‘That’s okay. That was no great loss,’ city administrator says after assistant fire chief’s resignation causes volunteer shortage

NEW BOSTON, Texas (KSLA) — Is it safe? That’s the burning question in an East Texas community after multiple volunteer firefighters recently left their job.

The New Boston, Texas, Fire Department is short of volunteers now that Michael Fuller, the assistant fire chief, has resigned.

“We decided to resign because we felt we had ineffective leadership, and there were some questionable acts going on,” Fuller said.

Five other firefighters joined Fuller in leaving the department. His letter of resignation questioned the leadership of Fire Chief Chris Taillon and the qualifications of other volunteer firefighters.

“The assistant fire chief, Mike Fuller, decided he would resign from the department. That’s okay. That was no great loss,” New Boston City Administrator Wayne Dial said.

Dial said the resignations should not affect emergency service for the New Boston community. The city administrator said those who resigned have made less than 15% of emergency calls over the past six months.

“Those people weren’t showing up anyway, so we still have a very strong fire department,” Dial said. “They answered calls all weekend, this weekend without their help; so I’m not concerned with them leaving. I think the city is going to be better off without them.”

According to Dial, the fire department still has enough volunteers to keep the trucks running. But the former assistant fire chief had something to say about that.

“The thing that they have lost the most of, they have lost everybody that is medically certified except for one, and they have nobody with formal training and certification,” Fuller said.

There are only two paid members of the fire department, which are the fire chief and assistant fire chief. All others are volunteers.

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