THORNDIKE, Maine — Thorndike firefighters walked off the job Wednesday night after a heated Select Board meeting that reviewed a controversial letter criticizing fire leadership, according to a report in the Bangor Daily News.
According to the report, four Waldo County emergency response officials sent a letter of no confidence to the Thorndike board accusing the fire department of putting lives in danger.
The letter detailed safety concerns and leadership issues with former fire chief George Russell, according to the report. The 33-year-old Russell stepped down to assistant fire chief after he admitted to stealing over $5,000 of department funds in 2014, according to the BDN.
Firefighters from the 28-person Thorndike department came to the board meeting with two demands according to the BDN. They wanted reinstatement of Russell as chief and they wanted the release of $85,000 from the department's truck and equipment replacement fund.
The report described a meeting of chaos, with voices booming and high running passions. One firefighter was extremely emotional after the meeting.
“It was a one-way deal. There was no compromise,” an emotional Shawn Bristol, a 10-year veteran of the department, told the paper, through tears after the firefighters walked out of the meeting. “All but one person resigned. We are essentially, for now, disbanded.”
The paper said current Thorndike Fire Chief Bill Isbister resigned earlier in the day Wednesday.
Bob Carter, Thorndike select board member, told the BDN he wasn't surprised by the resignations. “I saw it coming,” Carter said. “I was a [Maine Department of Transportation] supervisor for a lot of years. You give people enough rope, they’ll hang themselves.”
According to the report, the firefighters told the board they were pulling the fire company's personnel immediately “due to outdated and unsafe equipment that the town of Thorndike [Selectmen] refuse to replace putting not only the firefighters’ lives at risk but the public as well.”
The letter went on to say the department was out of service and could not protect the town, "causing huge delays when an emergency occurs," according to the BDN.
Selectmen Carter told the BDN he did not agree with that assessment and that the town still has mutual aid agreements with surrounding communities.
NEWS CENTER Maine will update this story when more information becomes available.
