BOUTON - There's a lot of history in this town between the mayor, city council and the fire department. As of now the fire department, which serves Bouton, Gardner and areas of rural Beaver Township is closed. In fact, the mayor sent someone over to the fire building to change the locks so that no one on the tewenty member volunteer staff could get into the building.
It was 2 o'clock Tuesday afternoon when fire chief Karl Harris got the call from the mayor. Harris said, "I couldn't believe it. We were in shock. I called the assistant chief and he couldn't believe it. This is unreal he closed us down."
While there is a lot of history between the two men, the mayor says closing the department has nothing to do with that. Bob Barrows, Mayor of Bouton, said, "If it was personal, myself I've always said Karl was a good fireman. I've never said that he was not, and, yeah, there are personal feelings with me and karl, but it wasn't a personal issue because I let the city council decide."
The mayor says the reason he shut it down is because Harris wouldn't sign a list of stipulations for the fire chief to follow. A list that incldudes cutting the staff in half, and keeping the department within budget, something Harris disagrees with. Harris said, "I couldn't sign off on that, and getting there as a fire chief, and to be legally responsible for the decline in fire and EMS protection, and I didn't want to sign off on them anyway."
The mayor says that the fire department is much too big for the needs of a small town like Bouton and that money could be better used elsewhere. Barrows said, "We need to downsize to be where Bouton belongs."
Right now, the Perry and Woodward fire departments will be handling the area that the Bouton department would normally cover. The mayor is not giving a time table as to when, if ever the Bouton Fire Department will re-open.
