Posted on 12/23/2021 10:21:08 PM PST by Impala64ssa
Ten out of 13 members of the Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Department quit at a fire district board meeting on Monday night after a convicted arsonist was appointed acting fire chief.
The Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Protection District Board of Trustees met in East Carondelet on Dec. 20 and fired Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Chief John Rosencranz, KTVI reported.
The board gave no reason for the termination as they replaced Chief Rosencranz with Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Assistant Chief Jerame Simmons, who was sitting at the same table.
In a statement released after the meeting on the fire department’s official Facebook page, the board of trustees simply said it had become apparent “over the last several months that a change in the Fire Department’s leadership is needed.”
But their choice to replace the popular Chief Rosencranz quickly became a huge problem.
Simmons is the son of Herb Simmons, the long-time director of the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, KTVI reported.
But 20 years ago, he pleaded guilty to arson after setting fire to a vacant home and setting a small fire in Dupo High School.
Simmons was 18 when he set the fires, and he told KTVI that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has since pardoned him.
But that’s not good enough for the firefighters on the department that he will be heading and some members of the community he will serve.
“It’s a pardon. Still, the town remembers the school being set on fire,” former Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Captain Laura Rosencranz, who is also the wife of the now-former chief, told KTVI.
“The town remembers the house set on fire where we had firefighters fall and be injured,” Laura Rosencranz added.
A soon as the board appointed Simmons to acting chief, firefighters rose from their seats and began turning in gear right in the meeting room along with their resignations, FOX News reported.
By the time the meeting had ended, 10 of the 13 firefighters on the department had submitted their resignations.
“I think it’s appalling and disgusting,” the now-former Chief Rosencranz said. “We’re not going to have the adequate protection here. It’s not going to be as it should be here. I’m kind of blindsided but not. I knew it was coming, but I didn’t expect it to be a couple of days before Christmas.”
Fire chiefs from neighboring departments have said they will step in to fill the gap left by the mass resignation if needed, FOX News reported.
Kind of like the College of Cardinals.
It’s been a whole 20 years since that happened, but as the article says, the memory, the tragedy of that arson remains vivid in everyone’s mind. Were there no other qualified candidates?
He is first being considered because of who his father was.
I read about this a few days ago. I’m sure the folks quitting won’t be missed and they are doing this for other reasons. The conviction was 20 years ago and he has worked as a fireman since. Give him a break.
shouldn’t they have started jumpin straight up and straight down the day he was allowed on the force ?
Bizarro Land
I can’t say I don’t believe it. I wish I could
Who better to know how to “stop the animal” than the one that turned it loose? I took that from “Backdraft” but it is a poser.
They fired the current chief and replaced him with one of his subordinates, and TEN of THIRTEEN front-liners quit RIGHT THERE, and you think they won’t be missed.
What fantasyland do you inhabit?
This sounds like Chicago.
Wonder who is “The Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Protection District Board of Trustees “.
Wonder who wants to destroy a Volunteer fire department.
Wonder who, in Prairie Du Pont, has a building or business going bankrupt and would stand to collect if their building or business burned down.
This sounds like a small place. Bet the Venn diagram would be easy.
Ronald, he knows the “animal”. Wonder if they have a major fire soon?
They quit to protest the firing and using the 20-year old conviction, which was pardoned, as a lame excuse. Why don’t they be honest and just say they quit in solidarity with the fired chief? Maybe they all had some ethics or theft or other issues? Again, maybe this housecleaning is very long overdue and we are likely only getting part of the story.
You know, it is almost funny to see the predictable knee-jerk responses defending police or fire folks without knowing more than the headline. These types of stories are so poorly or sparsely written that almost anything is possible. I think a bit of skepticism is in order.
Sorry, do not know Ronald or the “animal”.
Wondering about major fire too.
Give him a job in the Biden cabinet. It’s full of arsonists
Pardoned by Pritzker - hardly surprising: that fat-assed s. o. b. avoided property taxes by temporarily moving toilets our of his Gold Coast mansion back before he ran for governor. The system for those jerk-offs is just something to be manipulated for their advantage.
He probably has, or do you know of any fires he’s set lately?
Took a bit to find a picture of fired Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Chief John Rosencranz. Wow, fat slob, same as at least one of his friends that quit when he was fired.
Watch the movie “Backdraft”. Fire is a three legged monster. Fuel, oxygen, spark or heat source. Control one leg you can prevent it, control it’s size, and the spread of it. Sprinklers smother, reduce the heat, and help break up the fuel. Maybe these guys worried about where two legs got the spark. I don’t know the political aspects but I know fire. If I lived there I’d watch for more.
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