ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. — Ten of the Prairie Du Pont Volunteer Fire Department’s 13 firefighters resigned in protest Monday after their chief was removed and a convicted arsonist was named acting chief.
Fire district board members told KTVI that they have “good reasons” for dismissing Chief John Rosencranz and replacing him with Assistant Chief Jerame Simmons, but emotions ran high within the close-knit community that remembers all too well the acting chief’s troubled past.
Jerame Simmons is the son of Herb Simmons, the longtime director of the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, KTVI reported.
According to Firehouse.com, Simmons was accused more than 20 years ago of setting fires at both a vacant home and at a local high school when he was 18. He pleaded guilty, served probation and was later pardoned by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
During Monday’s board meeting, current and former fire department members expressed their concerns about the optics of the personnel change and the impact it may have on the ability to provide adequate fire protection, Firehouse.com reported.
“It’s a pardon. Still, the town remembers the school being set on fire. The town remembers the house set on fire where we had firefighters fall and be injured,” former Du Pont Fire Captain Laura Rosencranz, wife of the former chief, told KTVI.
Meanwhile, John Rosencranz called the board’s actions “appalling and disgusting.”
“I knew it was coming, but I didn’t expect it to be a couple of days before Christmas,” he told the TV station, noting he was not given a reason for his firing.