Dalzell fire chief, district at odds over whether he resigned

Dalzell’s fire chief walked out the door Thursday during a meeting of the Dalzell Fire Protection District, and trustees took that as a resignation and accepted it.

Fire Chief Tom Riordan said Friday that he did not resign and said he still is the chief.

Before departing the meeting, Riordan challenged the trustees to resign over what he said was poor staffing and funding of the fire district.

In response, the three-member board said there had been no misappropriation of funds by the district, which is a distinct entity from the Dalzell Fire Association.

“They have no knowledge how to run a fire district legally and properly,” Riordan said later, disputing the characterization that he resigned. “And they don’t care that they got called out on all these accusations because they’re just going to sweep it under the rug and move on.”