Because of mutual aid agreements, Sansom Park still has fire protection and emergency medical service despite a walkout by some volunteer firefighters, city officials said Friday.
After the City Council voted 3-0 to fire Fire Chief Russell Shelley on Thursday night, about 15 volunteers said they were quitting in protest.
Police Chief Tony White said Sansom Park has agreements with River Oaks, Lake Worth and Westworth Village and that police can handle some of the first-response calls that firefighters usually make.
White, who also is interim city administrator, said he is still trying to figure out how many volunteer firefighters are on call.
"We don't know who's leaving or who's staying. We don't know who owns what," White said. "We have to be careful that the city equipment isn't being carried out."
Council members Jim Barnett Sr., Jim Barnett Jr. and Tanya Easterling voted to fire Shelley. Council members Al Eagle and Amy Shelley, the fire chief's wife, abstained.
Shelley, 32, was the paid chief of the volunteer force for more than four years. Armed police officers stood by as he removed his belongings from the fire station Thursday night, he said.
He said he believed the Fire Department was closed.
"I wonder if there will be a Sansom Park Fire Department next week," he said.
Friday evening, the fire station doors were locked, and no one responded to knocks. A fire engine sat unattended outside.
Jim Barnett Sr. said the vote to fire Shelley was the result of a monthlong investigation by Sansom Park police of a possible conflict of interest between Shelley's part-time work as a representative for ACN Energy, an electricity provider, and his part-time position as fire chief.
In the spring, Mayor Mike Wasser switched the city's electrical service from TXU to ACN without council approval, Barnett Sr. said.
Investigators found that some of the forms involved in the service switch had Shelley's signature, but others were signed by Randy Franks, an ACN representative who is an Azle firefighter.
"It bothers me that Shelley was taking money" from ACN, Barnett said. "We pay him as the fire chief."
Shelley acknowledged talking to Wasser about the city's electricity contract.
Shelley said investigators saw his signature on practice forms that he accidentally submitted while he was in training as an ACN representative.
The official forms for Sansom Park's electric service were signed by Franks, Shelley said. Shelley also is a full-time Colleyville firefighter.
Colleyville Fire Chief Mike Johnston said Shelley has worked for the city since January 1996.
"He's one of my wonderful, stellar employees," Johnston said.
Staff Writer Ellen Schroeder contributed to this report.
