FLORISSANT — "We don't care about you guys any more. Don't you understand that?"
The above is just one quote from hours of shouting in the Florissant Fire Hall on Wednesday evening.
A room-full of community members showed up for the Florissant Fire District's Board Meeting, many of them looking for answers to months of questionable decisions, resignations, and firings.
In April 2022, former Florissant Fire Chief Michael Bailey was placed on administrative leave following a mass resignation of Board Members.
On May 16, while the High Park Fire burned in Teller County and just miles outside of Florissant, Bailey was officially fired. Erik Holt is serving as Interim Chief.
Many community members are still wondering exactly why Bailey was fired in the first place.
"The volunteer firefighters loved Chief Bailey. I had so many of them reach out to me and tell me they would follow him into any situation," said Toni Moore.
Community members published a rebuttal to the allegations Board Members made against Bailey. The rebuttal included statements from Bailey himself.
One example of the accusation outlined in the rebuttal reads:
Board Claims in 1 C:
Threatening Board of Directors with resignation of yourself and volunteers if demands for additional paid positions were not granted. (sworn statement of meeting attended)
Bailey's response to the above accusation is as follows.
Bailey Responds to 1 C:
I never said that I or the volunteers would resign if Mike Holmes didn’t resign. Produce the records.
Wednesday's crowd broke out in applause at the idea of having all remaining Board Members resign, and ask the Teller County Commissioners to take over the situation.
However, Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams says the state would have to complete an investigation and as the county to get involved before any intervention happens in a special district.
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