave Chandler an ultimatum. Chandler reportedly responded by saying that all of those who resigned could then be dismissed. The volunteers then walked out, per the report. (REPORT: Video Shows Mountain Of Mulch Burning, 100 Firefighters Battle To Contain Inferno)
About 15 firefighters were left, with only half reportedly being fully equipped to execute fire-rescue operations. Justin Brown, one of the resignees, said, “You just lost 22 very good firefighters. And of the 22 that quit, seven are also full-time career firefighters locally in the area that loved this job so much we wanted to volunteer to do it as well.”
Chandler “looked at our chief and said that Barry [former fire chief] needs to step down [as] chief because they need a new face at chief,” Brown further said, WHSV reported. Some of the firefighters reportedly sought the intervention of the Augusta county administrator but Chandler reportedly responded, “Well, I’m the president so I’m above the County Administrator.”
Chandler described the situation as “a leadership change,” The News Leader reported.
The firefighters left will continue to serve the area, Augusta County Fire Rescue Chief Greg Schacht said, per WHSV.