After it couldn't find a suitable fire chief in nearly a year, a Minnesota community has decided to allow a neighboring city run its fire service.
The Falcon Heights City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to let the Roseville Fire Department handle the leadership responsibilities for both city's fire department, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports. Last month, Roseville lawmakers approved a $40,000 deal to take over the administrative and command duties of the Falcon Heights Fire Department.
Falcon Heights has been without a chief since firing Rich Hinrichs in March. The St. Paul firefighter had been working on a paid, on-call basis but had repeated clashes with city leaders.
Along with the agreement between Roseville, the Falcon Heights City Council also voted to let go of Assistant Fire Chief Anton Fairinbach and firefighter and training officer Brian Sullivan. Both firefighters had been supporters of Hinrichs, and Sullivan questioned why he was being let go in both capacities.
"For the betterment of the department we’ve eliminated these two positions and the personnel filling them," Mayor Randy Gustofson said, according to the Pioneer Press.
