SAINT JAMES CITY, Fla. — It didn’t take long for people living in Saint James City to learn about the resignations from the Upper Captiva Fire Department.
Over the weekend, Chief Jason M. Martin of the Upper Captiva Fire Department and 40 out of the 46 firefighters resigned following his decision.
Matt Wykes, owner of The Island Club in North Captiva said he was shocked when he first heard the news.
“I just, I looked at my phone and looked at my wife and said do you think this is fake,” said Wykes.
It’s the reality for Wykes whose still repairing the damages to his business from Hurricane Ian.
“It’s pretty crazy this building is still under a lot of repairs,” said Wykes.
After January 1, if an emergency were to happen or a fire was to spark on Wykes property, he is worried about the future response.
“This is a lot of people all at once coming in and saying they are resigning,” said Wykes.
During a meeting, Chief Martin said the community was unhappy with the department’s Hurricane Ian response and said he would like to see someone who is wanted by the community to protect them moving forward.
Though the Chief stepped down he and all the other responders who resigned will still honor the schedules until January 1st.
On Sunday, North Captiva Fire Commissioner Duncan Rosen said leaders have a stable plan in place and will be releasing more details in the coming days.
A plan Matt Wykes was hopeful they will have
“This is just one more layer added on top of that I mean it’s like those piles of debris you see going down the street they are everywhere and you don’t know how it’s going to get cleaned up but just one bite at a time one chunk at a time,” said Wykes.
