The firings come on the heels of an intensive internal investigation conducted by the board following the mid-January strike. The strike was staged in protest to the fact that a firehouse co-worker, Alexas Jones, was moonlighting as porn star Chantel Lace.
Alexas, who is married to the Keyes assistant fire chief and is the daughter-in-law of the firehouse chief, has appeared in 15 porn videos and runs her own paysite.
Knowledge of her porn career was widely known among co-workers, but when a station worker visited her website on the firehouse premises, paid the subscription fee, and then later cancelled the check, he was promptly fired, and a walkout of 17 fellow firemen ensued as an act of protest against the "improper conduct" on behalf of the station's administration for co-housing porn and civic duty under the same roof.
But the decision handed down on Friday nipped the ongoing squabble in the bud by permanently firing 24 firefighters from the Keyes Fire Department, leaving only one fireman to man the station until replacements are found.
The firefighters who were fired were all part of the original walkout in January. Thirteen of the firemen will be eligible to reapply for jobs at the Keyes station. The worker who started the scandal by viewing the porn site in the first place was rehired, based on the fact that he was unjustly fired.
The firings also included Alexas's husband and father-in-law, who has been chief of the firehouse for more than 20 years, the Turlock Journal reports. Both men have been on suspension since January.
Alexas was put on administrative leave around the same time, where she will remain indefinitely, the board decided. Her suspension is pending an investigation into whether she participated in a strip show in Modesto last year, the Turlock Journal reports. Stripping in Modesto is illegal.
According to the Turlock Journal, the terminations and releases were all unanimously approved by the board, except in the case of Alexas Jones.
Both Alexas and her husband plan to appeal the decision. In the meantime, Alexas has said she fully intends to keep working in the adult entertainment industry.
“This whole meeting was done illegally,” Alexas Jones was quoted as saying. “I am behind my father-in-law 100 percent. We were given no explanation, there are no government codes on the postings. They will be hearing from our attorney.”
Rick Fortado of the Turlock Rural Fire District will serve as interim chief for the Keyes Fire Department.
