WOOD HEIGHTS – After firing Fire Chief Lee O’Dell, the Fire District Board is not saying why.

Board member Trent Krier declined comment, except to say Dan Collins would handle questions.

“I’ve got no comment,” Collins, a board member said, but added the city remains protected.

“I was released a couple weeks ago for ‘failure to cooperate with the board,’” O’Dell said Monday.

O’Dell said he wondered whether a board member heard inaccurate information that the towing service O'Dell worked for got preferred treatment to remove wrecks. He said law enforcers at a wreck scene do not give him exclusivity, but a board member whose friend has a competing tow service might think so.

“Their buddies were mad at me,” O’Dell said. “That’s the real reason it was done.”

He said he requested records of the board’s meeting conversations and decisions, called “minutes.” Everyone has a right to view and copy any government’s meeting minutes, though some portions may be closed for legal reasons.

“They still haven’t provided me a copy of the board minutes,” O’Dell said.

With a falling population of 696, Wood Heights lacks well-trained, in-town firefighters, he said.

“There’s nobody qualified, certified or anything within the department,” O’Dell said. “Everybody quit, except two guys, and my understanding is, (the board) brought some people in, threw them on the roster and they don’t even live around the area.”

Firefighters driving from as far away as Higginsville and Norborne cannot arrive in time to fight a Wood Heights house or business fire, he said. Overall, the Wood Heights Fire Protection District serves 5,500 residents.

Collins declined to say whether the board added a firefighter from Higginsville, which is 34 miles away.

“I’ve got no comment right at the moment,” he said.

O’Dell said he planned to hire a lawyer.

“That will be happening. It’s just getting everything in a row,” he said.