Charlotte city officials meet with volunteer firefighters in effort to rebuild department

CHARLOTTE, Mich. (WILX) - City officials in Charlotte are continuing their efforts to find a solution to the mass resignation that happened Monday night.

All 23 volunteer firefighters quit at a Charlotte City Council meeting. The fire chief announced his resignation the next day.

• All active volunteer Charlotte firefighters resign ‘effective immediately’
• Charlotte fire chief resigns following mass resignation of volunteer firefighters

Charlotte mayor Michael Armitage said the city is in talks with some of the volunteers in an effort to bring them back. The city currently has six full-time firefighters, all of them are in administrative roles.

Residents are concerned the resignations could impact response times to emergencies.

Three volunteers who quit met with city manager Erin LaPere and councilman Christopher Lake to voice their concerns Wednesday. The volunteers had original stated one of their reasons for quitting was a lack of communication regarding funding for the department from the city.

Armitage said he wants nothing but for the volunteer fire crew to feel welcomed back.

“I mean the city’s been in a very bad financial situation. So there have been you know questions about City budgets and I think sometimes, especially for somebody that volunteers and for for those that have such a passion, which they all do for what they do, sometimes I think that can be taken personally,” Armitage said.

He said LaPere will be coming to the city council with recommendations to bring the volunteers back and that he expects a special council meeting held to help settle the dispute.

Update: Charlotte City Council to hold special meeting regarding mass firefighter resignations

As of Thursday night, surrounding fire departments are being used to help respond to emergencies in Charlotte.

News 10 reached out to a number of the volunteer firefighters, who had no comment.

Copyright 2022 WILX. All rights reserved.

Subscribe to our News 10 newsletter and receive the latest local news and weather straight to your email every morning.