A majority of firefighters with the North College Hill (OH) Fire Department have tendered their resignations, according to news reports.
According to WLWT, in a letter the firefighters attributed the decision to resign to “poor performance” and “hostile actions” by the city administrator as it relates to fire department operations.
According to an online post from the department on Facebook:
Citizens of North College Hill, It is with profound sadness that we write this post to inform you that effective at 6am on March 17th approximately 75% of the department, with nearly 170 years of combined service, have resigned their positions with NCHFD. This resignation includes all chief officers, the majority of lieutenants and the majority of the most senior and experienced firefighters and paramedics on the department. We do not tenure these lightly as many of us have friends and family who live, work and visit NCH and we all genuinely care about all of our citizens. However, many issues have continued to persist for months and continue to go unaddressed. We have had meetings, filed grievances, and attempted to work in good faith with multiple levels of administration within the city to address our concerns to no avail. We have repeatedly exhausted all options available. The mental, emotional, physical and financial tolls have culminated to this breaking point. We’re sorry that it has had to come to this, we hope that the city can do better in the future and wish you good health. Thank you for trusting us with the privilege of serving and caring for you and your families in their times of need, it has been an honor to do so.
Sincerely,
The soon to be former members of NCHFD
