SUNDRE — Members of the local fire department temporarily found themselves locked out of their hall late yesterday (Aug. 17) afternoon when a sizeable crew gathered to stand in solidarity with Marty Butts, who is no longer the town’s fire chief.
Butts, who has more than 30 years of service with the department, about 10 as chief, said he learned from his assistant that the department’s door combination locks were being changed on the morning of Monday, Aug. 17.
“I didn’t know what the heck was going on,” said Butts, adding he was, “blindsided.”
Firefighters who are still with the department were given updated door codes later in the day.
It is not clear whether Butts was fired, resigned, or was placed under some other job action. Town of Sundre CAO Linda Nelson said it’s a Human Resources issue “and we’re limited on what we can say.”
When asked if he was terminated, Nelson told The Albertan “And even that, we can’t say. What we can say is he is no longer the fire chief.”
An informal rally of about 100 people, including members of the volunteer fire department, gathered outside the hall at about 5 p.m. yesterday.
“Apparently, I’m done. The doors are changed, the cops came and took the town’s command truck, had me clean it out,” said Butts, who told the crowd previous pleas to meet with council and mayor to help resolve personnel issues fell on deaf ears.
“I’ve had to make some tough decisions in this hall, put some people on leave. I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost sleep,” he said, adding the job also involves a significant burden of stress.
After informing the crew about his situation, he said they did not hesitate to show their support and stand behind him.
“They wouldn’t be behind me, and you guys wouldn’t be in front of me, if I wasn’t doing a good job,” Butts told the crowd. “I’m not the best chief in this world, probably. But I got heart, and that’s what keeps me here. We don’t do it for the damn pay.”
“It’s like about that much,” he said, pinching his fingers, “for about this much stress we carry on our shoulders,” he said, motioning his arms wide, as a toner beeped for an emergency call.
Butts said in an effort to do his due diligence in light of the development, that he had coordinated with other chiefs in neighbouring departments to ensure mutual aid was ready if and when required.
“There’s an engine with a crew from Olds fire that chief Andrews has brought here to sit here (on standby). I’m hoping the town gets the message,” he said, reiterating his desire to meet with municipal officials.
“Just give me a meeting. Quit hiding behind all the political shit in this world, because you’re going to lose a good department. You don’t know what you got until it’s gone,” he said.
Nelson said as of yesterday morning, the town enacted “our mutual aid agreements, made sure the town is completely safe.”
“There’s not, legally, a whole lot I can tell you. We’re trying to protect Marty’s personal privacy here,” said Nelson. “Kinda hard to do right now, but we’re trying to follow the law.”
She said it’s not her story to tell, “but there’s another side to this, another person involved.”
Placing members on a leave of absence is a difficult decision, one that the chief told the crowd gathered at the fire hall that he’s reluctantly had to make before.
“And they take it to a political world that I’m a bully,” he said.
While acknowledging those kinds of complaints are serious, the chief said he’d sought to meet with municipal officials to find a resolution.
He praised his department’s volunteers for doing “an awesome job holding this town together. I don’t have to tell you guys. You see it, you read it. Our family members, half of you guys, we’ve probably been to your place or done something. From a small fire to heart attack, we take them all seriously. We’re not perfect, we’re volunteers doing the best job we can. All we want is a little support,” he said, eliciting applause.
When The Albertan asked what his next steps would be, Butts said, “I’m done with it, because I can’t go any further.”
In a follow up inquiry as to what the plans are for the rest of the department, and whether the volunteer members planned to stage a symbolic walk out or outright resign, firefighter Michael Fankhauser said to applause, “If he’s gone, we’re going to be gone as well. We’ll stand behind him and we will be handing in our radios and pagers — we won’t be part of the department anymore.”
Town of Sundre Mayor Terry Leslie said this morning (Aug. 18) an official statement would soon be issued.
People began gathering outside the Town of Sundre office again this morning, looking for more information.
More to come.
