(WHAS11) - WHAS11 News has learned more about Worthington Fire Chief Gary Yurt being removed as chief by the district’s board of trustees.
It was a unanimous vote, but they are telling WHAS11, it came down to a personality conflict, not any wrongdoing.
WHAS11’s Investigative Reporter Adam Walser has been talking to former firefighters and others in that community about what led to the sudden move.
Some community members say Worthington fire station number 2, which is located on Brownsboro Road, has been virtually abandoned for months after a new state of the art facility opened. They say Chief Yurt was behind that decision and other decisions, which apparently rubbed firefighters and community members the wrong way.
When Gary Yurt was hired as chief of the Worthington Fire District eight years ago, he was expected to shake things up. Something his fans and opponents said happened.
“At the time, we needed more autocratic style leadership to get things done because he had to make a lot of changes to bring us up to the modern time, the modern department. That he accomplished and did a great job accomplishing that. However, our direction now, we want to be more people-focused,” said Kevin Tyler, Worthington Fire District Board Member.
WHAS11 spoke to three former Worthington firefighters, none of whom agreed to talk on camera. But all described Yurt's leadership style as "my way or the highway".
They say dozens of volunteers and paid firefighters quit under his command after Yurt created what they described as an adversarial environment at the department.
Among the negative changes they discussed was an attempt to enact new fitness requirements exceeding state standards at the department that some firefighters believed targeted them personally.
Community resident Amy Kessler says she was concerned about what some firefighters have described as the Worthington Taj Mahal.
“That $4 million fire house was built for the same cost that that city built two fire houses,” said Kessler.
Kessler says that chief yurt dedicated all resources to staffing the new facility at Norton Commons, while leaving the other two stations largely unstaffed.
We discovered that was the case at station number two on Friday. Kessler lives just around the corner from that station.
Increasing staffing at the other two stations is something the board of trustees believes a new chief will do.
For the time being, Yurt will stay on at the department under the rank of major, while the board begins to prepare for the future with a new focus.
