Murray County assistant fire chief Chris Butler, a 21-year veteran of the department, has resigned after being arrested for two counts each of simple
battery and willful obstruction or hindrance of a firefighter, both misdemeanors, after a dispute at the scene of a fire earlier this month.
According to a Murray County Sheriff’s Office incident report, on July 4 around 10:40 p.m. a deputy was sent to 430 Ben Adams Road to a call of a firefighter being assaulted while battling a fire. When the deputy arrived, he found a house that “had been fully engulfed in flames” and was directed to firefighter Troy Lanier.
He said Lanier, “who was noticeably upset,” told him he and firefighter Justin Ridley had been assaulted by Butler earlier that evening as they were trying to fight the fire. Lanier said he was trying to enter the front part of the house to try to contain the fire.