Three firefighters including Chief and Assistant Chief fired from local township’s fire department

Gasper Township — The Gasper Twp. Fire chief, assistant chief, and a third fire employee were terminated from their positions Monday following claims of timecard fraud, according to a township trustee.

Trustees voted to remove Fire Chief Tyler Claybaker, Assistant Chief Andrew Bekemeier, and a third employee Justin Wright after receiving claims they were submitting and approving hours they didn’t work, Gasper Twp. trustee Eric White said.

A current captain with the department, who White did not identify, was promoted to interim chief.

Multiple members of the volunteer staff stormed out of the meeting following the announcement yesterday, White said.

“We’re actually not out of service. Hopefully we’ll be able to fill all our shifts, (but) I don’t think that’ll be a big problem,” White said.