By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisbrypost.com
SALISBURY — The East Spencer Fire Department is back up and running after it was shut down Monday evening because of personnel issues.
“We reopened at 9 a.m. Wednesday,” said Chief Shawn McBride on Thursday. “We got the issues resolved to the point where they’re here.”
McBride said he got the feeling Monday that firefighters were “about to turn their stuff in” and leave, as the result of a miscommunication. He said he wasn’t sure whether there would still be a functioning department that night.
“I didn’t want to wait ’til the last minute before that happened,” he said. “I had to act quickly, so I shut the fire department down and called surrounding departments to provide service to East Spencer.”
McBride earlier referenced a mandatory meeting that some firefighters did not attend.
“My job as fire chief is to make sure that the town is always provided with fire service,” he said. “Whether or not the guys here decide that’s not something they want to do, my job regardless of what happens is to provide that service, even if I had to start from scratch or start over.”
Alderman Tammy Corpening said she’s still not pleased with the chief’s decision to shut down the department, especially if it turned out to be because of a misunderstanding.
“I am pushing for it to be discussed (at the board meeting) Monday,” Corpening said. “We’re not sweeping it under the rug.”
McBride, who was hired in March as East Spencer’s fourth fire chief in two years, noted the town’s history of frequent leadership changes. He said he is dedicated to serving East Spencer, and so are the firefighters who have returned to duty.
The town is taking steps to correct any problems that may come up in the future, said McBride and Town Administrator Macon Sammons.
“With the personnel issue, we’re continuing to stay focused on that until we get things fully resolved and ironed out,” Sammons said.
The fire department is also looking for more local volunteers.
“We’re trying to do more recruiting in the town of East Spencer – there’s nobody from the town of East Spencer that volunteers here,” McBride said.
The chief said volunteer firefighters don’t have to have previous certifications, because the town will pay for their classes. But they must live within five miles of the town and have “a desire to help the local community.”
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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