ETNA – Moments after selectmen voted Monday night to reinstate the town’s fire department, firefighters snatched the boots, jackets and pagers left unused for a week and hustled to a fire in Dixmont.

Selectmen voted Monday night to rescind the decision made last week, which temporarily shut down the entire department. Additionally, the selectmen voted to create a committee, which would research historical issues between selectmen and the fire department, and report back to the group within 30 days.

Fire Chief Rick Goodell also will serve a two-week suspension from the department, a disciplinary action brought forth by Town Manager Evelyn Serval. One week of the suspension was served during the department’s closure, she said after a discussion with Goodell after the selectmen’s meeting.

About 60 residents turned out for Monday night’s meeting, some demanding the department be reinstated, others calling for disciplinary action, but all requiring answers. Passionate speeches from audience members were frequently followed by applause, and selectmen’s explanations were trailed by chants of “Resign.”

“We have a fire department, which has been a bloody well good one, and if there was a problem with the chief, then chastise one, don’t close one whole department, and don’t do it at the will of three people,” said Arleen Grant, which roused cheers from the audience.

Three of the town’s five selectmen cited a history of personnel issues and insubordination that led to a vote to close the approximately 15-member squad last Monday. Selectman Vicky Donaldson said there have been accusations of drinking and sexual harassment, in addition to the most recent controversy involving Goodell video recording his route as he responds to emergency calls.

Goodell recorded the footage from his personal camera mounted on the dashboard of his personal vehicle and then posted it on the popular global sharing Web site, YouTube. Selectmen said they asked Goodell to remove any mention of the town two weeks previous to the department closure. Goodell didn’t remove the videos from the Web site until after the department was shut down.

The videos posted online resulted in yet another issue: speed. Selectmen said they were concerned by the rate of speed Goodell appeared to be traveling in order to respond to the emergency.

One female resident shared a similar concern. Emergency vehicles are meant for safety and should not be feared by parents who have small children and live close to the street, she said.

Others said that increased speed came with the territory.

“We need this rescue,” said Fred Treadwell, tearing up with emotion. “I have had to call several times for myself, and within three minutes [Etna rescue] was at my house and I was just about dead.”

When selectmen voted to rescind last week’s vote, Goodell was effectively reinstated as fire chief.

But during the meeting, selectmen also recognized the town manager as the personnel director and left Serval in charge of identifying disciplinary action for Goodell and for nominating interim replacements. Serval and Goodell met immediately after the meeting when the suspension was handed down.

During Goodell’s suspension, Etna’s Rescue Chief Sean Harrington will assume leadership of the entire fire-rescue squad, and former fire chief and current selectman Walter Gibbons will serve as operations chief. Gibbons will avoid all financial transactions, so there is no conflict of interest, Serval said.

Personnel issues aside, Donaldson said mutual aid agreements also needed to be revisited. Since Etna was not providing fire and rescue service in return to area communities, some towns charged an hourly fee for services rendered during the past week.

Carmel Fire Chief Joe Pelletier said his community provided one tanker truck and operator to the town free of charge, but beyond those services Etna was charged hourly.

Donaldson suggested the new committee could address existing mutual aid agreements and whether Etna should charge fees for its services.

Serval will make recommendations to the selectmen on who will serve on the committee. Selectman Joe Garcia suggested the committee should have two selectmen, two fire department members and seven resident members.