GRANBY — Fire Chief Michael O’Neill resigned suddenly on Dec. 2, leaving the deputy fire chief and assistant chief to run the department until the Select Board finds an interim.

The board approved O’Neill’s resignation letter during its Dec. 5 meeting. Assistant Chief Joe Fernandes said he and Deputy Chief Tyler Yvon can take care of internal issues with personnel and equipment, but there won’t be anyone on call 24/7 until an interim chief is selected.

“Me and the deputy chief met with a huge part of the body,” Fernandes told the Select Board. “We went over the situation and left us as their contacts so if there’s any issues, something breaks, if they need something, we can help out and get that moving. At least, nothing will fall through the cracks that way.”

O’Neill’s resignation letter did not say why he quit, and the Gazette could not reach him for comment.

Until a new chief is found, Fernandes said he and Yvon will take over staff schedules and preliminary budgeting. The department has three people available for equipment inspections, but the six full-time firefighters cannot handle all the administrative work for long, Fernandes said.

“I’m not worried about the department falling apart. I think they’re a good group, they’re very strong,” he continues. “I just think we need to move this as fast as possible to fill that (position), because you can’t put all the burden on the six full-timers because they have to make calls.”

Granby Fire Department leadership is in contact with O’Neill. Fernandes said while the former chief is not present at the station, “he’s not been hard for us to get a hold of.”

Fernandes has reached out to retired Easthampton Fire Chief Dave Mottor and Hadley Fire Chief Michael Spanknebel to help with the search for an interim chief. The Select Board plans to send Fernandes a job posting and continue to discuss the search for a new chief during its Dec. 16 meeting.

“I think the Fire Department over the past couple years has been moving forward ... we’re just at a bump in the road,” Select Board member Glenn Sexton said. “I just want to make sure the firefighters, and the deputy and yourself feel supported by this board.”

O’Neill is Granby’s eighth fire chief in the past 12 years, leaving the department after two and half years. He previously worked at the Holyoke Fire Department and South Hadley Fire District #2.

In his short term, O’Neill was the center of controversies around fire department budget overages, receiving rebuke from the Finance Committee at the June 10 Town Meeting. Finance Committee Chair John Liberia Jr. read a statement to residents at the Town Meeting, questioning the credibility of a fire department budget with a marginal increase despite rising overages. The overages doubled during O’Neill’s time as chief, rising from $58,000 in fiscal 2022 to $196,000 in fiscal 2024. Most of the overages, O’Neill said on June 10, were related to overtime shifts to fill in for firefighters on medical leave.

Residents questioned the statement’s credibility, citing Finance Committee’s May 23 meeting where members expressed frustration over O’Neill hiring and training firefighters and EMTs without constraints from the Select Board or limited budget. Members also discussed the possibility of removing O’Neill from his position.

In another development, the May 23 Finance Committee meeting is under pending investigation from the Massachusetts’s Attorney General’s Office for violating Open Meeting Law. The complaint, filed by Granby firefighter Josh Powers, said the meeting’s agenda was to “discuss the FY25 budget,” but only discussed the Fire Department and O’Neill’s fiscal decisions over the past year.

“The entire meeting is a slanderous discussion of the fire chief, his department and his members,” Powers wrote in the complaint. “It is a perfect example of operating in a dangerous and egregious way that is going to end in litigation against the town.”

The Select Board did not accept public comment on O’Neill’s resignation during last week’s meeting, though a small number of residents wanted to discuss the issue. Board members are expected to revisit the issue during their next meeting.

Emilee Klein can be reached a eklein@gazettenet.com.