GRANITE FALLS, Wash. - If anyone needs their help, Granite Falls firefighters are ready to roll.
The fire departmart serves some 8,000 residents in and around town.
For the last 20 years, Rick Hjelle has been their fire chief. But after what happened last week, Chief Hjelle is on paid leave.
There had long been rumblings the chief had a problem. That all came to a head Friday when he showed up to the scene of a pretty serious crash near his house. Firefighters who answered the call say the chief smelled like alcohol.
Friday evening, the department's board of commissioners put the chief on leave, pending an investigation into what it calls "serious allegations".
Sources familiar with the investigation say the allegations include abuse of prescription painkillers and alcohol.
"They're, ya know, supposed to protect and serve," said parent Alice Spurling, "and they should be held to a little bit higher standard."
Spurling's daughter Jada suffers from seizures and frequently her family has to call for help.
"He's not only putting our lives at risk, ya know, anybody elses [too]," said Spurling.
If the allegations are true, Spurling says the chief should lose his job. But others aren't so sure.
"There's a lot of things that can bring a person down over their life... a lot of influences, and to be able to fight through that and recover from that and come back would be a good thing," said Mike Foss.
Chief Rick Hjelle did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.
We're told the investigation is being conducted by the fire department's insurance company.
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