Company leaders say the suspended former ambulance captain had repeated performance issues; the captain says she learned of the suspension only after speaking publicly about station problems.
Chesterfield Fire Company leaders say Stephanie Kneier faces a disciplinary hearing and is suspended for failing to perform duties, including delayed patient care reports and not replacing expired supplies.
Kneier says she learned of the suspension by text the morning after she spoke publicly to a local paper about problems at the firehouse.
Company leadership told the town council the fire company is a private entity and asked the town not to intervene in this internal personnel matter.
# What happened
Company placed its former ambulance captain, Stephanie Kneier, on suspension and is moving toward a formal disciplinary hearing. Company leaders describe the action as a response to repeated performance issues. Kneier says she was unaware of any discipline until she received a text message the morning after she spoke with a local paper about problems at the station.
Steve Frischling, CEO of the Chesterfield Fire Company, and Chief David Nelson sent a joint letter to the town council saying Kneier repeatedly refused to perform duties or fell behind on them. They say the issues include failing to replace expired supplies and equipment and being weeks behind on patient care reports that must be filed with the state within days. The company characterizes the pending hearing as reserved for serious, repeated disciplinary matters.
Frischling and Nelson told the council they had tried to address Kneier's performance internally and that other local fire departments have documented similar concerns about her EMS work. Frischling declined to name those departments.
# Kneier's account
She also raised concerns about staffing practices, saying the station relies on volunteers who live farther away and that long drives contribute to staff shortages for the ambulance.
# Response on staffing and response times
Regarding response times, Frischling said Chesterfield is an all-volunteer service without paid, around-the-clock staff. He noted that departments with paid personnel sleeping at the station generally achieve faster response times. He also acknowledged that Chesterfield faces the wider problem of a shortage of emergency-service volunteers.
# Town involvement and next steps
The town council was presented with the company's letter but chose not to intervene, citing the fire company's private status. Frischling and Nelson asked that the town not be involved going forward, calling it an internal personnel matter.
Kneier is set to face a disciplinary hearing with station leaders. Frischling declined to provide further detail on the specific infraction that triggered the discipline beyond the general performance issues described in the letter.
# Why this matters
The dispute highlights tension that can arise in volunteer emergency services between individual members and leadership over duties, documentation, supply management, and staffing. It also shows how public statements by members can coincide with rapid internal disciplinary responses.
The immediate outcomes to watch are the results of the disciplinary hearing, whether other departments identified by company leaders are willing to confirm similar concerns, and whether the company's trainee program changes staffing dynamics over the coming months.
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