Dozens of people packed a meeting room in the Agriculture Center Volunteer Fire Department Tuesday night. The department held its annual community meeting in Bessemer City and some people were unhappy with what recently transpired at the department.
In June, word spread through social media that 13 firefighters had left the department at the same time. They were unhappy with decisions being made by the board that oversees the fire department, according to Genie Hyman, the former secretary of the board.
Hyman said that the board’s recent decision to do away with the department’s chief, Matt Kanupp, spurred some of the volunteers to leave the department. She said 13 different firefighters chose to leave the agency. Hyman joined them in leaving the organization, abandoning her post as the board’s secretary.
“The board decided that they were not going to let the firemen have any say-so in who would be chief,” explained Hyman.