The City of Sparks has lost its newly appointed fire chief.
After a somewhat tumultuous period during which firefighters voted no confidence in the former chief, the city hired Chief Mark Lawson recently, finalizing his appointment at the end of November.
He was hired following a career as a former assistant chief/division chief of operations for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.
But Monday, City Manager Neil Krutz distributed a video to fire department employees explaining that he had recently been informed of serious criminal charges about to be filed against Lawson.
He met with Lawson and the chief agreed he would resign. Ironically, Krutz said, he was looking forward to working with Lawson as he worked to improve the department.
“Unfortunately, given the severity of the of the charges that are coming down, I felt it was appropriate to part ways,” Krutz said in the video.
The news puts Sparks to square one in its search for a new chief.
