On Monday, Troup County announced that John Ekaitis, who is currently the fire chief at the Sumter County Fire Department, would be the new fire chief for Troup County. However, statements from Ekaitis during a Tuesday night Sumter County Board of Commissioners meeting seem to indicate otherwise.

“At the process in revelations into the news of me accepting a position of fire chief for Troup County, Georgia, I was offered a position at Troup County,” Ekaitis said, in the open meeting which was covered by The Americus Times-Recorder. “But now, due to my professional beliefs, I will be staying here in Sumter County as the fire chief.”

Troup County Manager Eric Mosley said that he had not received any indication of a change in Ekaitis’ intentions, but the Troup County Board of Commissioners would inform the public of any change.

As of press deadline, no additional information was available, and repeated attempts to reach Ekaitis directly as well as additional Sumter County officials had gone unanswered.