Tyler Mountain VFD Chief, board members resign

UPDATE: (9:34 p.m. Thursday, July 25) — Board member Barry Holstein confirmed with 13 News that West Virginia State Fire Commission bylaws indicate that Assistant Chief Thomas Robinson with Tyler Mountain Volunteer Fire Department will now act as fire chief.

Holstein said Thomas Robinson is aware of this taking effect. This follows Louie Robinson stepping down from his position as chief and a board member.

Thomas Robinson will be acting chief until the September annual meeting, where new board members will be appointed and a new chief and assistant chief will be assigned.

UPDATE: (7:20 p.m. Thursday, July 25 ) — A community still came together Thursday night to figure out how to keep its members, after a mass resignation of its board of directors and fire chief.

The sole board member, Barry Holstein, says that he is committed to making sure the Cross Lanes area has coverage from the Tyler Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

He and representatives from Kanawha County said that they will work with the the State Fire Marshall’s office and the West Virginia State Auditor’s office Friday to further discuss how to move forward.

Holstein says bylaws on Tyler Mountain VFD’s website dictate how to appoint new board members. That is now expected to be done at the group’s September meeting.

Thursday night five board members, one of whom was the department’s chief, resigned. The resignation came with an 89 page document citing issues and alleged wrongdoings within the department.

The department has been plagued by issues an infighting for dating back to may, according to the document.

Back in June several firefighters resigned with the hopes of changing the culture within the department.

CROSS LANES, WV (WOWK) — Tyler Mountain Volunteer Fire Department’s Chief and the entire board, minus one person, resigned, and no meeting will be held.

This comes after several firefighters resigned from the volunteer fire department back in June. The Tyler Mountain VFD has been aiming to “change the culture” of their work environment ever since.

One month later, the department received several applications and two of the people who resigned are back on staff.

With the help of already existing mutual aid programs, Tyler Mountain’s response to emergencies continued without distributions, according to the department.

The Kanawha County Commission released the following statement on the resignations:

“We are aware of the resignation of the Tyler Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Chief and Board of Directors. We are offering our assistance to the fire department through our Director of Emergency Management and our Department of Emergency Management. Emergency Management has spoken with mutual aid partners to ensure there is continued coverage in the area. Additionally, the State Fire Marshal’s Office has been contacted for guidance. We are committed to doing everything we can to support the citizens of the community during this time.”

Kanawha County Commission

13 News Reporter Jordan Mead will have more on this story Thursday on WOWK-TV.

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