Lumberton — The former firefighters and one former EMS worker met with KFDM/FOX 4 in Lumberton, not far from the fire station that was their home away from home for so long.
They began leaving after the ESD board voted on October 3 not to renew Jeff McNeel’s contract as fire chief.
“Majority of the citizens want to know why he was terminated,” former Deputy Chief of Support Kyle Phillips said. “What’s the goals of the department now, and so far the board and the new interim chief have been quiet.”
They claim more than a dozen firefighters and responders have left, but tell us their concern began even before that decision.
“My job is going into a burning building and put myself at risk to save others,” former firefighter Andrew Potts said. “I need a support system behind me, and they took that from us when they took Chief McNeel.”
A former paramedic, Vanessa McCorkle, has questions about training and what she calls the lack of staff still working for ESD #2.
“Some of them have not gone through training which is EVOS, which you have to do through the department, or they don’t have the license to drive even the firetruck itself,” McCorkle said. “As far as firefighter certification goes, most of them do not have interior certifications. They cannot go inside of the burning building.”
We attempted to contact the board president, Jim Philp, a number of times for comment, but we weren’t able to reach him. The board is deciding whether to promote internally or hire a search firm to find the next fire chief.