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“This is just mind blowing. It has to be exposed and bled out, and it has to be stopped,” Seymour told CBC earlier this week.

But the 20 firefighters who tendered their surprise resignations this week have countered that Seymour is an upstart troublemaker out for the fire chief’s job.

“It’s a personal issue between Victor (the chief) and her, and she’s using her council powers against the department,” said Cory Mahaney, one of the resigned firefighters, who added that Seymour is trying to spin the whole conflict into a “gender issue.”

“She thinks it’s because she’s a female that she’s not being put in the position of assistant chief or captain or lieutenant, but the reason being is that the boys know she hasn’t got the confidence,” he said.

Seymour is one of the highest trained firefighters in the department, having obtained Level II certification, the amount needed to become a professional firefighter.

But Mahaney says the skills are just “on paper.”

A letter circulated around Spaniard’s Bay by Mahaney says that twice, Seymour reported being unable to attend to an emergency because of a faulty breathing mask. The mask, he says, was later found to be fully functional.

“I haven’t got any faith in that girl whatsoever,” he said.

Chief Victor Hiscock has made no public comments since his departure.

A skeleton crew of eight firefighters, including Seymour, remain on staff in Spaniard’s Bay while neighbouring communities have been scrambled to beef up the town’s fire coverage.