MONROE — Monroe Fire Department Captain Nick Bartels and Lieutenant Chad Pfund resigned their positions at the Monroe Common Council meeting Dec. 16 during public comment. 

Bartels, a 15-year member of the force, spoke for several minutes, sharing how he grew up in the fire department and said that members were sick of “pride and ownership” being stripped away from them. 

“I do not support the decisions that have been made by our fire chief and our deputy chief,” he said. 

Pfund, who had been with the department for 19 years, made a shorter statement, but also resigned as lieutenant. 

The resignations came less than two weeks after the council’s ad hoc committee investigating conflict within the department held its final meeting. Committee chair Kelly Hermanson said she was “surprised (and) saddened” by them. 

Fire Chief Dan Smits said he was alerted to the resignations after the meeting that night and felt that Bartels and Pfund did not go about them in the right way.

“The council is not their place to create a scene and make additional allegations that were found to not be true,” said Smits. 

One of the allegations made by Bartels was that there were more seats and radios in the trucks than there were people, and that they were “lucky to get the first truck out the door with a full crew.”

Smits said his current staff of officers was about six or seven people, with more than 40 firefighters total. He said that “there is no answer” to what a full staff should be, saying some cities larger than Monroe operate with fewer firefighters. However, he said that the staff is the largest than at any point since he started with the department in 2017.

Eight firefighters were hired this year, and Smits said they may possibly hire more in the spring. 

Smits also said that “we were very happy with the (eight firefighters) we hired this year” and that the department would hopefully gain more in the spring. 

At a meeting Dec. 5, Hermanson, ad hoc committee members Brooke Bauman and Josh Binger and city attorney Dan Bartholf outlined about 10 recommendations addressing firefighter concerns, and which city personnel or committees could best address them. This included establishing citywide policies on donations and facility access, as well as a major focus on improving communication within the fire department. 

Following the resignations, Hermanson still felt the plan set by the ad hoc committee was the right one, saying that it ensured the concerns were addressed “where and how they should be within the city.” 

“(I) really wish that it could come together in a way to start moving forward and that they had faith in the process,” she said. 

“I am still hopeful,” Hermanson continued, adding that some of the committees involved with the recommendations were just starting to meet and are just beginning to look at the recommendations. 

The ad hoc committee concluded that Smits was qualified to serve as chief and that the MERIT Center — now the David A. Rufer Regional Training Center — was owned by the City of Monroe, and its recommendations focused on finding ways to move the department forward through clarified policies and improved communication. 

City Attorney Dan Bartholf and former city administrator Phil Rath conducted an initial investigation into firefighter complaints, completing 50 hours of interviews and “fact gathering” and compiled a report that was delivered to the Salary and Personnel Committee in late September. 

That report contained many recommendations for improvement for both chiefs and firefighters, but also concluded that “a majority of ‘claims’ regarding the chief were embellished and overly sensationalized.”