CLINTON - When a fire broke out at Dan Ballenger's Illinois Oil Marketing Equipment Inc. shop in Clinton Monday morning, he didn't panic.

He called 911 and began fighting the fire on his own. Ballenger, a former assistant fire chief and former public health and safety commissioner, is well-versed in how to extinguish fires.

The fire was controlled before it spread to neighboring businesses, but Ballenger was shocked that only a handful of firefighters were available for the call.

And it appears the manpower may be dwindling after two firefighters quit following a City Council vote to hire a commissioner's son as interim fire chief.

Ballenger says he has been told that more may follow, but Mayor Ed Wollet says rumors of a mass exodus from the fire department are unfounded.

"Our first priority is the safety of our citizens and their property," Wollet said. "We haven't been made aware of any mass departures from the department. Yes, we are aware there are some conflicts and we are aware of the two firefighters who resigned after the meeting. But I am confident that the department will work through these problems and get stronger as a result."

Randy Swoverland and Assistant Chief Brian Armstrong brought their firefighting gear into the council chambers and dropped it in front of Commissioner Jerry Milton's chair. Then, both resigned their positions as members of the department.

Council vote

On Monday night, Wollet cast the deciding vote to approve the nomination of Shawn Milton as fire chief.

Bryan Hickman and John Wise voted against the nomination. Jerry Milton, Tom Edmunds and Wollet voted to approve Milton's son.

Milton, who ran against Ballenger in 2006, had forwarded his son's nomination to the council.

"This isn't about past issues," Ballenger said Tuesday. "This is about the safety of the City of Clinton. We were fortunate that with this fire; it didn't spread. But I'm concerned about the department having enough manpower in an emergency."

Commissioner Milton said a top priority for any new chief is to recruit members. The city has 25 members available for service, but not all are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. City officials would like to get back to full staff, which is 42 members.

"We have about eight to 10 applications we have been holding until we solidified the new chief," Commissioner Milton said. "We have radios and gear available and so now it is just a process of reviewing those applications and getting the training started."

The younger Milton will have to deal with unrest in the department, described by Wise as similar to the Hatfields and McCoys.

"There has been a split in the department for years," Commissioner Milton said. "But I can tell you this. If you have a working fire, you couldn't ask for a better bunch."

Ballenger plans to ask the state attorney general's office about whether the nomination and vote were a conflict of interest for Milton, but city attorney Steve Myers said he was within his rights.

"Since Shawn isn't his dependant or a minor, he has the right to do that," Myers said. "If he was living in the same household or something like that, we have a different story."

The council is expected to consider keeping the chief's position as part-time, but also could make it a full-time job with other city-related duties.

"We're going to address that at some point in the future, but right now, the goal is to concentrate our efforts on building our manpower and making this a smooth transition," Wollet said.