Citing ongoing unrest at city hall, Sulphur Fire Chief John Naquin has retired.

“I don’t have to sit there and take it anymore and I’ll say whatever I need to say. Because I don’t lie and he don’t like that. The mayor doesn’t like that at all,” he told KPLC.

Naquin, who's been with the fire department for 29 years, has been chief since 2023.

“The ones I cared about were my guys, and I took care of them and our department’s doing great. But, you know, I’m going have a better voice now that I’m out of there.”

Things went south when he spoke out about how city staffers were being treated.

“I was safe until I went in there and took up for the people at city hall whenever he treated them terrible. And I said something about it. Then I got put on his little naughty list."

Without the restraints of his position, he believes he can have a louder voice for the community.

Naquin isn't the only one leaving.

Chief of Staff Alexis Nabours resigned as well.

"My resignation as Chief of Staff was the direct result of a documented, hostile work environment involving cyberstalking, sexual defamation, and severe personal attacks that targeted my family and me,” according to a statement posted on social media.