Published: 8/24/2018 10:38:13 PM
MONROE — The Selectboard plans to meet Wednesday with members of its volunteer fire department to discuss reorganizing the department following last week’s abrupt resignation of Fire Chief Douglas Oakes Jr.
That meeting will take place at 6 p.m. in the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department station at 5C School St., according to Selectman David Gagne.
Gagne, who is among the department’s firefighters, said all the firefighters initially resigned after Oakes, but have reconsidered. When asked how many firefighters the department has, he said “as of now, there are four. But I will know more on Wednesday.”
Gagne said he initially resigned, with the others, but then reconsidered. “We’ve got people on the Fire Department that had a change of heart,” he said. “We want to be there for the community. I’m a Fire Department member myself. I’m not going to follow the leader — my chief — by resigning. But we’re limited in our resources now. But we’ve got some very good people.”
He declined to say why Oakes quit or why the others quit after Oakes did or how many were on the force.