You Won’t Believe What These Firefighters Do After Convicted Arsonist Named New Chief

Ten firefighters resigned from an Illinois fire department after a man who had once been convicted of arson was named the department’s acting chief.

Without any explanation Jerame Simmons, the fire department’s assistant chief replaced John Rosenkranz as chief on Monday. The department’s board of trustees said “a change in the Fire Department’s leadership is needed” in a statement after a meeting Monday.

Simmons pleaded guilty to arson in 1999 after setting fire to the ceiling tiles in his high school’s basement and starting a fire in an abandoned house. He was 18-years old at that time and was sentenced to four years of probation, though Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker later pardoned him.

Eight of the volunteers who quit sent a letter to the board of trustees stating they were leaving their positions “with regret and sorrow.” There were thirteen total firefighters at the department.

“The town remembers the school being set on fire, the town remembers the house set on fire [where] we had firefighters fall and be injured,” Laura Rosenkranz, the department’s captain, and the former chief’s wife, said. She submitted her resignation as well.

Simmons’s father was the mayor of the town at the time of his sentencing. The former mayor is now the director of the county emergency management agency.

“These people feel like they have absolutely no other option,” the former chief said. Adding that the board had held an “unusual” meeting in August where Simmons was named the department’s acting assistant chief.

“It’s not important that I’m the chief or not the chief,” he said. “It’s about … making sure everything’s taken care of.”