The ax got brought down Monday in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, on some of the local fire department’s top brass — who reportedly “lacked the proper certifications for incident command” and were too unqualified to keep their positions.

Three officials — a fire chief and two assistant chiefs — wound up being replaced after an investigation found that “a number of large fires” had caused notable destruction and even death in recent months, according to NJ.com.

The state Department of Community Affairs received an anonymous complaint about the inexperienced smoke-eaters and reportedly launched an internal probe. Its Fire Safety Division looked at four separate blazes that ripped through local homes and structures over the past several months, including ones on Easter Sunday and Memorial Day weekend.

The fires have been blamed on a lack of volunteers and slow response times.

Sea Isle currently receives assistance from departments in Ocean City, Avalon and Strathmere, among a few other places, NJ.com reports.

It took firefighters three to five minutes to respond to a June 16 fire that left two people injured, according to officials. But they’ve admitted that it’s taken longer.