It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for the North Callaway Fire Protection District. Less than two weeks ago, the district fired former chief, Lana Karhoff and a volunteer, due to “several months of attempts to address unacceptable behavior.” The board did not elaborate further on the nature of those issues.

In response, 13 members of the volunteer department tendered their resignations, due to the internal changes.

Friday, the district announced that Matthew Walton has taken over the position as Chief as of last Tuesday. Walton is no stranger to the department. He previously served for more than 20 years before retiring.

After the departures, the department still has 10-12 active personnel to respond to emergencies, according to Walton, but he but would like to have at least 20-30 people on staff. Boosting recruitment and improving retention will be is top priorities.

The department responds to roughly 900 emergency calls per year.