Florissant Fire Department faces mass resignations and suspension of chief
FLORISSANT, Colo. (KRDO) -- The fire chief in a small Teller County city is currently suspended while several members of the special fire district's board have resigned. According to Teller County Commissioners, the Florissant Fire District no longer has enough officials to do public business.
Four out of five Florissant Fire Protection District Directors resigned in March, according to Florissant Fire & Rescue's interim-Chief. In order to have a quorum and conduct public business the district needs at least 3 directors present.
"Open lines of communication with the County Commissioners and the County Attorney about the orderly return of governance responsibilities following the resignation of multiple directors forms he District Board of Directors last month," the Teller County Commissioners and Florissant Fire District said in a joint statement on Friday.
On April 1st, the fire chief in Florissant, Michael Bailey, was placed on paid administrative leave. It's unclear why Bailey was suspended.
Despite the suspension and resignations, the district and county say they are comfortable that there will not be an interruption in the fire district’s services. 4 election district seats on the Florissant Fire Protection District are available in the upcoming May 3 election.
"While there is no quorum now - directors will be elected to office on May third and those directors will be responsible for conducting public business necessary to establish a quorum of the board," the joint statement said.
Volunteer firefighter Erik Holt is currently running the Florissant Fire Department as their interim Chief. Holt was named to the position one day after Bailey was notified of his suspension.
“Anything with the board is a board issue, and it’s not affecting us or our operations," Holt said when asked how the suspension and resignations impact their day-to-day operations. “We just responded to Colorado Mountain Estates Friday evening for a wildfire that could’ve been catastrophic. We called in our mutual aid partners and we did a very good job. No homes were lost, no injuries reported. We have made every call we will continue to answer every call.”
Two days after Bailey was suspended the Florissant Fire Chief was allegedly harassed at his home by former Teller County Emergency Management Director Don Angell. According to court records obtained by 13 Investigates, Angell used racial slurs and grabbed the suspended chief. The 64-year-old was arrested and charged harassment and child abuse ten days later.
The interim Chief says this incident was separate from the board members' resignation in March and the suspension on April 1.
