LAKE BUTLER, Fla. – After allegations of inappropriate conduct led to a shakeup in January, the Lake Butler Volunteer Fire Department has been closed until further notice, according to a report from WCJB.
Three volunteer firefighters, including the chief, left the department amid allegations of sexual harassment earlier this year.
Gainesville TV station WCJB reports that the interim chief, Laurie Ash, resigned this week as more allegations surfaced. The women who made the initial allegations said, Ash asked them to write a letter to Banks asking him to come back. "Say it's okay for him to come as a firefighter," one woman said. "If we didn't, we would get fired and then the station would be closed." The women asked not to be identified, for their safety.
Now, town officials said they are trying to recruit new personnel.
Three female firefighters complained last year that they were being sexually harassed. They told WCJB they're scared because they don't know what will happen next.
The women said three male firefighters, including the chief, made comments threatening to rip their clothes off, touched them inappropriately and tried to take pictures of them naked.
One of the accused firefighters and the interim chief claim the allegations are completely untrue.
The city investigated the claims and officials said they had no way of knowing what really happened. The city manager said one of the female accusers left the department, after getting caught stealing a laptop computer.