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I’m tired of the struggle

Benson said the problems stem from a personal dispute members of the local services board have with him.

“For personal reasons they decided they want to get rid of me. First they tried to fire me, but I don’t work for them. I’m an employee of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office,” Benson said.

An agreement between the local board and the provincial Fire Marshal’s Office sees the province pay for most of the costs of the service with the local board agreeing to provide a building for fire trucks and a heated training room.

In other words, the board owns the fire station but not the fire service.

The services board issued a list of complaints in July and there was a public meeting to discuss them. The board characterized them as “serious concerns” with Benson’s “actions and lack of accountability.”

Board minutes show the board, among other things, was concerned with not having access to the fire department’s financial records, with Benson responding to the board that the department’s finances were not in the board’s purview.

Photo by Timmins Times/File

Benson characterized the complaints differently: “They range from absolute lies to utterly ridiculous,” he said.

“They decided to have a public kangaroo court sort of a deal thinking they had the citizens behind them,” he said. “And the town was 100 per cent behind me. It was amazing, even I was astounded.”

That didn’t end the dispute, however.

In October, fire destroyed the home of a board member, Benson said. Afterwards, he said, there was a stream of demands from the board for fire training records on all personnel dating back five years, for reports on the house fire and answers on why the house could not be saved.