The mayor of Mills threatened to shut down the fire department this morning after the interim fire chief resigned and stomped out of a town council meeting.

Town Council Member Elsie Herbort and former interim Fire Chief Keith Jones yelled at each other before Jones laid his keys and radio on the table in front of Town Clerk Raeann Weber and stormed out.

"You run it," Jones said to Herbort. "I'm done."

Jones succeeded former Chief Ron Schindler as interim chief last month after Schindler resigned under pressure from the town council.

Schindler resigned after firefighters within his department aired the department's dirty laundry at a town council meeting earlier this year. They accused Schindler of playing computer games at work, not stocking a key medicine on the town ambulance, and being a poor leader.

Schindler later tried to fire one of his detractors, partly for speaking out against him at a town council meeting. The termination was later reversed by the town council, which asked for Schindler's resignation. He resigned about a week later.

Jones said earlier in the meeting that he thought the department was "moving forward" after a tumultuous few months. He outlined the department's efforts in seeking a new chief, which Jones applied for, as well as another captain.

It wasn't until Andy Hentzen, a firefighter in the department, told council he didn't think the appointment of Jones to the interim post was legal that the meeting devolved into an argument.

Hentzen argued that department rules require firefighters to vote on an interim chief in the absence of an actual chief. Dill said the firefighters wanted Hentzen as their chief but argued that the "natural progression" calls for the assistant chief to step in if the chief can't perform the duties.

Herbort had also accused Jones of appointing an ineligible firefighter to serve as captain within the department, a move she said was motivated by Jones' physical inability to perform the duties of his job. She's previously questioned his ability to function as a firefighter.

Dill argued that the department's by-laws were drafted when Mills was a volunteer-only department and since the department now has paid members, the rules don't apply. New rules are being written by the town's attorney, Dill said, but they haven't been approved yet.

It's not clear who is in charge. Dill said the council hasn't accepted Jones' resignation but Jones said after the meeting he was through with the department. Dill said that the department doesn't have other qualified candidates and that he would shut down the department in absence of leadership.

Herbort was visibly shaken after the meeting.

"It's such a mess now," she said. "Who's going to want to come in and get it straightened out?"

You can reach city reporter Pete Nickeas at pete.nickeas@trib.com or (307) 266-0639. You can read more about Casper politics and government at http://tribtown.trib.com/redtape.

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