An Iowa community has suddenly found itself without a fire department.
Bouton's mayor fired the town's fire chief and volunteer firefighters. The mayor even had police change the locks on the firehouse door.
Many Bouton residents are not worried about having to rely on neighboring towns for fire and emergency protection.
Bouton is pretty quiet during the day. Most of the people who live in Bouton, including the town's volunteer firefighters, work in neighboring cities.
For that reason, Bouton's Fire Department is not always the first to respond when there is an emergency.
"Perry and Woodward have volunteer fire departments, and they, actually during the day, get here sooner than the volunteer fire department from Bouton," said Lisa Gukeisen-Thielen, a Bouton business owner.
Gukeisen-Thielen and her husband live just outside the city limits, and they own a flooring store in Bouton.
Even with the fire department temporarily shut down, Gukeisen-Thielen said she still feels safe.
"I'm not concerned at all about our business as far as if we had a fire or if somebody had a heart attack or anything like that," Gukeisen-Thielen said.
Some people in the town said the mayor and fire chief need to put their personal differences aside and think about what's best for the city.
Bob Barrow, Bouton's mayor said the problem is the fire chief never stays within budget.
The locks were changed on the fire department's building, and Karl Harris, the former fire chief, was not allowed on the station property, NewsChannel 8 reported.
"The fire department is over budget by $500 and we have five months left to go in the fiscal year," Barrow said.
Harris said the department sold two its old trucks and got $3,200 for that.
"So you do the math -- $500 off $3,200 plus whatever heat and gas we use ... there's no problem with keeping in the budget," Harris said.
"You never know when you (will) have a fire, you never know when we (will) need an ambulance, and I'm a good candidate for that. Even so, I would sure like to have a few responders around if I needed them," Lucille Paschell, a Bouton resident.
The mayor said he wants to hire a new fire chief as soon as possible so they can reopen the fire department.
City leaders said the department currently has six fire trucks and a budget larger than any other community its size, and that something needs to be done so that the department is more in line with the needs of the town.
Bouton's mayor said the city's insurance company is OK with the arrangement and it won't affect coverage for the town.
An insurance agent said it shouldn't affect homeowners' coverage if there's a fire.
However, if this becomes a long-term issue, it could potentially affect insurance rates.
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