BETHEL — Interim Fire Chief Geary Coogler, who “managed to pull off the miracle” of leading the department during a tumultuous period has resigned, along with Assistant Fire Chief Greg Timmins.

The resignations went into effect Sunday. The Selectboard voted unanimously at its Nov. 25 meeting to accept the letters of resignation.

Board member Denise Guilmette made a motion to accept the resignations “with appreciation and a ton of gratitude especially for Geary that he’s managed to pull off this miracle in the last eight months.”

Timmins wrote in his resignation letter that he is stepping down and taking a leave of absence from the department.

“I have spent many years in the Department and enjoyed them greatly, with my new role at work, I’m finding that I don’t have the time to commit to the department,” wrote Timmins, who became assistant chief in January 2023 when Coogler retired from the position.

Coogler served as assistant fire chief for seven years. He came out of retirement to serve as interim chief last spring after Dave Aldrighetti stepped down following a dispute with the Selectboard. Aldrighetti wanted to remove a volunteer firefighter who made a controversial social media post, but the board didn’t support his decision.

In March, the Valley News reported that a Vermont State Police trooper suffered serious injuries when he crashed his SUV cruiser into the back of a Bethel fire truck on Interstate 89 near Exit 3 in Royalton.

Firefighter Thomas Gauthier took to Facebook to post “Karma is a meal best served cold.” The post appeared to be in reference to the crash. Gauthier went on to describe how he was mistreated by an unnamed Vermont state trooper, who allegedly “punched” him in the face, zapped him with a stun gun and beat him to the point that he fell out of his truck and “pulled on my arms so hard that the long head of my bicep was severed from the shoulder of my right arm.”

Gauthier is no longer in the fire department, Town Manager Therese Kirby told the Valley News on Wednesday.

When reached by phone last week, Gauthier declined to comment.

The department suffered a “loss of major equipment” from the accident, Coogler said in a phone interview.

“I feel that I have accomplished everything that I set out to do, including putting in place effective and realistic policies and expectations for the department, increasing actual training to levels never seen in the department, and handling some personnel issues along the way,” Coogler wrote in his resignation letter.

The interim chief position was only supposed to be six months, but when the six-month mark came, “it just wasn’t the right time to step away at that point,” he said. Now, Coogler, who is in 60s, said he is facing health issues and is ready to leave.

“It’s a sad moment, especially when you enjoy it so much, being able to help other folks, being able to protect the community any way that you can,” he said. “But at some point you need to pass it on to the next generation.”

Kirby appointed current Capt. Paul Feeney as interim chief and current Lt. Kory Richards as interim assistant chief per Coogler’s recommendation.

“It’s always hard to lose your leadership,” Richards said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “We’ll try to continue what Geary put forward. Nothing new, just catching up with the times.”

Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.